Christian, Isabella, Vincent and Josephine, News Part 1: February 2011 - January 2013

[Muhler]

You are welcome Stellad & Polyesco

He seems to me to be a child who is talking with adults and who is challenged, which is in line with what Mary talked about recently.

Perhaps someone can answer this:
I began to learn foreign languages myself in school about the age of ten.
Is there a general tendency for children who are brought up bilingual, from infant and pretty intensively, to have a better grasp of the subtleties and nuances of both languages enabling them to master both languages better than average?
I mean, Christian has presumably never been in the situation where he (initially at least) had to mentally translate before speaking. And I assume he can switch between thinking in Danish as well as English at the blink of an eye.

Or do you think it has more to do with him being stimulated, having conversations with adults, being encouraged to form an opinion and think about things. The PlayRead technique.

Or is he simply gifted with a talent for being articulate coupled with him clearly being self-confident?

It will certainly be interesting to compare him with Isabella and also bette Henrik and Athena, who are also brought up bilingual.

[AnnaNotherThing]

I think lille Henrik and Athena may well be trilingual - Danish, French and English - which brings me to the question: have the Fredmary Four learnt French yet? With a father, both grandparents, uncle and aunt being fluent you would have thought they would have given it a go anyway...

[mellie]

@Muhler: I don't think children at Christian's age realize the subtleties or the nuances between 2 languages yet. He just uses either language because of the need, i.e. to the nanny who only speaks English, the only way to communicate is English. Children are not self-concious like the adults, they utilize whatever they know when they need, and non-threatening corrections will improve their language skills overtimes; and they learn very fast. I'm always amazed about their capabilities. BTW, I'm a language teacher.
@AnnaNotherThing: eventually, Mary&Fred's brood will be multilingual as they live in Europe where being multilingual is valued and necessary.

[Charlotte_Aster]

I was brought up bilingual (and I'm grateful for that). In retrospect I never realized which language I was talking or whether I switched languages. I just responded. According to my mother, I never mixed languages either. Of course that might be because each of my parents spoke with me in their own mothertongue. But mellie is correct, the children's brain is a marvel.

[fandesacs2003]

Originally Posted by Charlotte_Aster

I was brought up bilingual (and I'm grateful for that). In retrospect I never realized which language I was talking or whether I switched languages. I just responded. According to my mother, I never mixed languages either. Of course that might be because each of my parents spoke with me in their own mothertongue. But mellie is correct, the children's brain is a marvel.

Right. Psychologists say that kids can be brought up bi/multi languals without problem. The important point is that each parent should choose and keep the same language while talking to the kid, and it is exactly what your parents did, with success. The problem could arise if each parent mixes languages with kid.

[polyesco]

Originally Posted by AnnaNotherThing

I think lille Henrik and Athena may well be trilingual - Danish, French and English - which brings me to the question: have the Fredmary Four learnt French yet? With a father, both grandparents, uncle and aunt being fluent you would have thought they would have given it a go anyway...

I love the nickname you gave to C, I, V and J
I think the twins might still be too young to know three languages
Isabella is probably on the same path of knowing Danish and English a bit.
Christian just turned 7 but he might start learning French at school ( i dont know the danish school system, so i dont Know)

I was brought up bilingual (Spanish and English) and i think its definitely easier when you are learning it young. it becomes part of your life to communicate in 2 languages you really dont think much of it, it becomes natural (at least to me).

but also, some people are just more gifted with languages. My siblings and I (4 all together) were born and raised in the US, but to Spanish speaking parents. Same circumstances, but yet some of us have an accent when we speak Spanish (even though we are fluent).

[kathia_sophia]

unfortunately i wasnt brought up bilingual, but as a child and teenager i always loved languages so i'm able to speak Portuguese, Spanish, English and Japanese. im also able to understand a bit and speak some words and phrases in French, Italian and Korean.
i had classes of Chinese Mandarin and Russian before, but i skipped them because it didnt fit my taste, so i didnt learnt much and i dont know nothing now.

i think Isabella and Christian speak english to each other at times, i remenber they spoke in english in the winter/snow photosession earlier this year.

[Carminha Stalker]

I was brought up bilingual (Portuguese and French) and when I was nine I learned English. I love languages and have improved my Spanish and a bit of Italian.
I think the best way to learn is as a child. Children have an excellent "ear" for languages.

