Creating bilingual minds | Naja Ferjan Ramirez | TEDxLjubljana

Dr. Naja Ferjan Ramirez is a researcher studying the brain processing of language in infants and young children. In her talk, she showcases the latest techniques to study the infant brain and explains why all babies have the full potential to learn two languages at the same time. She discusses the benefits of bilingual environments for language and brain development and describes what it takes to create bilingual minds.
Dela na Inštitutu za učenje in možganske znanosti univerze Washington v Seattlu. Na univerzo Brown v Združenih državah, kjer je doštudirala nevroznanost, so jo v rani mladosti pripeljali odlični športni rezultati v teku na 400 in 800 m z ovirami. Doktorirala je iz lingvistike in kognitivnih znanosti na univerzi v Kaliforniji, v San Diegu. Kasneje jo je pot ponesla v Seattle. Tam danes dela in živi s svojo družino, v kateri se uspešno sporazumevajo v kar treh jezikih - slovenskem, španskem in agleškem. Trenutno raziskuje, kako elastični in dojemljivi za učenje tujega jezika so možgani otrok od rojstva do tretjega leta starosti. Najzanimivejše ugotovitve s tega področja bo 4. decembra v Cankarjevem domu delila z nami.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx

[@filolinguista5576]

As a Mexican, I've got the opportunity to study in Canada. My best friend there was Filipino. We communicated each other in English, being the common language for both of us. But as time went on in our relationship we started to incorporate to our code Tagalog words that he taught me and Spanish words that I taught him. At the end of my stay in Canada, we spoke a kind of hybrid language only understandable for the two of us. Interesting linguistic experience!

[@vangestyles1980]

Me encantó! Tagalog es parecido en algunas partes al español, porque tengo entendido que eran colonia de España, puede ser? Great comment!

[@chris_2208]

@@vangestyles1980 Si es verdad

[@Anita_Backrub]

That is wild.

[@omarhrz4001]

@@vangestyles1980 cierto. Kutsara y gwapo.

[@JhonElDeSistemas]

That is genial man, i hope tener una experiencia like this. Algún día

[@walterhernandez8623]

Hats off to those who have never had the chance to spend some time in the country/ies where the language they're learning is spoken and yet have achieved a good degree of fluency.

[@LovelyQyla]

Thank you! I think it's something that most people overlook

[@Luis-ej4ei]

Thank you, that's so kind of you! I have never had someone acknowledge how cool it is to be a self-taught English speaker living far away from any native speaker 😁

[@jlevan1996]

That's me, too! I've taught myself German to what I'm told by a native speaker is an upper intermediate level. My friends, when they learned that I was doing this, usually had just one question for me, "Why?" Because I had to!

[@olgalingvo5428]

@Diyar Aydın and meeee))))

[@HoperAndBagan]

TY man. Ive never visit an english spoken country yet 😂 i rly want to.though :( and im selfLerning German cuz.its near than UK (im from spain)

[@CreamIceMs]

I have friends with whom I speak in complete Spanglish. We code mix so much, even from word to word sometimes. At times, it's just easier, or cooler to say things in one language than in another... Or sometimes the idea is better explained or more precise in one language, or the word unexistent in the other. That being said, un saludo to all those que hablan español y que estan seeing this video. Saludos from Panama :)

[@Joshe16821]

I do this in Spanish with two friends of mine as well, although two of us aren't native speakers (one is); we just learned in school and kept at it. Entonces, yeah, I get qué you mean. xD

[@eniopereira3731]

Saludos desde Guatemala. I also able to speak english as well.

[@Gabrielaalejandra]

Chris News 👋Brasil. Nasci na Argentina, grew up in Brazil and lived in Australia for a while. and that’s why yo mezclo todo y tengo 3 diccionarios no meu telefone.

[@alliahrose2878]

Filipinos speaks so much Taglish too.

[@trishdixon3990]

Zoys zits

[@cadaankaa]

She is incredibly fluent in English to have begun learning so late. Her pronunciation is perfect.

[@liveforever4190]

Word. If you listen closely you might be able to tell something's different (like how she doesn't pronounce the final s after some words with the z sound most native-speakers would use), but it's so subtle most wouldn't notice it. She truly has one of the best American accents I've ever heard. Truly awesome! Props to you, Naja!

[@joykirgan1008]

Be. By

[@militorosa8720]

@@liveforever4190 yeaaaa

[@lunalykos213]

It all just depends on the person and the environment. I'm ESL (Greece to U.S.), and I'll speak better than most due to being sheltered and under somewhat strict guidance when it came to education. It's weird!!! I grew up in the hood and stuck out like a sore thumb. Should've told my parents to let me move away LOL!

[@uchuuseijin]

She's very very good but noticably non-native. She's making about a mistake every 5-6 sentences. I've met better English speakers but she's definitely up there

[@TheGuggo]

My mother was Spanish. My father was Italian. We lived in US. My wife is Japanese of Korean descent. Now we live in Germany. My 4 year kid is exposed regularly 5 languages. He is able to switch quite naturally from one language to another and he has fun. He wants to learn Chinese as well. To me the only thing that shows something is at a higher level in his mind is how he understand sophisticated jokes that are not intended for his age.

[@kathleengreen3870]

As a bilingual educator, I am hopeful that the U.S. will continue to understand the importance of learning more than one language. We are the only country in the world that does not require bilingualism in public education. Thank you for sharing your research, this is a great way to support the value of being bilingual!

[@jl453]

I think it's because we're kind of isolated geographically from many countries and it's expensive to get to many countries. For example,its an 8-10hr flight to Europe from the west coast without layovers plus ticket,accommodation and expenses in the country. And if you want to learn a language that doesn't have large communities here to maintain that languages it'll be a challenge 😳

[@hey7492]

@@jl453 ????? that doesnt make sense whatsoever. I'll give you the only reason why U.S isn't required to teach bilingualism in public education: They already seem themselves as best, so there's nothing else that they should learn. They think they're superior country, so why would they learn languages of others? (of course not all, but most USanians think like that. Imagine how entitled you guys are, to call yourselves ''Americans'' as if that wasnt a whole continent lmao)

[@axelromero5529]

@@hey7492 I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought that the term "American" was not the best option! Lmao

[@tatianarojas4382]

@@hey7492 oiiiio y i una peli igualde no olvides enviarme un forii ir poquitin it o una ma III ui III uy uy i Oi it

[@tatianarojas4382]

Ocio el objetivo

[@inajararibeiro7563]

Im native speaker of Portuguese, I'm fluent in English, Italian, Spanish and I'm in the process of learn Dutch. I'm so communicative, its a hobby for me learn a new language.

