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Thanks for reading the Multilingual Books newsletter, your source for foreign language news, information, and product information and specials from Multilingual Books. This is also available as a web page at our website, www.multilingualbooks.com. In this issue:
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Bilingual Children Understand Written Languages Sooner Than Monolingual Children, Study Finds
Public release from eurekalert.org
WASHINGTON -- When learning to read, many preschool age children recognize letters in alphabets (or characters in nonalphabet languages) long before they are able to read. Knowing a second language, according to the latest research on reading, can really help a child comprehend written languages faster and possibly learn to read more easily. This finding is examined in the May issue of the American Psychological Association's (APA) journal Developmental Psychology.
"Preschoolers who speak one language can usually recite the alphabet and spell their names but cannot read without the help of pictures. But bilingual preschoolers can read sooner because they are able to recognize symbolic relations between letters/characters and sounds without having visual objects," said psychologist Ellen Bialystok, Ph.D., of York University and author of the new study.
The study examined 137 bilingual (French & English and Chinese & English) and monolingual (English) four and five year olds, all of whom came from literacy-rich environments including the bilingual children in both languages. The children were given two word tests that assessed their "understanding of the symbolic function of the letters." Furthermore, "children who go beyond treating letters as visual objects and recognize the symbolic relation between letters and sounds are on their way to learning how to read," said Dr. Bialystok.
The first test involved showing the children a card with a word printed on it which was placed under a picture of the named object. The children were asked what the word was after the card was moved to another picture. The bilingual children scored twice as high on this test as the monolingual children.
"The bilingual children knew that the written form carried the meaning and that the picture was irrelevant. They understood this principle equally in both languages too. And, even though all the children's scores improved with age, the four-year-old bilinguals were better at this than the five-year-old monolinguals," said Dr. Bialystok.
The second test involved asking the children to judge a word's length when the object size was the same and when it conflicted with the word size. When the word was long and the picture was big, no difference was found between the monolingual and the bilingual children. But, "the Chinese-English speaking children scored higher when the length of the word conflicted with the object size. Figuring out the rules for two different kinds of writing systems helped them understand each system better," said Dr. Bialystok.
"There are definite advantages to being bilingual when you are learning to read, providing that children are exposed to stories and literacy in both languages," Dr. Bialystok. "By four, bilingual children have progressed more than monolingual children in understanding general properties of the symbolic function of written language. By five, they are more advanced than monolinguals and bilinguals who have learned only one writing system in understanding specific representation properties, even in English."
"Learning a foreign language at a very young age can clearly benefit children's reading abilities and hopefully parents and educators can help to provide the resources for this to happen," said Dr. Bialystok.
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FSI Hungarian and Hebrew Courses Now Available By Download! Two more Language Associates courses, FSI Hebrew and FSI Hungarian, are now available in a downloadable version! The Language Associates Digital Editions are the popular FSI courses in full digital format - all course material is included, but all audio is in MP3 format and all reading material is in PDF format. These courses are considered by many to be the best and most complete language courses available. Get the benefits of full FSI courses with increased portability and substantial savings! Please note that Digital Edition courses require a computer capable of playing MP3s and displaying PDF files. Digital Edition downloads are currently available for Hebrew, Hungarian, Spanish, Arabic, and Iraqi. Download and save! We are introducing our downloads at less than half the price of the hardcopy courses. Why? Well, when you buy in downloadable format, we save, so you save! No printing, reproduction, packaging, handling, and shipping costs for us means big savings for you. Check out our Digital Editions Download Store! |   |
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Last month's quiz: Don't be surprised if you don't recognize these phrases; you won't run across these every day! Please supply the language and English meaning for each phrase. Lastatempe mi estas tre okupita. - Esperanto: I have been very busy lately. Scientistas varia justo como nos alteros. - Interlingua: Scientists vary just like the rest of us. le gerku pe le lamji cu ckape - Lojban: The dog next door is dangerous. E mud'e fasil esan mudray pro telen dy pro zen. - Verdurian: It is easier to be wise for others than for ourselves. Each is a constructed language. This month's winner is Marcos Leon. Congratulations and thanks to all our entrants! This month's quiz: There are more Spanish speakers in California than any other state. That's an easy one, but how about some others? Some answers may surprise you! Where do more people speak Spanish - New Mexico or New Jersey? How about Arizona or Illinois? Where do more people speak French - Louisiana or New York? Where do more people speak Italian - Rhode Island or Texas? Which is spoken more in Alaska - Russian or Tagalog? The answers and the winner will be in our next newsletter. Winner will receive their choice of one Talk Now or World Talk language CD-ROM! No purchase necessary to enter. E-mail your entry to:
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Proto-Indo-European Language
A nicely executed site exploring the idea of the Proto-Indo-European language, a hypothetical (though widely accepted) forerunner of the Indo-European languages. From the site: "Common features, especially common words, shared by many of the languages used in Europe, India, and Asia, led scholars to believe that these languages may have developed from the same source. That source language was never written down and is now extinct, but it has a name: it is called the "Proto Indo-European" language . . ."
Check it out at https://colfa.utsa.edu/drinka/pie/.
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BIG Savings! FSI Hebrew, Hungarian, Arabic, and Platiquemos Spanish Courses Now Available By Download!
Language Associates Digital Edition Course Downloads
Platiquemos Spanish Course BIG Savings! We are introducing our downloads at less than half the price of the hardcopy courses. Why? Well, when you buy in downloadable format, we save, so you save! No printing, reproduction, packaging, handling, and shipping costs for us means big savings for you. Order today! |
 
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FREE Shipping on Tell Me More!
Tell Me More Language Software Save with FREE standard shipping (US orders only) on Tell Me More for one week only! Use promo code MB-FST-526 to receive this special. |
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Save $10 on Foreign Service Institute Course Digital Editions!
Foreign Service Institute Courses
Language Associates FSI Digital Editions For a limited time, save $10 on any Foreign Service Institute Course Digital Edition! Use promo code MB-FDE10-526 to receive this special. Order today! |
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