Question on bilingual language acquisition from non-native speaker

[Bruno]

I think other people have highlighted very eloquently the challenges
but likely rewards of bilingual upbringing. I believe it is also
really important for a foreign language to make "community sense" to
the child learning it. I am always amazed at how many (especially
middle-class or affluent) parents want to teach a foreign language
"academically" to very young children (I don't mean to pass judgment
at all). If there is not a supporting community where the language is
vibrant (and associated prestige, or at least, not stigma), in my
opinion, the chances of success are greatly reduced. This community
can take many forms: playmates, family locally or abroad, cultural
(age-appropriate!) experiences like books, movies, music, travel. Even
non-native parents at home who choose the non-local language to
communicate. The presence of some or all of these factors is likely to
influence the degree to which the language is acquired functionally
and fluently.
I am doing the experiment myself. I'll post a summary in about 10
years :-)
Bruno Estigarribia
Postdoctoral Fellow
FPG Child Development Institute
Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research Center
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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