[@tamaraporto91]

This is a goal for me...

[@Tsumebleraar]

STERKTE met die Nederlands en dan kan jy sommer ook Afrikaans verstaan.

[@Cheere96]

That's interesting but your English is not grammatically correct.

[@santiagogonzalez5050]

Hi, if you speak english please write to me.I just wanna practice my english level cause i'm studying it.

[@MJ31579]

I envy you. I'm better at maths, I can learn how to programme easier than learning a language. Maths has rules, languages don't always follow rules

[@Eggplanet96]

why does it sound like she could burst into tears at any second?

[@Reionder]

When we are nervous our muscles (i.e vocal chords) tighten up so our voice gets all trembly and stuff

[@MKL614]

especially when she starts talking about the machine

[@tahchan29]

She is being nervous :P

[@ciahalicooo]

She also sounds like she is extremely dehydrated

[@sleepyjul]

This is exactly how I feel about this video!

[@Andi-qn3rc]

My native language is spanish, I started english age 6, I am 16. I get remarked on my good english regularly. Nobody in my family speaks english but me, I achieved a really nice pronunciation. As mom says I have a natural talent with languages , I started french and it is going so good! I love languages, they are so beautiful (and hard) to learn!

[@santiagogonzalez5050]

Hi, where are you from?

[@Skaye273]

Hi, congratulations on your progress so far. Esperanto is an easier language to learn, because it's 100% consistent. It takes perhaps 10% of the time to achieve fluency, compared to other languages.

[@fcfcb6181]

Conclusion : If you want your baby to be more intelligent and bilingual, just marry someone who is native speaker of a language different from yours😇😁

[@muhammadisaac07]

I wanna marry a British 😁

[@laceybrooks9244]

I married a Spaniard

[@mariajosep.ch.8630]

Ajajajjajajajajajaja truuu

[@carolainemenezes7136]

I was thinking the same thing hahaha

[@tiagosilv248]

Someone English language? haha. My language is portugues

[@jk-jl2lo]

My grandmother was born in Berlin and came to the US for a college program in the early 1960s. She decided to stay here when she met an American man and fell in love. She gave birth to my aunt and my mom in the late 60s. My aunt, a few years older than my mom, grew up speaking a mix of English and German. When she went to kindergarten speaking German to her classmates, the teachers scolded my Oma for primarily speaking German to her. They thought it hindered her English abilities. Subsequently, my Oma spoke almost no German at home from that point on. My mom, now nearly 50, is disheartened that she never learned to speak German. She picked up some words from listening to phone calls in the other room, and from living with her grandmother as a teenager. This story is a large part of why I'm learning German at school. I want to bridge that generational gap and reconnect with my heritage, though my Oma passed away in the 80s. I hope to be even conversationally fluent by the time I have children, so they might be bilingual babies.

[@scitechmathesl]

I took German in college in order to be able to speak with my grandfather and grandmother. But they spoke low deutsch and in school you're taught hochdeutsch. 🙄 When I decided to learn Spanish 35 years later I found German words would just pop into my brain when I was speaking Spanish. It was amusing, but also kind of creepy...

[@noeoleole6911]

I am native Spanish, my husband is native English speaker, and we have 3 children that we have been trying to raise bilingual (he only speaks English to them, and I speak only Spanish). This was easier to do before the kids went to school... living in an English speaking country, once they reached the age to go to school, they started speaking more English and slowly don't speak Spanish back to me. It's very hard sometimes and I admit that I give in and speak English to them too because I want my children to be able to express themselves with their mother, and they can't seem to do that in Spanish. My husband doesn't seem to understand and gives me a hard time whenever he hears me speak English with them... he means no harm, but it is kind of a lonely road when you're the only one trying to keep up your native language in a country that isn't yours. The first time I realized that I would probably never hear my kids speak Spanish to me (my dear mother tongue) the same way they speak English, it broke my heart a little.

[@CharlotteG754]

I have the same concern. My husband and I speak different native languages but we both use English (second langue for both of us) to communicate while we live in US. We would love our kids to learn more languages - at least one of our native tongues - but I don’t even know how to achieve that.

[@ljj8120]

You need to give them a Spanish tutor or class, so they can keep up with the vocabulary. And insist on not speaking English back to them, at least not when you and the kids are alone. Make having conversations in Spanish fun or make a Spanish weekend with your whole family (for that time hubby can speak Spanish at least to you, so the kids see it being used). One language for one place or one one or one person.

[@ljj8120]

@@CharlotteG754teach them from young, make opportunities to speak both but one language at a time not mixed. And get a tutor or language learning program to help with reading/writing and vocabulary.

[@Skaye273]

Continue to speak to them in Spanish. If they understand, even if they're replying in English, it should help them learn. They may not appreciate it now, but I'm almost certain that eventually they will thank you for it, when they're much older. Perhaps since your husband feels so strongly about this, he can join you now in speaking mostly Spanish with them at home - even if he has to use Google Translate sometimes. Since they're getting so much exposure to English at school. And even if he makes mistakes, you can explain to them that Daddy is still learning Spanish, too - and perhaps that will help motivate them to use it also, since they see him putting in the effort to use his non-native/less comfortable language? They might even sometimes find it funny, if Daddy makes mistakes in Spanish, that they notice are mistakes. That will help them enjoy it more, I think.

[@esn2130]

Tienes que seguir hablándoles en español, no cejes en el intento, por el amor de Dios. Yo estoy en tu misma situación y jamás respindo a mis hijos cuando se dirigen a mí en inglés, nunca, siempre les digo, no te entiendo. Llévalos a tu país de origen por temporadas, cómprales libros y juegos en español, y nunca nunca renuncies a tus raíces por la circunstancia de vivir en otro sitio. Yo hablo en inglés, pero no siento lo que digo en inglés...me entiendes? Le puedo decir I love You al basurero...para mí no significa nada en mi persona. Un te quiero me brota del alma y no me gustaría comunicarme con mis hijos en una lengua que no siento. Y cuando sean mayores, en mi lecho de muerte quiero despedirme de ellos en mi amado eapañol, sintiendo cada palabra que les diga. Mucha suerte..y si es lo que quieres no decaigas. Por cierto,conozco a personas que están resentidas con sus padres por haberles robado el regalo de hablar la lengua materna de ellos.

