Fox61 with Sarah French

This morning I had the exciting opportunity to be interviewed by Sarah French (a Little Pim-approved surname!) on the Fox61 Connecticut morning show about foreign language learning for kids.

Sarah was interested in knowing why it's so much easier for young children to absorb a new language and at what age they should start -- you know the answer, the earlier the better! You can check out our discussion in the clip below or stop by the Why Starting Early is Key page of our site for a more in-depth explanation. Merci, Sarah!

NY Times article about increase in Chinese-learning in U.S.

Yesterday the New York Times published an article about the increased interest in Chinese-learning among students in the United States. Apparently more and more parents want their kids to learn Chinese in order to be competitive in the global economy and have the option to work with Chinese-owned companies; plus the Chinese government is sending subsidized Chinese language teachers into American schools. At Little Pim, we have been amazed to see how many Mandarin Chinese DVDs fly off our virtual shelves! Mandarin Chinese is the most popular Chinese dialect being taught today.

In the meanwhile, romance languages are on the decline in public schools. Wide cut-backs in foreign language classes have led to more parents looking to introduce second languages at home via books, DVDs and other materials. We talk to these parents every day at Little Pim, and are proud to be helping them fill that gap.

Click here to read about our Chinese products and watch a short video clip in Chinese: http://www.littlepim.com/store/chinese-language-for-kids/. You can also read my letter to the editor published in the New York Times in September commenting on the cut-backs and the importance of foreign language teaching in schools: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/opinion/lweb20foreign.html?_r=1

Thank you for your support of Little Pim, and for helping us to prepare our children to become active participants in an increasingly multi-cultural and polyglot world.

Read the New York Times article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/education/21chinese.html?hpw

Meeting Dr. Bialystok

Last weekend I attended a talk at a local Barnes & Noble by Dr. Ellen Bialystok, who was speaking about the cognitive benefits of children being bilingual. She is a Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology at York University in Canada. I have been following her work for a long time and have cited her research on bilingual children on our web site. Dr. Bialytsok walked us through studies she did on groups of monolingual and bilingual kids, comparing their reading, writing and processing skills. Her studies showed that not only did the bilingual children have the same level of vocabulary and ability to read in English as the monolingual kids, but in addition there were many cognitive benefits to learning a second language. The main one is that it is a great workout for the front lobes of the brain, which are in charge of all of our "executive functions". These functions include processing language, critical thinking and other intelligence related skills such as concentration and retention of information. She also shared evidence that showed that even limited exposure to a foreign language can modify how children think and enhance their cognitive skills. In other words, it’s not all or nothing and every bit counts.

After the talk I met Dr. Bialystok and learned that in 1981 she had been awarded the ACTFL-Paul Pimsleur Award for Research in Foreign Language Education; my father's legacy! What a thrill. She is making such an important contribution to this field of study and helping parents like me to feel confident that we are doing the right thing for our children by introducing them to a second language.

Learn more about why starting early with a second language is key:

http://www.littlepim.com/products/why-starting-early-is-key/

What do Dr. Bialystock and other scientists say about raising bilingual children?

http://www.littlepim.com/about/what-scientists-say/

New York Times Foreign Language Article

Last week the New York Times reported on the unfortunate rate at which foreign language education programs in schools in the northeast are being cut to help balance budgets. If you've been following my blog, you probably share in my belief that speaking a foreign language is no longer an expendable luxury but an important twenty-first century skill. The article quotes Marty Abbott, the director of education for the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages as saying, "In many cultures, a lot of business does not get done around the business table, it gets done in side conversations and social situations. If you can’t participate in those discussions, you get left out."

I'd add to that, that not only is speaking several languages good for business, it is equally important for early childhood brain development and social skills. It has been so exciting creating Little Pim and finding out that many parents out there share my conviction that kids should have access to language lessons as young as possible. We want kids to be introduced to languages at home or in preschool, and to then continue with language classes in elementary school.

If your school is eliminating its language programs, make sure the principal and the district know your views. I'm contacting mine today. I've also written a letter to the editor of the NY Times, and fingers crossed, it will be one of the ones chosen to be published.

