The pros and cons of children being exposed to dialects How do families with promiscuous languages ​​teach their babies to speak

When children start to speak, parents will have a dilemma: should they teach dialect or Mandarin? Dialects are our country's intangible heritage and the inheritance of national culture, while Mandarin is applicable to the widest range of people and is equally important.

Pros: Promote children's cognitive development. Studies have found that children who can speak both dialects and Mandarin fluently are more "intelligent" and have higher scores in cognitive and language abilities. Because children learn multiple languages ​​or dialects, they will develop better cognitive self-control and language self-control, which will promote their cognitive development.

Disadvantages: Increased risk of language delay When multiple dialects are mixed, the time to learn each language is relatively reduced. This may cause the child to speak each language poorly, thereby increasing the risk of language delay, poor expression and other problems. Everything has two sides, and this also applies to children learning to speak. Whether teaching children to speak dialects or insisting that children only speak Mandarin, we must adopt appropriate methods to teach children to speak.

1. No problem communicating with people from my hometown

In fact, in many underdeveloped cities and rural areas, people are generally more accustomed to speaking dialects, including in public places such as schools, supermarkets, and hospitals. So if parents teach their children Mandarin directly, it may cause the children to not understand the dialect, and then they will not be able to communicate with others. Therefore, they should learn the dialect first, and the children can be exposed to Mandarin through TV, so that when they need to speak Mandarin in the future, they can learn it quickly.

2. You can master one more language

Many parents think that Mandarin is the universal language of the country and that they will have to communicate in Mandarin when they enter society. So they teach their children Mandarin when they are young, because if they teach dialects, the children will have to learn Mandarin again, which is troublesome. In fact, this is not the case. Each dialect has its own characteristics and is also an art. It is good for children to master more than one language. Moreover, it is very simple to transition from a dialect to Mandarin, but it is very difficult to learn a dialect from Mandarin.

3. More opportunities to learn Mandarin

Because Mandarin is the mainstream of society, you can hear people speaking Mandarin basically everywhere. Moreover, Mandarin is easy to understand and learn, so parents don’t need to teach it deliberately. In addition, even if you teach your child Mandarin deliberately, he will not be able to reach a high level of Mandarin without professional training, but communicating with others will definitely not be a problem.

4. Parents who do not speak standard Mandarin will lead their children astray

In fact, there are many parents whose Mandarin is not very standard. If they teach their children to speak Mandarin at this time, it is easy to lead the children astray. It is better to teach the children to speak dialect directly and let them learn standard Mandarin in a larger environment.

If the family members speak different dialects, it will affect the baby's speech. If the family's communication language is not unified, it is difficult for the baby to imitate and learn. He does not know which sound is correct. In addition, the baby has poor discrimination ability, so the child will learn to speak from whoever he is with. As a result, the stage of language learning is prolonged, and finally he cannot even speak a complete language. This is why some babies are reluctant to speak at the age when they should speak.

1. Insist on using one language If the dialect at home is from the same place, then you can teach your baby to speak the dialect. For example, if everyone in the family is from Tianjin, you can choose to use Tianjin dialect as the baby's first mother tongue. But if the family language environment is complex and more than one dialect is spoken, it is recommended to use Mandarin to educate the child. 2. Timely guidance or correction If you find that your baby can't say something when pointing at something with his finger, it may be because he lacks the vocabulary or the expressions of various dialects confuse him. At this time, you can say to him "I want peaches" in standard Mandarin, and then encourage him to repeat it, and he will learn how to say it next time. If you still find that the child has a more obvious dialect accent in his pronunciation, you should correct him in time and patiently, but never scold or lose your temper with the child. 3. Help the child to speak complete sentences Most of the words that the baby says when babbling are a few simple "words", such as "biscuits", "look at daddy", etc. Most parents understand the baby's meaning and give him what he wants, so that the baby is reinforced and becomes "too lazy to express". So mothers should encourage him to speak complete sentences and teach children the correct way of expression. 4. Enrich language learning materials Parents can also use multimedia resources to improve their children's language skills. Arrange for children to listen to more children's programs on the radio station, and watch children's programs on TV appropriately (no more than 15 minutes a day), or let your children listen to the nursery rhymes or storytelling CDs you bought. These resources can allow children to be more exposed to Mandarin. 5. Create opportunities for children to interact with peers. Peers of the same age have a common language and are highly motivated to speak. Parents can take their children to visit relatives and friends more often, or go to the park to give children more opportunities to play with children of the same age. Moreover, children are "half-way" in speaking. If they want the other party to understand their ideas, they must force themselves to speak clearly and completely. So this is also a kind of training for children under environmental pressure!