[@nikitaivanov6656]

English is my second language. I highly doubted I could understand at least something without subtitles. But it turned out this video didn't have subtitles so I had to watch it without them. And I understood everything that nice researcher said. Didn't expect. It probably means my English is not bad. I'm confident it is.

[@HT-ye3py]

ViChyavIn I did too. But I think this woman talks with very clear accent.

[@javierrubio1431]

same sis

[@altisidora6]

Me too, I dnk, maybe is cuz she's not a native speaker and is her second language

[@angelgabrielcaviedesjoya9368]

might in her language there are cryng-like sounds? :B

[@HinataPlusle]

That means you're improving, obviously. It helps, as others have mentioned, that she has very clear accent. And, as a non-native speaker of English, I believe more often than not non-native speakers (provided that they can actually pronounce everything well) are easier to understand.

[@elleglenn]

This is actually quite reassuring. I'm a single mom trying to raise a more or less bilingual kid. It sounds insane, but I refuse to give up, even though the results are not as obvious as they would be in a full bilingual family. Even if it ends up being just a brain exercise, it's still a very good brain exercise both for the child and for me.

[@sandascubli3721]

Single mom here. I raised a bilingual kid. It's doable :)

[@raqueeeeelm]

same here!

[@soniashinde2588]

Great Thought and Work! Best Wishes..

[@user-oq5lk7sb5k]

@@sandascubli3721 tell me please how did you switch between languages ?

[@hoodlumpolice8801]

This is the best ASMR I’ve heard for a while

[@bellebrito]

hahahha

[@Jessica-wq7mj]

Saaaaaame

[@Obehave81]

😂

[@tenacioust9830]

😂🤣😂🤣

[@selenav1986]

glad i'm not the only one that thinks this

[@abrilakgun]

Watching this with my 11 months old trilingual baby ☺️. So happy to know that me a his father are able to give him such a great advantage so early in life!

[@lunasworld4077]

I am a native Bengali speaker and Urdu as it was used in our household both my parents and relatives knew it and I learned to read Arabic very early on and know hindi and English jusy by TV

[@jacm365]

That badass moment when she explains why his child code-mixes, "there are few reasons. The first one is that he can" LOL

[@aadyaaggarwal5312]

YASS! I legit laughed so hard, she was smirking!

[@ssmp00]

I speak 6 languages fluently and I think and dream in all of them. Depends on situation. I was exposed to two languages as a baby - Slovenian and German, although German disappeared at the age of one or two and I got exposed to it only twice a year for one week - all other exposion was German television (which was the only television my parents watch(ed)). I thought this video would show us how to create bilingual minds when we're older, not what we could do with our children :( But I guess I found it out for myself already. Learn basic vocabulary and then listen to a lot of serials/movies and read books, then you start thinking in that other language. You can start writing in that language earlier or you should do it right at the beginning and then eventually start speaking. Depends on whether you are an introvert or an extravert :)

[@dilan6459]

I want to raise my future child trilingual and was unsure if it’s too much for a baby. But now I think he or she would be perfectly capable to process three different languages. Thanks a lot ☺️

[@user-zh5vn5xj2n]

I think it's possible to learn a second language from TV solely. As a kid I was exposed to russian TV, but none of my relatives or friends spoke it. However I got fluent at it.

[@Shocker8MTA]

Încearcă Duolingo

[@vicmastandrea7599]

Yeah but she talked about baby brains specifically. She said kids might be able to learn words from TV, but not babies.

[@utube1255]

Да ты гонишь :-)

[@Lily_and_River]

I learned a lot of my English from watching movies and listening to music when I was older. But babies need the human interaction to learn a language. Actually they need human interaction to learn anything really.

[@starvaleri8777]

Omg my niece is expose to Russian tv in the house but no one in my family talks it not even me we just let her see her show because she loves it and we are okay with it. But she sings the songs in Russian and sometimes say the dialogues of the cartoon, but we know she understands more Spanish than any other language. So that’s so weird that you too hopefully she learns Russian! Or do you think she already know it?

[@JoelSSouza]

What a relevant speech! My first baby is coming and I was worried about creating a bilingual environment at home. Now it's clear for me, how healthy and positive it is. By the way, once I visited a community for foreing missionaries, here in Amazonas-Brazil. For the first time I saw kids talking to each other in three/four languages naturally. While I was talking to the hostess, who is brazilian but lives in Netherlands, her daughter was talking with other kids around us in English and Spanish. And she talked with her mother in Dutch. I was absolutely amazed at that. How fantastic is our mind. God be praised!

[@mavrikhaa]

I "codeswitch" a lot but that is because I find some languages have words that are better fit for something and they don;t exist in another one; and yes I only do that when I know the person that I talk to can understand it :)

[@Honeybee-rw2yp]

We are all rooting for her because we can only imagine how difficult it is to do what she is doing. That being said, when a person is extremely nervous, unfortunately, it fogs the message. So commendable she got up there!!

[@alejandrocontreras5176]

GhoneyB8 I agree with you because most of the people don't understand that is difficult to be there standing in front those people and having inside your mind the thought that you're going to appear in digital media, to be "fluent" in that kind of situations you need to have experience, and all the people who has experience struggled in an specific time ago.

[@yalu2225]

I lived in Belgium for 20 years. So I can speak Dutch, French, English. I was born in China and had learned Japanese first . After I worked in a Korean company and had communicated with customers who from different countries. I speak daily at least 6-8 languages.People can speaks many different languages but It's inpossible be perfect.

[@mitreka88]

Yes... that's the same in multi languages country like indonesia. I can speak at least 7 local language coz I stay in many cities. When you move to other city or district you learn new language automatically without study grammar, writing or reading. You just listen listen listen and imitate some native speakers or your friends. English is 8th language to me. We learn in classroom for 6 to 10 years but no students can speak well and understand native english speakers. I think english is more challenging than Dutch coz its irregular spelling and pronnuciation. Nederlands taal is easy to spell or read for indonesian coz the same phonologic system. In colonial period many indonesian can speak conversational Dutch or Hollands spereken without schooling. They just only listen listen and listen some words from meneer en mevrouw.

