Moria Flaig
November 14, 2014
My son is four years old and is trilingual. He masters Chinese, German and English in a natural and balanced way. It means that he doesn't mix the languages, prefers one strongly or switch from one to another one while speaking. He consistently speaks only one language to a certain person. He speaks Chinese to me, German to my husband and English to the other people.
He is able to use these three languages in every situation he faces. Although he knows his parents understand all of these three languages, he doesn't choose the most convenient way to speak the language which everyone understands, namely English as franca lingua for communicating with all people.
He is able to use these three languages in every situation he faces. Although he knows his parents understand all of these three languages, he doesn't choose the most convenient way to speak the language which everyone understands, namely English as franca lingua for communicating with all people.
Model of acquisition of languages
Although he acquires three languages simultaneously, he began speaking them in three successive stages. Compared to most bilingual children who need to pass over a mixed stage at the first two-three years, he didn't begin speaking all three languages at the same time. Remarkably he began very late to speak his first word and didn't speak any single words until two.
At the beginning he spoke merely Chinese, although he already understood German very well and English a little. At that time as he had fulfilled a good speaking skill in German, he had already mastered a good comprehension in English. His emergent speech in English was at the age of turning three. Unfortunately, at the beginning he overused the German grammar for making English sentences e.g. using the German conjugation in English sentences: "you canst, you playst, he springt, he sayt etc." It sounded like the language in the Bible. This phenomenon didn't happen at his previous transitional stage from Chinese to German and he distinguished both languages perfectly. It is probably because he perceived English and German are relative languages. Their similarity apparently confused him at the emergent time of using English.
Often he used German words by changing their pronunciation and intonation for speaking English, e.g. "while" for because, for "while" means because in German. Out of concerns, we decided to put him in a preschool and hoped that the teacher would correct his mistakes. After having known more English through school and books, from time to time he has been doing it in a reverse way: he changes pronunciation of an English word to speak German, e.g. "Feuerhose" for fire hose, although "hose" in German means "pants". Fortunately he does it consciously because he finds it sounds funny.
At the beginning he spoke merely Chinese, although he already understood German very well and English a little. At that time as he had fulfilled a good speaking skill in German, he had already mastered a good comprehension in English. His emergent speech in English was at the age of turning three. Unfortunately, at the beginning he overused the German grammar for making English sentences e.g. using the German conjugation in English sentences: "you canst, you playst, he springt, he sayt etc." It sounded like the language in the Bible. This phenomenon didn't happen at his previous transitional stage from Chinese to German and he distinguished both languages perfectly. It is probably because he perceived English and German are relative languages. Their similarity apparently confused him at the emergent time of using English.
Often he used German words by changing their pronunciation and intonation for speaking English, e.g. "while" for because, for "while" means because in German. Out of concerns, we decided to put him in a preschool and hoped that the teacher would correct his mistakes. After having known more English through school and books, from time to time he has been doing it in a reverse way: he changes pronunciation of an English word to speak German, e.g. "Feuerhose" for fire hose, although "hose" in German means "pants". Fortunately he does it consciously because he finds it sounds funny.
As a result of integrating with the English speaking surrounding, it is unavoidable that English gradually became his dominant language. Regarding my observation, he spends a lot of time speaking to himself in English by reading and pretending. Much less frequently, but occasionally he speaks German to himself and I didn't experience that he speaks Chinese to himself.
Apparently he feels comfortable to use English as first language and German as second language. For some reason he dislikes speaking Chinese to himself in my presence. He might consider his self-speech as a private conservation and tries to exclude me for his self-speech by speaking another language. (Jean Piaget named this phenomenon: egocentric speech)
Further, it is mostly because both languages have similar vocabularies and syntactic structures. For him it is obviously easier to think and switch in these two languages simultaneously. Chinese doesn't fit in this structure. He stuttered a while by speaking Chinese after he has become an English speaker. Cognitively, Chinese has lost his dominant position. It sounds sad for me as his mother.
In spite of this difficult language constellation, he didn't stop speaking Chinese with me. He keeps learning and speaking Chinese and German after having enrolled at preschool, while a lot of bilingual children gradually become a passive bilingual due to lack of exposure to their mother tongue. Until now his development in trilingualism is consistent and expectant. He never speaks English to me and to his father spontaneously, although we do an amount of English reading together. Just one time he tried to speak German to me in front of his father. I didn't allow it and he didn't hesitate to switch back to Chinese.
Apparently he feels comfortable to use English as first language and German as second language. For some reason he dislikes speaking Chinese to himself in my presence. He might consider his self-speech as a private conservation and tries to exclude me for his self-speech by speaking another language. (Jean Piaget named this phenomenon: egocentric speech)
Further, it is mostly because both languages have similar vocabularies and syntactic structures. For him it is obviously easier to think and switch in these two languages simultaneously. Chinese doesn't fit in this structure. He stuttered a while by speaking Chinese after he has become an English speaker. Cognitively, Chinese has lost his dominant position. It sounds sad for me as his mother.
In spite of this difficult language constellation, he didn't stop speaking Chinese with me. He keeps learning and speaking Chinese and German after having enrolled at preschool, while a lot of bilingual children gradually become a passive bilingual due to lack of exposure to their mother tongue. Until now his development in trilingualism is consistent and expectant. He never speaks English to me and to his father spontaneously, although we do an amount of English reading together. Just one time he tried to speak German to me in front of his father. I didn't allow it and he didn't hesitate to switch back to Chinese.