Perspective of Nandi

Adult Dance Student

by Preethi Sriram

Sometimes, the things that happen in our daily lives can feel almost insurmountable in their challenges. This is something I face as an adult Indian dance student as well as in daily life. For instance, in dance, while there is a level of optimism and maybe some would even proclaim foolhardiness to trying to learn dance as an adult, as this is not the “traditional” path to learning dance. The strangeness and uniqueness of choosing this path that is very personal and individual has its ups and downs. For me, at least I live in a society that really does not mind what I do with my personal time and money. Maybe in this day and in this country, people may applaud it. But I also realize that maybe in a different context, or country, societal pressures may play a bigger role in what path I tread.

This leads to the topic of discrimination. In an American context, this society grapples with its violent history and struggles within its current form. As a society, we are very aware of the history of American slavery, for those who have taken a US History Class in school. We are taught about Civil Rights and the struggle for those seen with different skin color to be seen as equals. Rosa Parks, in a different context may have come off as strange within that societal context in that she would not move her seat to the back of the bus. There was sanctioned racial segregation and she was arrested. That moment in history was one of the events that began the Civil Rights movement. If we fast forward to today’s society, we find it disconcerting to have racial segregation.

Yet, how far do we have to go? 2020 was a historical year for the United States. We encountered a pandemic and lock downs. And in the same year, we saw the murder of George Floyd, which caused protests nationwide. But George Floyd was not the only case that demonstrated targeted brutal discrimination but was only visible to the public because of social media. From the protests from George Floyd, it seems that American society has started to look at itself in the mirror for how various groups and minorities are treated.

Yet, how far as a society do we have to go? How does it feel to view discrimination and witness discrimination? What are some of the practices we are used to daily, for which our hearts feel hurt and tired?

A dance piece that was presented by the Samasthana Dance, hosted by Indian Classical Dance and Music Society

Adult Dance Student continued on page 90

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Bilingual Children continued from page 40

Will talking to my child in more than one language cause a speech or language delay?

No! Bilingual and monolingual children follow nearly the same speech and language milestone developmental trajectory. When counting their total number of words, don’t forget to count them over both/all languages. Some bilingual children may say their first words later than monolingual children, but typically not outside of the normal range (between 8-15 months).

If any child (monolingual, bilingual or multilingual) is 2 years old and doesn’t have between 50-100 words and/or isn’t using at least a few 2-word combinations (e.g. didi sit, mumma shoe, roti aapo, papa car) it is recommended that your child see a Speech-Language Pathologist for an evaluation.

For bilingual language acquisition milestones and red flags, check out @coobabblebol on Instagram.

So what can I do to successfully raise a bilingual child?

Consider these points:

Have a plan:

There are many ways to raise a bi/multilingual child, but for successful bilingual language acquisition, it’s important to have a language plan and stick to it. Your plan can include when, where, how long, and/or with whom to speak the TL.

Be consistent with your plan and check yourself: Is the language plan being followed on most days? If not, maybe take the challenge down a notch to a more manageable level for your family (e.g. instead of speaking Hindi at every meal, make it dinner time only). Also, make sure you are following your own plan too. If the kids switch to the community language, try to still respond in your TL as it aligns with your language plan. This way you are:

- Using the opportunity to subtly remind them that “it’s [target language] time!” and

- Providing them with the vocabulary they need to communicate their thought.

Start early for native-like proficiency: Children’s brains are plastic — neuroplasticity is the idea that their brains can structurally adjust, generate new neurons, repair damaged areas, and rezone brain functions to perform new tasks. This makes it much easier for a child to not only learn more languages, but to achieve native like articulation of the sounds of the language and proficiency in grammar. This is not to undermine the older child/adult learning a second language because research supports that though neuroplasticity decreases with age, adult brains continue to show remarkable and positive changes when learning a new language.

Exposure is key:

Increase linguistic input. Surround your child in the TL consistently and provide them with adequate resources in it. The richer the language input, the bigger the child’s vocabulary and grammar will be in both languages. Some suggestions for increased exposure:

- Speak in the TL language at home if this is possible for your family

- Interact frequently with people who speak the TL (e.g. grandparents, family friends who speak the target language)

- BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS! Bilingual books are amazing tools and increasingly available these days (unlike when a lot of us were growing up!). Bilingual books are great for introducing new vocabulary. But remember, you don’t need a bilingual book to tell the story in the TL — pick up a familiar book that you’ve read to your child multiple times and try reading or retelling it in the TL.

- Sing songs and listen to music in the TL. Pause to talk about the words or use gestures while singing to support understanding of the new vocabulary.

- Take trips to a country where the TL is in the majority.

Culture + Language:

Don’t forget the culture that goes with the language when teaching the TL. Expressions and figures of speech are cultural, sense of time is cultural, vocabulary is cultural, the style of conversation with various conversational partners is cultural. Language and culture must go hand in hand otherwise language is nothing more than a string of words.

Create a Need:

It’s important to instill a sense of ownership, pride, and/or need for speaking in the TL — it’s natural for children to “discard” languages that they may not have any “use” for. When a need is created by way of certain people, activities, experiences with which children must use their TL, it’s more self-motivating in the future and less of something they’re doing because their moms told them to.

Play, play, play!

If there’s one thing you can do to incorporate all of the above while introducing age-appropriate vocabulary in the TL, it is to play with your child. Play is age-appropriate at every level, highly motivating, and can be an opportunity to introduce various types of vocabulary and grammar depending on the type of play. My favorite is pretend play with the little ones using a lot of situational dialogue in the TL!

There is no right way to raise a bilingual child, but the above points can be helpful. Whichever approach you choose to take in helping your child gain the advantages of bilingualism or multilingualism, focus foremost on providing a good language model (in any language) and nurturing your child’s communication.

Shuchi Mehta is a Pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist, a mom of 2, and founder of the blog & instagram account CooBabbleBol. She graduated with a Masters in SpeechLanguage Pathology from Northwestern University in Chicago where her unique experiences in outpatient pediatric clinics, schools, and hospitals paved the way for her decision to work with kids. Snkharod@gmail.com