[@mujotomi]

It's very sad that you didn't mention Chinese language at all; well, you mentioned that you didn't learn it first which speaks volumes about your parents, and you were obviously infected with the same illness ...

[@mujotomi]

@@mitreka88 *"I think english is more challenging than Dutch coz its irregular spelling and pronnuciation."* Dutch is definitely the ugliest language in the world; if nothing else, one can ruin their throat when using it for some time.

[@thiagoaugusto9262]

I think that it's impossible being totally fluent in any language. I don't even know all the words in Portuguese, sometimes I struggle to say something in my own language, imagine being total fluent in English. Forever I'll be learning English and Portuguese.

[@jeromebizet7165]

It's possible because you don't actually need to learn ALL the words in the language you're learning, you clearly WON'T be fluent in any language if you only learn it at school. You'll be fluent in the language you're learning by practicing AND essentially learn outside of school (for exemple if you like TV, watch a programm in the original language). I did this and now I'm fluent in english ! I'm the proof you can be fully fluent in the language you learn if you use it everyday !

[@internetstranger3686]

You don't have to learn all the words to be fluent though 🤨

[@johnyoder330]

É português ou brasileiro?

[@user-ft8ne2mu3m]

Although she seemed like doing got nervous while she was talking in this lecture, i still can feel that she did great job successfully. Because i even can't speak english well with less than two people...

[@philipb2134]

Speakers of more than one language, tend to run these in parallel. At times there can be an embarrassment where one upbringing had not given a child the same linguistic tags /both ways/ for some new experience. Namaste

[@vinz9741]

I am French, I used to live in Spain living with another French and a Spanish. After 3 years together it was amazing, we could mix up French, Spanish and English the 3 of us, passing from the perfect version of these languages to be understood by anyone or mixing up the 3 of them so only us can understand .

[@CAvoli2009]

Great TED! My kid is almost 3 years old now. He's bilingual (Italian and Portuguese), English is a common language in our reading times, games and songs, and now we're living in Geneva and he's in frequent contact with Spanish and French. Sometimes I worry a little about it al being too much all together, but what I see is a kid that is having a lot of fun with sounds, new words, discovering body language to solve communication problems... It is a lot, but we're there for him and it's clear how well he feels in this mixed languages world!! I just love it all, even if it's challenging.

[@claudia4762]

Early exposure to bilingual language is not an obstacle but rather a valuable asset for children's intellectual growth. This thought-provoking video sheds light on the remarkable cognitive advantages of bilingual minds, inspiring us to embrace and nurture linguistic diversity in our society.

[@fyokota]

My twin boys are now 7. I'm Brazillian, my wife Russian and we live in Germany. It was very natural for them to learn all 3 languages.

[@alejandrocontreras5176]

One thing that I'm thinking about is the fact that most of the schools don't teach their students with motivation and without any reason to learn the language, without that it would be more difficult to make people bilingual or at least fluent in the second taught language.

[@demonslayer1162]

Multilingual here too, so true sometimes I wish I could borrow words from Chinese when I'm writing an essay in english, vice versa.

[@HaggenKennedy]

Clara: could you give a few examples of words/expressions in Chinese that have no direct translation in English? Things you'd rather say in Chinese, like "yuán ​fèn" (緣分) or "yuān​ wang" (冤枉), for example. I'd love to hear about it.

[@zi_pun]

Haggen Kennedy You have 冤枉 in English, which is "wrong." When you 冤枉 or wrong someone, it means we call someone wrong when they actually have done nothing wrong. Nevertheless, there are limitless examples of Chinese words that have no direct translation in English. The ones that are on top of my head are "孝順" (which means someone is being very dedicated to their parents), "傲嬌" (which means someone is actually very shy but pretending to be determined and conceited to cover their shyness), "氣質" (which means the ambience given off by the person that affects the people around him. For example, we can say someone that has a fashionable outfit has an artistic 氣質; and we can say someone that reads and writes a lot has a lot of literature 氣質.)......

[@Nikosi9]

For "氣質" you could use the word "sense". 'She has a good sense of fashion (literature), art, etc."

[@Lily_and_River]

Oscar Pan You can actually say in English that you've wronged someone. Or that you did somebody wrong. Meaning treating an innocent person badly. It is a bit old fashioned but it isn't incorrect either.

[@koiiiz]

​@@HaggenKennedy I think sometimes even though there are official and direct translations between English and Chinese words, their meanings are still slightly different in some ways... For example, the words may emphasize different parts of the meaning, and sometimes this is due to social context. A funny example that I can think of right now is 辣. I guess for 辣 you can say "spicy" or "hot". But I think "spicy" more applies to 麻 or food that contains spices (香料) instead of 辣. And "hot" is easily misunderstood due to its other meanings referring to temperature. So when I'm in the US I never know how to say "我不吃辣" in English without getting mixed up with "not eating spices" or "not eating hot food"...

[@Meyra97512]

I'm fluent in Danish, English, Turkish, and on the path to being pretty decent in Spanish.

[@Indiegabo]

Meyra Let's make a test: ¿Hola cómo estás, me gustaría saber qué haces en tus tiempos libres?

[@BelenRubio93]

If you need someone to speak in spanish let me know! :)

[@Meyra97512]

Gabriel Villegas Muy bien, gracias. En mi tienpo libre me gusta leer libros y ahora mismo estoy leyendo 'When Breath Becomes air' de Paul Kalanithi.

[@vianeyboruel504]

Meyra in Spanish the verb like is- gusta (me, gusta, te gusta, nos gusta, le gusta, les gusta)with any pronoun, gusto is- a pleasure ...as in - pleasure to meet you(gusto conocerte )...or a pleasure of mine (un gusto mio)

[@Meyra97512]

Vianey Boruel Don't know why I forgot that, thanks for the reminder!

[@walterorue884]

This is so amazing! We grow up in Paraguay speaking Spanish and an indigenous language, this local language is no academic, the press is not written in it, the school teaches it in a very basic way and the people associate it with poverty, lack of development and slow-learning making. Switching languages is the most fluent thing you can do with languages.

[@shinyhorseproductions3525]

I am a bilingual from birth, my parents spoke Russian and English. I'm so glad I had this opportunity to learn 2 languages at once, and I'm learning my third language, Spanish. When I have kids, I'll do the same thing as my parents.

