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Bringing Up Baby in Ukrainian by Oksana O. Xenos M any parents want their babies to learn two languages, and it's not surprising that most Ukrainian Am ericans would love to have their children speak Ukrainian as well as English. Both research and practi cal experience show that this can be achieved. A growing number o f studies indicate that in fants can learn a second language more easily if they are exposed to it before they learn to talk - that is, while their brains are still in the formulation stage, still "being wired". According to neuroscientist Patricia Kuhl, co-author o f The S cien tist in the C rib (a book on infant development), babies are "citizens o f the world" who can hear and respond to phonetic variations in any language. Later in life, many will speak the languages heard and learned in this early period with fluency and spontaneity, just as native speakers do. M any researchers, for example, believe that learning a second language also improves brain devel opment in babies. The theory is that exposure to a sec ond language creates more connections in the brain; these connections make all kinds o f learning easier. N ancy Rhodes, spokeswoman for the National N et work for Early Language Learning sums up this inter esting theory: "W e can't say at what month you should start teaching a baby, but there's plenty o f research to say the earlier the exposure to a foreign language, the more beneficial." Recommendations for helping baby learn Ukrainian include this idea o f early exposure. Y ou should begin teaching the language before your child begins speaking. This is the "critical period" for ab sorbing languages, the time frame when children ab sorb almost everything they hear. W hile you m ay decide to be the primary lan guage teacher, don't pass up the opportunity to get help from fam ily members with good Ukrainian language skills. Have the baby's grandmother or uncle, for ex ample, speak to the child o n ly in Ukrainian. Young children need and want the com pany o f other children for learning and for playtime, so enrolling your child in a Ukrainian play group or Ukrainian school is a good idea. I f this is not an option, you might consider hiring a private tutor, but not before the child is eight years old. For your child to acquire the proper gram matical constructs and intonation that will make him or her sound like a native speaker, the person you depend on as teacher (both formal and informal) should speak the language well. Pay attention to accent, vocabulary, and syntax. Is what your child is hearing standard and com monly accepted Ukrainian? Besides talking to a child, researchers suggest using music. Songs are powerful language-teaching tools that convey "gramm atical templates" and deliver both emotion and entertainment. Having your child listen to Ukrainian songs will provide linguistic stimu lation and more. Ukrainian language videos and CD s m ay also be beneficial, but only if a child is old enough to appreciate and enjoy them. Above all, the goal is to create an atmosphere o f play and laughter, to spur spontaneous speech that builds natural fluency. I f children are taught in a w ay that makes learning Ukrainian fun, they will learn more quickly and more enthusiastically. Oksana O. Xenos is an attorney and tax law specialist with the U. S. D epartm ent o f Treasury in Washington, DC. She is also a retired Lieutenant C olonel (JAG C orps-U SA R ) and F oreign A rea O fficer qualified in dual specialties (U krainian and Greek). Ms. X enos received her law degree, as w ell as her MA and BA (in Slavic lin guistics), from Wayne State University. A m em ber-at- large o f the UNWLA, she served as parliam entarian o f the UNWLA triennial convention in Sarasota, FL, in M ay 2002 . 22 “НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ВЕРЕСЕНЬ 2002 Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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