Very good post.Im really glad you were able to push back and retain your language. I'm sorry to say Australia was not alone in its opinions on speaking multiple languages - Aotearoa NZ had very similar opinions and active assimilation policies. Thankfully these days the tides are turning and in education its deemed the more languages the better for linguistic development.
Thank you Beck. This attitude of English monolingual supremacy and that other languages are either “nice to have” or a “hindrance” has been present all throughout the Anglosphere. While things have changed, this supremacy still persists, unfortunately.
Excellent post (as usual). I have heard the "confusing the child" mantra more recently - a few years ago I dated a French woman who was raising a teenager (father English) and the kid spoke no French - because the mother had been told early on by an "expert" that speaking French to her infant would "confuse" her and delay her learning language skills. Sad in the sense that kid is now an adult and isn't bilingual (and none of her French relatives speak English...).
Thank you Garth! As with so many things, the only people who are “confused” are adults who never realise that children don’t come ready programmed to be confused
Thankyou Rowena. Thankfully soon after that with the heyday of multiculturalism, things did improve, though as you know, bubbling just under the surface in Australia were these entrenched but ungrounded beliefs regarding other languages
Very good post.Im really glad you were able to push back and retain your language. I'm sorry to say Australia was not alone in its opinions on speaking multiple languages - Aotearoa NZ had very similar opinions and active assimilation policies. Thankfully these days the tides are turning and in education its deemed the more languages the better for linguistic development.
Thank you Beck. This attitude of English monolingual supremacy and that other languages are either “nice to have” or a “hindrance” has been present all throughout the Anglosphere. While things have changed, this supremacy still persists, unfortunately.
We are in total agreement - learning multiple languages at an early (or later) age is great for cognitive development!!!
It certainly is!
Great Post Nick (as usual). And to think that what the Aussies have done to my language .... well thats another matter eh? 😉
Hvala, Davide!
I know, right? Australians made English even better… 😂
Excellent post (as usual). I have heard the "confusing the child" mantra more recently - a few years ago I dated a French woman who was raising a teenager (father English) and the kid spoke no French - because the mother had been told early on by an "expert" that speaking French to her infant would "confuse" her and delay her learning language skills. Sad in the sense that kid is now an adult and isn't bilingual (and none of her French relatives speak English...).
Thank you Garth! As with so many things, the only people who are “confused” are adults who never realise that children don’t come ready programmed to be confused
Gosh I can relate to the scenes you have described of Australia’s cultural immaturity in the 1980s. Well done you and your family.
Thankyou Rowena. Thankfully soon after that with the heyday of multiculturalism, things did improve, though as you know, bubbling just under the surface in Australia were these entrenched but ungrounded beliefs regarding other languages
Hmm I think I missed the heydey of multiculturalism!
We were the brown / Muslim immigrants so always a target…
Do you remember that show Kingswood Country???
I certainly do remember Kingswood Country – much loved in our family. We obviously related to Bruno and the way he'd get the better over Ted Bullpit.