[@carolayloyolasolar8366]

Mi lengua nativa es español, y quiero aprender ingles. Puedo enseñar español, si alguien me enseña ingles, por favor. My native language is Spanish, and I want to learn English. I can teach Spanish, if someone teaches me English, please

[@nerobautistaii6139]

yes in Philippines we have over 100 languages, and English is usually our third or fourth language, code mixing is really common and we are able to relay our message more clearly than in just one language. So to all na naninuod sa TEDTalk na ito, maligaya kayo and hopefully marami kayong natutunan na substantial!

[@AndreDaSilvaTavares]

Naja Ferjan, I have 2 children and they are bilingual. A funn thing is that they sometimes use both languages in the same phrase. I strongly belive that learning 2 languages does not slow down the ability to speak, now my childern are at the teen age and the speak Portuguese and English naturaly. Great speaking I love your theory.

[@rainwave5]

loool i actually didn't even notice the mouth noises until looking at the comments so i assume the people were not focused enough on what she was saying, or maybe because i'm not using earphones

[@JC-my2vh]

hahaha, i think the situation is just like we are having Maths class, we can only notice what teacher wears....

[@alliahrose2878]

me too I didn't notice it until I saw the comments.

[@stevenwilson7479]

Thank you for being the voice of reason amongst this madness of superficiality.

[@elenamancini8990]

I didn't notice it either. It was too interesting what she was saying.

[@MisokoFukumoto]

I use earphones, and I hear them but I ignore them

[@stevenwaltercorderosalinas7467]

She is absolutely right that babies can learn English without teaching them. In fact, they learn any language in an uncouncious and natural way. Exposing them into social conversations, playing in different activities, talking to them in different topics and so forth. This is the best way we can learn any language.

[@sebastiendumas5800]

This is a really good talk. I grew up in New-Brunswick Canada. Je parle Français et anglais. I can switch my mind from one language to the other with out any difficulty. I currently reside in Alberta. I mostly speak English. So I dream and think in English most of my day. When I go to NB and I interact with my parents, sister and friends I will start dreaming in french. Except for when I do mathematics. I find it easier for me to count in french. The province I grew up in is the only official billigual province in Canada. You have to be fluent in both languages and everything needs to be written in both languages. I find this to be a very rich cultural background. As I get older I realize how important this is for me and how proud I am to be fluent in two languages. Merci et très belle présentation Naja Ferjan.

[@user-xs6iu4vj3i]

I'm Russian and I'm a translator of the English language)) so now being pregnant I already try to talk with my child in English ))

[@mujotomi]

So you want to say that you are an Americanized traitor? Slavic languages are so pretty (Slovene first, Czech, Polish, Russian right behind) that it's a crime to speak with your unborn in English.

[@ciaran3884]

Wish I was a baby.

[@aesthetic3521]

Ciaran Same

[@paulguerra4886]

wish u werr special, but u're a creep :V

[@lumpoh]

XD

[@victorbuenorangel6560]

Best comment ever LOL

[@irisramos8464]

You can learn everything you want at any age. Because now, your intelligence is more developed now than when you were 3 years old, now you understand the meaning of things, when we are smaller we don't aware of that, we just repeat like parrots and memorize without being conscious. Mi violin professor told me that. For example, I started to learn violin 3 years ago (I'm 26 now) and I thought it was a waste of time because I was too old to learn but not, as long as you have the desire to do it and the discipline to be constant, you will be fine. :D Btw, I'm mexican and also I'm improving my english with videos and music. Good luck!

[@fatimakratohvil6904]

My child was under two year of age but already spoke fluently our native language and second language as well .His pediatrician was amazed ! Than we moved to one other country and was busy with adjusting to everything new in the new country while our 2 years old spend time watching cartoons and kids tv program in third language . We where not considering possibility of him learning anything , but when in group of kids speaking third language ,our child amazed us ! He was able to participate in conversation with native speakers of that third language .Later at school as a third graded he was on level of seven grade in reading , writing , spelling . Our child said his first word when he was only 5 months old . He later studied 3 more language , all together 6 languages ! Our All family members speak more than 3 languages .Nothing special , it is just Life teaching us skills we need .

[@JackGaby]

Her accent is so close to perfection

[@mujotomi]

Yes, she's bleating like a typical American of the last 2 to 3 decades.

[@kaizenjhayzieokamoto7738]

I’m half Japanese and Filipino. I grew up in the Philippines. My mom’s side of the family speak to me in Tagalog. My dad’s side of the family speak to me in Japanese. My sister and I were enrolled to an English school. We could speak Tagalog and English fluently. Japanese, well, we barely see our dad’s side of the family but we can speak Japanese, we just don’t know some terms and words

[@zuspanishworld2677]

"Learning foreign languages is hard" My words for many years... Thanks for the video.

[@jhonnybravo4065]

It depends who teach you, and how much effort you're willing to put on love

[@pogo2017]

Estoy volviendo a estudiar inglés y realmente es complicado, pero en este video acabo de darme cuenta que me es más fácil dejar de querer traducir cada oración que voy entendiendo o leyendo y de esa manera puedo concentrarme mejor en el mensaje de lo que se está querido exponer y aunque por momentos me incómoda no comprender ciertas palabras me agrada saber que termine de ver el vídeo con un concepto sobre el bilingüismo en la infancia y cómo repercute tanto a nivel cognitivo! I am very happy for this. También pude notar como algunas palabras las pronuncia con otra acentuación a la nativa y me pareció increíble poder detectarlo, creó que lo más complejo es la pronunciación con velocidad

[@carinacorrea1976]

I'm an English teacher from Argentina. I was working at a kindergarten with weather prompts and with The very hungry caterpillar book, and one day my 2 y.o. daughter asked me: "¿por qué te estás llevando el sun de la caterpillar al jardín?" perfectly mixing the two languages: not only was each word where it should be but also the two foreign words she used were preceded by the correct article if the foreign words had been said in Spanish: el sun/el sol, la/caterpillar/ la oruga. I simply LOVE when little kids can do these sort of things and code combining more than code mixing 🤗

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

A good code for code mixing is that sometimes there is a term in one language that doesn't perfectly translate into the other. In the broad things that ends up as loanwords, but in common day-to-day speech among bilinguals I can totally see the same.

