Bilingualism

I entered this world in 1927. My mother and father were both bilingual. However, my parents agreed that only one language would be used in the home: English. Why? Because my father served a partially bilingual congregation and was urging the leaders to drop Swedish and use English. The Swedes of course preferred their native tongue and resisted but slowly made the transition.

When I read Jeffrey Kluger’s (Time July 29, 2013) article “The Power of the Bilingual Brain,” I had another senior moment. I wondered as I read: what if my parents had used both languages when I was an infant and onward? There seems to be some significant assets to being truly bilingual, both in childhood and onward.

Kluger wrote that in utero, babies can hear from the third semester on, and they learn to recognize their mother’s language rhythms. Further, newborns recognize their native language and distinguish it from others. And then up to age one, they retain a sharp ear for languages but there is a sharp drop-off at age six. Imagine. No one ever told me that. Even so, both our grandchildren entered a bilingual program in elementary school, just as the drop-off begins. However, there was no pre-school bilingual opportunity. Even so, it was a worthwhile experience.

The author also inferred that this multilingualism benefit lingers on into middle age and beyond. Now, as a senior, should I regret having missed out on a bilingual beginning? Perhaps. But should I fault my parents for setting an example for encouraging English? No. Their motive was impeccable even though their knowledge of these benefits of bilingualism was unknown at the time.

What else can we learn from this? First, the sooner we begin to learn another language, the better. As for me, I took a year of Latin in the 9th grade; French in my senior year. A year of Spanish in college, a year of Greek in seminary, and then a few lessons in Swedish and Spanish when we were on a five-year assignment out of the country. Am I fluent in any or all all of these languages? Sorry, I am not!

Secondly, I think we should reassess our sensitivity toward both the unborn and infants. Call it a miracle if you wish, but there is something beautiful, unspeakable happening from conception on. Being insensitive, callous or indifferent to this marvelous pathway of reproduction is regrettable. The more we understand about ourselves as human beings from conception to the grave is well worth our effort, is it not?