I often get 
impressed parents curious at how Haruka could understand both Tomomi and me speak to her in different languages. Actually, all babies and children pick up languages easily. It all boils down to constant communication with parents. I did not speak too much with my dad, otherwise I would have picked up the Hakka dialect. Same goes for my mum who did not take the initiative to sp
eak with me Hokkien since she grew up in Penang and was conversant in it, eventhough her mother tongue is the Cantonese dialect. I ended up only being able to speak Cantonese, even without formally learning it from a teacher as I grew up hearing and speaking it. Even if a language is not spoken entirely, a fore
ign greeting alone suffice in the right context. For chinese educated parents who are not fluent in English, just start by greeting Good morning and speaking simple sentences to certain neighbours who are fluent in English in front of your child. If you see a Malay or Indonesian, get into the habit of greeting them,"Selamat Pagi" (Good morning in English) in front of your child, and before long, the child will be able to contextualize the use of different foreign greetings and words.
impressed parents curious at how Haruka could understand both Tomomi and me speak to her in different languages. Actually, all babies and children pick up languages easily. It all boils down to constant communication with parents. I did not speak too much with my dad, otherwise I would have picked up the Hakka dialect. Same goes for my mum who did not take the initiative to sp
eak with me Hokkien since she grew up in Penang and was conversant in it, eventhough her mother tongue is the Cantonese dialect. I ended up only being able to speak Cantonese, even without formally learning it from a teacher as I grew up hearing and speaking it. Even if a language is not spoken entirely, a fore
ign greeting alone suffice in the right context. For chinese educated parents who are not fluent in English, just start by greeting Good morning and speaking simple sentences to certain neighbours who are fluent in English in front of your child. If you see a Malay or Indonesian, get into the habit of greeting them,"Selamat Pagi" (Good morning in English) in front of your child, and before long, the child will be able to contextualize the use of different foreign greetings and words.
W
e were in Paris for just 6 days. When we came home, there is French girl who was staying in another room in the apartment swap we took. We would encourage Haruka to greet her "Bonjour!" She only did it sparingly. Whenever we went to any patisserie or restaurants, the shop attendants would start by greeting Bonjour and I would return the greeting while carrying Haruk
a in my arm. Whenever any stranger approaches Haruka to just pat her, we would encourage Haruka to greet them Bonjour even if she does not want to do it. To our amazement, many months after we are back, Haruka could identify foreign kids who have blonde hair and white skin and greet them Bonjour if she likes them. Most of the time, 
the kids are not French, but she learnt that white people would greet each other Bonjour. That's the power of repetition and encouraging your children to be friendly and to speak with others. Even in a foreign tongue. This proves that its not too difficult to start your child young to speak a foreign word. Just require parents to show the example and lots of listening to the same phrase being spoken at the right context.
e were in Paris for just 6 days. When we came home, there is French girl who was staying in another room in the apartment swap we took. We would encourage Haruka to greet her "Bonjour!" She only did it sparingly. Whenever we went to any patisserie or restaurants, the shop attendants would start by greeting Bonjour and I would return the greeting while carrying Haruk
a in my arm. Whenever any stranger approaches Haruka to just pat her, we would encourage Haruka to greet them Bonjour even if she does not want to do it. To our amazement, many months after we are back, Haruka could identify foreign kids who have blonde hair and white skin and greet them Bonjour if she likes them. Most of the time, 
the kids are not French, but she learnt that white people would greet each other Bonjour. That's the power of repetition and encouraging your children to be friendly and to speak with others. Even in a foreign tongue. This proves that its not too difficult to start your child young to speak a foreign word. Just require parents to show the example and lots of listening to the same phrase being spoken at the right context.
How about having a friend wear Kimono always and greet Konnichiwa in front of a 1 year old baby? If it works and your baby learns a new language even if just a few phrases, leave a comment here.
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