[@anushreevk2882]

good one👍 while in India, since childhood my friends and I subconsciously switched between English and Hindi (sometimes Marathi as well) quite seamlessly.. we never even realized it was happening till someone who lived in America (but understood both languages ) pointed it out.

[@virnamedina5770]

Our daughter is receiving Danish, English and Spanish at home, I am the only one speaking Spanish to her, she gets Danish all around (we live in Denmark) and at home me and my HB speak English with each other and she is starting to repeat English as well, she is NOT confused at all, she is starting to understand the difference between the codes and the differences in their structures and sounds. It is really wonderful.

[@missssjennnn]

She did auf great job and hey it is completly okay being nervous on a big stage like this. Please keep that in mind everyone. Thanks.

[@missssjennnn]

completely*

[@lpatterson1968]

Every one of these talks has a message, but thus one of the few that will bring us together on common ground to identify with people through experience. Well done!!

[@mars__2961]

The majority of the points she’s given are true, but I disagree about the ‘you can’t learn a foreign language by watching tv’... I think that every mean you can use to listen to and understand a foreign language is important and extremely helpful! The more you listen to the better you become in understanding and improving accents! By the way it’s a very interesting talk. 😊

[@aleka1017]

This is a great talk. Im excited to learn Mandarin as my second language very well so I can teach my baby sister when she arrives. This inspires me a lot :D

[@simonleongkwannang]

We mixed as many as 3 language in one sentence here in malaysia. We called it "manglish". The best part is, every race understands. No confusion whatsoever. Excellent presentation. Bravo. Having an extra language makes it so much easier when we are travelling, especially english.

[@lacademylanguageimmersionp6210]

The benefits of learning multiple languages are apparent for adults but of paramount significance for young children in terms of cognitive and communication skills development. Learning to speak a second language is also a great way to teach how to overcome fear and failure. The best thing any parent can do for their children is to expose them to a second language from the beginning of life.

[@aarulicious]

I am from India. I've grown up in a household where people knew 3 languages Hindi English and haryanvi. In school I learnt Sanskrit and now I am learning German. I totally agree to your view. We never Mixed up the languages in a wrong way.

[@hh-xb4in]

As a person who was first exposed to english through tv programs as a child, it never slowed down my speaking abilities i started speaking when i was 8 months old i started speaking both persian and English, even faster than most babies around me!

[@wytentegowawszy]

It's funny but i've learned english by accident and thanks to harry potter. As a kid i couldn't wait for the next book being translated to my native language and started to read an original. I knew only some basic english so it was hard in the beggining but by the time i finished the book i could understand most of what i read. I didn't use dictionary, but got meaning from context. Much later in life i did the same with russian. My husband is a russian native speaker and his family doesn't speak any other language, so i had to learn russian and fast, just to feel like a part of the family. It took me about two years and the only thing i did was watching movies, tv shows, listening to audiobooks on my way to work, trying to form thoughts in russian in my head etc. It was painless and it worked again. Obviously my level of either english or russian is not absolutely fluent, i make mistakes and my accent is not on point, but it's a process and its possible to learn it to perfection and without lot of effort.

[@biraboy1]

What are the 6 ingredients?

[@venusstudios2973]

Soy Sauce, Ketchup, Vinegar, Salt, Pepper, and little bit of tears. In other words, study hard.

[@azraelkeen5660]

Specifically: "1. Frequency matters: Children learn the words that they hear the most. 2. Make it interesting: Children learn words for things and events that interest them. 3. Make it responsive: Interactive and responsive contexts rather than passive contexts favor vocabulary learning. 4. Focus on meaning: Children learn words best in meaningful contexts. 5. Be clear: Children need clear information about word meaning. 6. Beyond the word: Vocabulary learning and grammatical development are reciprocal processes."

[@martas9283]

As a native speaker of my 2nd language once pointed out, to cheer me up: everyone has an accent! Replacing your 'foreign' accent with a native one makes you a better mimic, not a more fluent speaker

[@guillaumevera-navas1386]

The language to learn that makes easier the learning of other languages is clearly Esperanto, because it's so simple and makes all grammatical categories just self-obvious. This quality has been stressed many times in different studies.

[@thearchitect27]

When you can understand the jokes of another language, you have truly mastered that language!

[@jorgegalindo7036]

"Linguistic Sophistication" Love it !!

[@consultoraindependiente8960]

Thanks for this video! I've found it very useful and enjoyable! I have always been interested about bilingualism and how it works in the brain.

[@matematicarka]

wow her accent is amazing I had the same issues in (reading and writing and listening) vs talking when I first started work that required English

[@pdxripjaw]

Both my wife and I are native English speakers, but we’re using Duoloingo + Close family and friends who natively speak Spanish to learn ourselves, and raise our kids speaking both English and Spanish because it will help them both growing up and later in life

[@ZAB-xg5nw]

Wtf are those mouth noises

[@lovecharms97]

She probably didn´t drink enough before coming on stage.

[@ms.woodard8714]

ZAB1019 de panther LMAO pop rocks 😂

[@eps4560]

dry mouth. those noises make me CRINGE.... 😨

[@miru8750]

ASMR

[@tahchan29]

She is still so very nervous :)

[@MeowMeow-cl3sl]

Thank you for your exceptional talk! Recently I have watched some video about bilingual children, then I realize it is really nice if we could help our children learn foreign language almost effortlessly, comparing to us, who have to spend years and years, being hard-working and doing our tests to be fluent in some foreign language.

[@geetanjali1162]

I am Indian. As most of indians I can speak 3 languages fluently. One is my state language, 2nd national language Hindi, 3rd English. 4th language I learned to speak because of my husband who is from other state of India. My 20 moths old daughter can understand all 4 languages very well and even she can use words very well. She has got lots of vocabulary all from these 4 languages. I wonder how she use words when speaking with her daddy in his native language then switch to my native language when speaking with me.

[@anta3612]

I was raised bilingual and have always known its advantages. I was told, though, that it was bad and my parents were scolded for not prioritising one language over the other. People would hear us code switch and think we were confused: not the case. We know when to speak exclusively one language and when to exclusively use the other (with monolinguals). I'm glad that science is finally catching up.

