Originally Posted by
Gandalf
Excellent post, Tito. Your English is great too. It is amazing how kids will pick up a whole new accent easily. I had a private student, about 10, who had stayed in New Zealand for a year, and it was very natural sounding.
I don't think the English are personally lazy with language but we do often just study it too late. Out here from 5 many kids are doing phonics and storybooks and songs and they soak it up so well. It can be a lot of fun. I miss doing that kind of work a little bit sometimes. Just fun. We are missing the beat by not doing the same. Maybe it has changed but I do not know.
I do know I didn't get near German until secondary and French until 14. I dumped all languages at GCSE and opted to add geography instead of doing one language, which shouldn't have been allowed, but the school saw it was better to let me do what I enjoyed.
I now enjoy learning a second language and my experiences make me understand the importance of making it interesting and fun for others.
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