[Archduchess Zelia]

I definitely think it's a benefit to be brought up bilingual. I've been speaking Danish, English, French and some Greenlandic since I was a little girl and I definitely found it a benefit in school, didn't have to work nearly as hard as the others. It can be somewhat confusing though, I used (and still use) my English so much that I mix it up with my Danish, especially the grammar get mixed up

[4Pam]

Being bilingual is definitely an advantage especially for the position Christian will be in one day.

[kathia_sophia]

^exactly.
as for bein' brought up bilingual, it doesnt put much pressure on the child to learn some language because he/she learnt automatically.
Amalia and her sisters are brought up as bilingual as well, Dutch and Spanish. and i believe they know english too, hence Victoria speaking to Amalia in english on her wedding festivities.
the same as Elisabeth and her siblings, french speaking parents and dutch school

[camelot23ca]

Originally Posted by Muhler

You are welcome Stellad & Polyesco

He seems to me to be a child who is talking with adults and who is challenged, which is in line with what Mary talked about recently.

Perhaps someone can answer this:
I began to learn foreign languages myself in school about the age of ten.
Is there a general tendency for children who are brought up bilingual, from infant and pretty intensively, to have a better grasp of the subtleties and nuances of both languages enabling them to master both languages better than average?
I mean, Christian has presumably never been in the situation where he (initially at least) had to mentally translate before speaking. And I assume he can switch between thinking in Danish as well as English at the blink of an eye.

Or do you think it has more to do with him being stimulated, having conversations with adults, being encouraged to form an opinion and think about things. The PlayRead technique.

Or is he simply gifted with a talent for being articulate coupled with him clearly being self-confident?

It will certainly be interesting to compare him with Isabella and also bette Henrik and Athena, who are also brought up bilingual.

I think that's an interesting point you bring up. IMO, being multilingual is a skill that doesn't necessarily go hand in hand with being articulate - it's certainly possible to be able to speak several languages and not be especially articulate in any of them. I get the impression that the writer of this new article thinks Christian is well spoken for his age in both English and Danish and also that he seems fairly bright in general.

I also think at this age there's a difference between actual intelligence and a kid just being precocious and ahead in various skills, specifically language development skills. It's easier to pick out innate ability, IMO, once kids have been in school for a few years.

[ashelen]

I love Europe for that , it is normal for the kids to be bilingual! here in america I remember the kindiergarden teacher giving me a video of phonetics for my daughter becsue she had british accent becasue my husband is british the school would not pass her if she didnt have the american accent. A few times I had teachers telling me it was wrong to bring up my daughtr bilingual, spanish-english! she was in france 3 months for kindergarden and came out speaking french! I think it is the best for kids! and i am glad my gaughter understand that, no matter what the others saidI think it is a marvellous idea to bring kids bilingual!

[NGalitzine]

Originally Posted by ashelen

I love Europe for that , it is normal for the kids to be bilingual! here in america I remember the kindiergarden teacher giving me a video of phonetics for my daughter becsue she had british accent becasue my husband is british the school would not pass her if she didnt have the american accent. A few times I had teachers telling me it was wrong to bring up my daughtr bilingual, spanish-english! she was in france 3 months for kindergarden and came out speaking french! I think it is the best for kids! and i am glad my gaughter understand that, no matter what the others saidI think it is a marvellous idea to bring kids bilingual!

I think I would have gone to her Principal and complained about that. It is not as if there is such a thing as a single American accent.
it reminds me of when I applied to an American university for grad school. There accepted me but said I had to take a test to see if I was fluent enough in English. I asked them if they had noticed that my undergraduate degree was from Cambridge and did they know where Cambridge was. She still insisted it was policy to test all foreigners so I went to a different American university for grad school. Some policies are just stupid and fly in the face of logic.

[ashelen]

Originally Posted by NGalitzine

I think I would have gone to her Principal and complained about that. It is not as if there is such a thing as a single American accent.
it reminds me of when I applied to an American university for grad school. There accepted me but said I had to take a test to see if I was fluent enough in English. I asked them if they had noticed that my undergraduate degree was from Cambridge and did they know where Cambridge was. She still insisted it was policy to test all foreigners so I went to a different American university for grad school. Some policies are just stupid and fly in the face of logic.