[@ugosinsaang]

"Why are we not fluent bilingual?" was the question. Can really the answer be we should teach our children to be? Or is there a solution to how could any grown up be bi-lingual?

[@alejandrocontreras5176]

Ugo Peltier Well, that's a good question, because not all the people at all want to teach their children a foreign language (mostly if they aren't native speakers of another languages that aren't the one of their living country), but I think it would be great to make attempts in that topic and see the results, maybe one country between a lot can show us the difference, also I think teaching our babies a new language can make the future generations with a different view of the world and lead them to a way of being better people, also exist many countries which in them are spoken two languages or more, it would be interesting to know their opinion in this topic as well.

[@alinedasilvadeoliveira7776]

Amazing! Congratulations for the magnificent speech!

[@iparipaitegianiparipaitegi4643]

I live in a trilingual region (basque, spanish, french). Babies don’t mix the languages up if each parent always uses the same language. The baby early learn what’s dad’s language and mum’s one.

[@harshaldesai2505]

Great talk --- she's a professor/researcher at the University of Washington now. Great lecturer there as well.

[@lovingatlanta]

🤔🤨🧐What is that noise and why did she get so nervous all of a sudden? Nevertheless, I appreciate the info.👍💞

[@SlainByTheWire]

I'm currently learning Japanese. It's not your usual language, I need to remember sentence structure, subtle nuances in particles, three sets of writing styles, two with around 50 characters and the other with 2000 Kanji characters with meanings that change in context, plus grammar modifications to the end of those Kanji, oh and stroke order, and polite and casual forms. My mind boggles as to how younger kids over there can remember all this. Granted, they have more time to learn than I do, and they probably don't all know 2000 Kanji, but even half of that is a lot to take in.

[@mr.cifuentes1779]

paul13nov well japanese kids dont just learn it, it is passed down through dna as well

[@FidaAifiya]

paul13nov i learned japanese too! i learned it myself tho, so i didnt reach the minimum level to be able to speak in japanese...

[@adamstewart7856]

Because they learn it naturally, when you were a kid did you actively think about how difficult and sometimes non-sensible it is to write in English or how we have certain grammar and syntax rules that frankly don't make sense? Not really... It's all about active learning and being corrected when a mistake is made, Japanese is the only language Japanese kids grow up with, so naturally Japanese is going to make sense to them; to a Japanese, English doesn't really make sense. My advise is to not think actively about each subject as if it were a lesson or take it very strictly, language is fluid and even natives make mistakes, just let your brain aquire it through steady acquisition and a lot of source material in the language, learning new objects by looking up what they are for example ;P とにかく、言語を正しく学びたいならあまり言語的に物事を深刻に考えないようにしては一番いい方法だと思うんです！見聞きは大事だから日本語を習うために頑張って　(●´ϖ`●)

[@philipb2134]

I gave up learning Japanese many years ago. The burden was unsustainable at the time. Learning kanji was daunting, but might have been easier if we were given some of the tips and tricks which Japanese kids themselves use.

[@EmmasEasyEnglish]

I wish I had been brought up bilingual, but don't give up hope! It's never too late to become fluent in a new language!

[@philipb2134]

It was natural to us when we spoke at home. In the middle of a sentence, the other language expressed the thought better, then we would flip back. We tried to downplay it when we had visitors who spoke one language.

[@oscarsharkslayer]

Lovely lecture! However, when I was just super-excited to learn the "six ingredients" to become bilingual (last minute), it was over! Why? About slowing down thru bilinguality: if the kid got half the time for learning the language, won't she learn a bit less? :) Thank you!

[@MrTls1992]

And, here I thought this video was about creating bilingual mind for myself haha should've read the description before I played the video.

[@lkumiksm]

Bilingual learning doesn’t slow down the learning process. I live in Malaysia and I know children who at the age of 4-5 are able to switch between 3 or 4 languages (malay - thai - english - arabic). It’s amazing the capacity of learning that some children have developed in this part of the world thanks to anything but geographical location. You can find this phenomena all throughout Southeast Asia. Based on my personal experience, I can assure you that we do are able to learn more than one language simultaneously. I’m a native spanish speaker from México, I also speak english, arabic fusha and malay; I started learning these last two about 3 years ago (when I moved to Asia), and I never felt my brain this agile when learning a language. I’ve even improved considerably my understanding of english and spanish grammar during the last years. As she explained, confusion is not a real issue while learning more than one language at the time. Mixing languages requires advance knowledge in grammar. I do mix languages all the time with my partner, who is a malay native speaker and also knows english, spanish and arabic. And it’s not about translating some words from your speech into other language only. It’s about replacing/using/adding different grammar elements such as possessives, affixes, suffixes, adverbs; in such a way that makes total sense. And that’s not all, you need to be able to understand the general mindset of the native speaker of each language in order to transmit the concepts, ideas and emotions successfully, since the way we think is highly influenced by our language. The must of the time it’s like a game between my partner and I, in some cases is a vocabulary resource when you don’t know a word in certain language. At the end, I think the objective of it is simplify the communication. However, when in public I normally prefer to switch to the language that is less probable for people around me to understand. You know, we like to keep our conversation in private. So you will find me saying things such as: “Habibiku sudah arrive ke mall?”... Which is a sentence that contents arabic, malay and english elements that translated into a single language doesn’t really trasmite what I want in the way I want. “Have you arrived to the mall my beloved?” I think it sounds pretty cheesy and unnatural for an average english conversation. However, for us who are able to understand each single word and its own natural connotation, the communication happens to be effective. It’s kinda funny...

[@omarkaha]

I'm an Indonesian. Well, Indonesian language (bahasa) is commonly spoken as a second language for most of Indonesian since we speak our own mother tongue then start to learn Indonesian language in school. Many Indonesian can speak more than one dialects (we have more than 700 dialects)+Indonesian language+other foreign languages. This research is just remarkable and gave me a new scientific insight to raise my bilingual babies. Cheers!

[@TimmacTR]

Multilingual child here. There are also several problems associated with having several cultures, let alone several languages. One of the problems specific to languages though is that you are tempted to use the "easiest" and more accessible word from both languages. This way, you are actually creating language confusion, which can become very bad with time, with the child unable to properly communicate in one or the other language. Also, you are preventing the child from improving himself in both languages.. Solution: never allow the child to speak a mixed language. He should start and finish sentences and conversations a specific language.