Read the NY Times article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/education/13language.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=foreign%20languages%20fall%20as%20schools&st=cse

Brad and Angelina, Fans of Little Pim and Multilingual Education

Brad Pitt recently said in an interview that raising multilingual children and spending so much time in France is making him wish he'd learned a foreign language (Parade, September 9th). While it's never too for Brad or any adult who wants to pick up another language, experts agree it is much easier to learn a new language before the age of seven. We've all seen how easily young children soak up information, and their brains are hard-wired to absorb up to three languages with ease.

The Jolie-Pitt children are all learning French and we're proud to be a part of their language education. Last November, Angelina Jolie told US Weekly that she was using Little Pim to teach Shiloh French.

Whether you're a celebrity parent or not, giving your child the gift of a second or third language is something you'll never regret. And they will thank you for their rest of their lives!

BiculturalFamily.org

Raising a child to be bilingual or raising a bicultural child can be a great joy yet also challenging to families who are just starting out. The two best things you can do to give yourself peace of mind is 1) Know that there are many families who have navigated these waters with beautiful, successful results and 2) Know that you aren't alone. BiculturalFamily.org is a wonderful resource for parents who'd like practical advice, how-to's, and stories from other parents on living a multicultural and/or bilingual lifestyle.

The online magazine is rich with content spanning the research of bilingual education, essays from readers, and more.

Their Playgroup section lists many offline opportunities for friendship and connection within the bilingual community.

Browse the website, make friends, and don't forget to have fun!

Unraveling How Children Become Bilingual

Unraveling How Children Become Bilingual Yahoo! picked up a great article by Associated Press medical author Lauran Leergaard on the widely discussed topic of how children learn languages with such ease. Scientists continue to unravel the neurology behind language learning. This research says that the ideal window for one to become fluent in a second language is between the ages of birth and age seven.

"While new language learning is easiest by age 7, the ability markedly declines after puberty."

And take note parents:

"Baby brains need personal interaction to soak in a new language — TV or CDs alone don't work."

That's why Little Pim was created in 5-minute episodes. It's the perfect length for you to stop the DVD and interact with your tot. Play with the new words together. We have several games and coloring pages to share on the website, and new print and music materials are coming soon to make Little Pim the multifaceted language learning resource you've always dreamed of!

Parents Want To Know: Can Learning Two Languages Cause Speech Delays?

I recently spoke to a wonderful group of mothers at a Big City Mom's lunch on the upper east side in New York. I have been speaking to moms groups in cities across the country, and one of the questions that has come up more than once is whether learning a second language causes speech delays.

Speaking to Metro Moms in Dallas, TX

As a mom, I am very sensitive to this issue - I know how eager I was for Emmett to speak once he began using a few words at age 18 months, and understand why mothers would be concerned about doing anything to delay speech in their children. There is widespread scientific research that proves that learning and/or exposing your child to a second language at an early age will not cause your child to speak English later or less well; that on the contrary, it is a boon. Yet because people used to think that there could be negative side effects to learning two languages as once, some people continue to think so. The fact is that babies, toddlers and preschoolers are actually able to learn up to three languages at once without confusion. Early foreign language exposure enhances a child’s primary language development, and his or her brain power. Experts have dismissed the idea that bilingualism can be confusing for a young child. “This idea was dramatically reversed in a landmark study by Elizabeth Peal and Wallace Lambert at McGill University in Montreal that showed a general superiority of bilinguals over monolinguals in a wide range of intelligence tests and aspects of school achievement” (Dr. Ellen Bialystok, Professor of Psychology at York University, Canada). Dr. Bialystok has even done studies that show that young children who speak a second language have a cognitive edge over monolingual children.

So go ahead and teach your little one "j'ai soif" or "tengo hambre" with confidence! You will be helping them to achieve a better accent and fluency later on and enhance their social and verbal skills.
To read more about the scientific studies supporting learning two languages go to http://www.littlepim.com/about/what-scientists-say/