I did I complain to the principal and he was worst gabe me a video for her to practice! it does not surprise me what you say! it is so rediulos here that you can not imagine! I think is wonderful when kids can be bilingual and I think is inteligent of CP mary and fred to encourage their kids to speaks several languages I wouldnt be suprise that Christian even knows some french!

[American Dane]

Originally Posted by AnnaNotherThing

I think lille Henrik and Athena may well be trilingual - Danish, French and English - which brings me to the question: have the Fredmary Four learnt French yet? With a father, both grandparents, uncle and aunt being fluent you would have thought they would have given it a go anyway...

I don't think Henrik and Athena know English, their parents speak Danish and French to them and to each other. I think only Nikolai (and soon Felix) are the only trilingual youngsters in the DRF so far.
Christian and Bella may know a few words of French thanks to grandpa Henrik but it will most likely be a language they take in school.

[Muhler]

This is really fascinating.

Originally Posted by American Dane

I don't think Henrik and Athena know English, their parents speak Danish and French to them and to each other. I think only Nikolai (and soon Felix) are the only trilingual youngsters in the DRF so far.
Christian and Bella may know a few words of French thanks to grandpa Henrik but it will most likely be a language they take in school.

I believe I read somewhere that Nikolai, and to a degree Felix now speak some French. It is after all Alexandra and Martin they spend most time with and when they were even younger it was probably only English and Danish they heard. It will be interesting to see whether they will study Chinese. As far as I know Alexandra is well versed in both Cantonese and Mandarin, which I believe are the two main languages in China.
And I agree, Athena and bette Henrik don't speak English yet, but they should have an advantage in both Joachim and our Marie being fluent in English.

Originally Posted by NGalitzine

I think I would have gone to her Principal and complained about that. It is not as if there is such a thing as a single American accent.
it reminds me of when I applied to an American university for grad school. There accepted me but said I had to take a test to see if I was fluent enough in English. I asked them if they had noticed that my undergraduate degree was from Cambridge and did they know where Cambridge was. She still insisted it was policy to test all foreigners so I went to a different American university for grad school. Some policies are just stupid and fly in the face of logic.

Interesting!
Well, from a non-English speaker living here in Europe that would be a challenge!
I learnt to speak and write in English-English back when I went to school. (The dinosaurs still walked the Earth back then). Now, because foreign movies are subtitled and we see so many American TV shows and movies, I now mix English and American spelling all the time as you can no doubt tell and as such I now write and speak a kind of Amerdanglish.
I think that's pretty common among us Danes.

Originally Posted by Charlotte_Aster

I was brought up bilingual (and I'm grateful for that). In retrospect I never realized which language I was talking or whether I switched languages. I just responded. According to my mother, I never mixed languages either. Of course that might be because each of my parents spoke with me in their own mothertongue. But mellie is correct, the children's brain is a marvel.

It's as I suspected then. You just do it.The human brain is a marvel, since you rarely if ever mix it up. The reason for my initial question was also that I wondered whether bilingual children, simply because their language centre is stimulated more than average, simply find it easier to master both languages in depth.
I guess that it is rather a case of founding the basis for the brain to better picking up and learning new languages later on?

Originally Posted by AnnaNotherThing

I think lille Henrik and Athena may well be trilingual - Danish, French and English - which brings me to the question: have the Fredmary Four learnt French yet? With a father, both grandparents, uncle and aunt being fluent you would have thought they would have given it a go anyway...

I don't think they know any French. But who knows, they may employ a French nanny for the twins?

[Viv]

Originally Posted by AnnaNotherThing

have the Fredmary Four learnt French yet? With a father, both grandparents, uncle and aunt being fluent you would have thought they would have given it a go anyway...

The 'foursome' will learn French for the reasons you mentioned, however I doubt that it'll have the same priority compared to other members of the family! As a natural Anglophone CP Mary is going to pull in the other direction and besides, I not sure that CP Frederik is quite as Francophile as his brother. What I'm saying is, that both have admitted to a fondness of France, however Prince Joachim has been more articulate about it , especially after marrying la Marie!

viv

[corazon]

great photos! christian is sooo big! I still remember the day that he born! wowwwww
mary take great photos, he realle look like his mother but with the blue eyes like his father

[biboquinhas]

Is Christian at the primary school yet?