My family speaks English (husband and 6 children). Husband also can speak his native German, but he never does. I know some French from several years of French in school, but not enough for a conversation… it would be a great language to teach my little ones as Canada is bilingual (job opportunities) and there are lots and lots of resources at the library. My children all have dual-citizenship Dutch-Canadian (eldest child also has German citizenship!), so I feel Dutch is a language they ‘ought’ to know. It’s not particularly useful in the job market, and there certainly aren’t many resources available, but I know a little from hearing it as a child, I’ve learned some more as an adult, I can read it, but understanding and especially speaking it is somewhat limited; certainly not fluent. I am trying to formulate a plan for tackling the goal of teaching them two foreign languages. I’ve read before that to learn a language fluently, the kids need about 30% or at least 15hrs/week exposure. Now, I’ve also heard that the kids are ready to start learning to read when they are about 5 or 6 years old… many here know it can be done earlier and more efficiently and effectively! So my question really is, can a young child master a foreign language with fewer than the recommended 15hr/week if the method(s) used are more efficient? I think everyone will agree that reading a foreign language book with them will do far more for their language learning than having the radio on in the background in the target language. Has anyone successfully taught their children a foreign language, that they aren’t very strong in, with Doman method or other highly efficient way themselves (not daycare or other native speaker)? How many hours were dedicated to teaching, and what percentage of the time was used for flashcards, foreign movies/shows, reading books, etc.? How successful were your efforts? Myself, I love to learn more of other languages, and I will enjoy so much to learn right along with them.
Here is another thought… for an adult to learn a language of average difficulty or somewhat related to their native language, with an hour a day using efficient methods it can be accomplished in 6 months… no classes, teaching yourself using language tapes, various literature, flashcards using spaced repetition (“anki” is a great program available for download for free… http://anki.com/), television/movies. I suggest a book called “How to learn any language” by Barry Farber (who taught himself a couple dozen or so languages!) and this website http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/e/index.html if you are interested. Knowing that there is a much more efficient way to learn a foreign language for adults makes me wonder if a Doman flashcard method, an organized adult-led system, can help to achieve learning a 2nd or even 3rd language in less than the 15 hrs/30% recommended by language experts. Comments? Has anyone done it? Any language acquisition experts out there?