[@alejandrocontreras5176]

TimmacTR well, I don't really know , because it depends on researches and science, no one can assure that just by word, I think.

[@TimmacTR]

+Сириус Кускан Well, obviously problems you have never had to deal with. It's called identity dissonance and it's one of the problems I for example had to deal with personally..

[@PonUnPandaEnTuVida]

Multilingual child here. Never had that problem. It actually sounds like a problem you just made up.

[@TimmacTR]

+Сириус Кускан Do not tell me what words I should use..

[@TimmacTR]

+Сириус Кускан Thanks for the advice, but I value other things more than politically correctness..

[@Sapphireia]

I need to marry a foreigner then

[@abaz6955]

Here I am !

[@saifsaifu4455]

@Martin Sanchez hi

[@arizanty]

😂 you need to be a bilingual parent first.

[@ZwRkErDa]

@Martin Sanchez Claro que sí, papi

[@bhellabhellee8959]

@@teodora7219 n mmn

[@aryansaeed2924]

Strange!! Some people criticize her because of a bit noisy sound comes out from her mouth. I'm really grateful about her speech

[@aadyaaggarwal5312]

WOW THIS IS AN AMAZING TALK!! It gets better as it continues. I am bilingual and I have never felt so good about speaking Hinglish than when Dr. Ramirez said that it indicates linguistic sophistication hahaha

[@MrAntoscar]

Speaking two languages could be easy if you take in consideration that: a language are nothing more than visualization of what you talking about it, thoughts continue to be images of anything, but for all of that you need practice to making be automatic of what wants to saying. Many time did happened to me of reading something, and change languages without realized I’m reading now in other languages and comprehend the same way of what I’m reading about without realize I already change languages without knowing. We have only one brain divided in two minds which in both saids having it’s only knowledge and the axons will regroups on his own way. That why some times I may saying of what want to saying his on top of my tang, that means for some reason what ever his on our mind not yet very well reorganize.

[@lizgaby9761]

Antonio Oscar Silva I remember, when I my mom took me to Spain, to relearn Spanish basically. And kids in school knew I came from the US, and they asked me a question, "you speak Spanish, but in what language do you think?" I...didn't even know what to say, because I literally switched. I think I was thinking in English but once they asked me, I switch to Spanish because of the question...i don't know how to explain it's weird haha

[@multilingualmegan78]

I disagree. I've learnt english by listening music in english and watching american tv shows. I didn't need to talk to anyone. Years later I've met some english native speakers and I talked to them without any hesitation. So yes, children can learn english with music and tv.

[@Vaidoteful]

She said "babies".... which in her study means 0-3 yrs - I honestly do not believe that you made a decision at the age of 2 or 3 to watch American shows... . I think that you were older when you started learning from music as well...

[@Schneeeulenwetter]

Mayr 98 but what she is saying that you have to be older (not 1 or two years old) but I was things that it might work if the TV program is interactive

[@nguyenduongkhang5926]

Mayr 98 could u show me some tv show you know and learninf by?

[@JC-my2vh]

Yes, I agree. But for some cases, make sense is ok. And for those who major in English, it should be more strict. As an English major student, i need to learn to think in English and cry for English..

[@pedroadangarcia391]

learnt is correct in British English

[@MN-sn5dr]

in my house i speak english and greek but i had a Spanish nanny up until i was a newborn to seven, i would spend a lot of time with her and she refused to speak anything but Spanish to me. Naturally i became fluent but she left and i didn’t use Spanish for a long time. just started Spanish in school and i’m picking it up really easily :)

[@KieshaOlthuis]

I am completely fluent in two languages (Indonesian and English)...thank god! And am learning French, Mandarin, Dutch, and Korean. I started learning Mandarin when I was 8 years old, learned French when I was 9. I was learning Dutch at a very young age (cause my dad was Dutch) but was never really fluent in it. I started learning Korean last 2 years. The more languages I learn, the easier it is to learn another. Plus, switching through languages just adds to the benefits!

[@LucianaPeck]

I wish I could be fluent in french😩

[@KushinaNoYume]

Courage! Put your energy into it and you'll be :)

[@zbra7782]

As a native french, not totally fluent in english, I can tell you that French is so complicated that as a native french speaker, I have been, for now 3 years, trying to learn how to speak french properly and that 80% (i think, maybe more) french people don't talk french well. So don't bother too much about not being fluent in French, it is hard ! But one day you will talk better french than we do :D

[@mikemy100]

Zbra as a bilingual French and English speaker I completely agree French is just horrible to speak properly most people don't speak proper French. Compared to the ease of English

[@nazirkhamis7370]

Luciana Peck in languages like french,german,spanish very important to keep the conjucation of verbs,how the forms of the verb in the present tense should come with the pronouns and in the past tense and so on, with different tenses beside increasing your vocabulary,more important to listen more and more from the native speakers to the language you want to be fluent in.

[@lucillearbour9382]

J'aime 👍❤

[@nazirkhamis7370]

what about the people ,who speak more then four languages?

[@martinc.720]

*than

[@bazingapuzza]

they are genius

[@lauramoreira4439]

no they are not they are just dedicated

[@cherkkiable]

not so uncommon in europe if you come from bilingual family living in different countries during ur life

[@Schneeeulenwetter]

cherkkiable yeah or it is already mandatory to learn two foreign languages so a third and forth doesn’t seem that impossible.

[@theteacherchannel5533]

Absolutely outstanding. I must congratulate my students of Psycholinguistics who are fluent in English and Spanish and I'm sure they will make great teachers. Javier Majul, Argentina.

[@Futureparenting.info_]

Great job by Dr. Naja, used her paper in my research to sum up all scientific evidence why you should raise your kids bilingually. This videos inspired me to do that in the first place.

[@estebantapasco6281]

Solo escuché su respiración y sonidos con la boca 🙊😂

[@HaleJayRo]

jajaja yo también 😹😹😹

[@lukreecelupe8849]

She’s making so much smacking sounds when she talk 🤯🤯🤯🤯

[@DTux5249]

You can tell her mouth is dry because of the sounds that were audible in the beginning. I'd say no need to be nervous but forget it, great speech none the less

[@zoricazz]

People say that they are astonished because I speak 3 languages. But I see children speaking French and Romanian language from mother side and German and Serbian from dad's side and learning in school English. And these children really speak all of those languages