We humans, communicate and collaborate with languages. We learn them naturally, as if we take them for granted — at least this is me. Growing up in Hong Kong, my brain was packed with Cantonese and English since I was small. However, I didn’t think being bilingual was something special, basically because in my surroundings, this is what everyone should be, isn’t it?
But to my surprise, this particular lecture took me a step back and analyzed the world of bilingual babies. Apart from taking a glimpse into how language develops in their (my) cute little brains, I also came across the diverse growth conditions they can have — cross-cultural marriages, migrations, etc… Now I see every family has its own story, which composes the lingual context of the babies, just like the 3 baby-raising models discussed in the lecture.
On top of these scrolls of stories, it is actually interesting to recognize the challenges faced by multilingual babies, compared to monolingual ones. Such as input reduction, as well as language differentiation. This is when their little minds are packed with diverse inputs of language, some of them may get mixed up, some influences each other… Well, while all these seem problematic, they somehow reflect how culture and language flow gently in the big world—
Now imagine, over centuries and centuries, numerous languages developed in the world we live in, similarly, some may get mixed up, some influence each other. And as globalization enhances the exchange of world cultures, brand-new lives were raised in multilingual environments. Branches of language emerge as complex human networks develop. And from this point of view, bilingual babies are, in fact, example of new complexities forming in our society!
Just to think further, this equipped them with specialties to explore the depth of the world with their multi-sided cultural perspective. Through this unique lens to the world, they gained their windows to discover more about the world; with the ability to manipulate multiple languages, they slowly absorb the wisdom of cultures; beholding the light shed upon them, I believe they can be a great communicator and collaborator. How amazing is that!
Therefore, perhaps this is the right time for me to be thankful, because of what story my family holds, which cultivates my bilingual growth path, towards an amazing continuation of the language and cultural network!