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How Not To Introduce Mti- English Issue In Toddlers?

Discussion in 'Toddlers' started by Reesha, Dec 15, 2018.

  1. Reesha

    Reesha Silver IL'ite

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    Hi Mothers,

    As a mother my intension is too much for age of 5 yr old. but i think while learning itself, its better to introduce slang as well. I have MTI issue in my english because i came from village background and education ran in telugu until 10th class. i knew its very hard to remove MTI because speaking in english, practicing itself has taken years for me and still its going on.

    But as many as students, now a days kids having opportunity to have high level standard schools compare to our generation. as a parents we are able to provide best schooling and education so on...but i want to add more to this in case of my kid. he is right now in LKG in a medium level school of hyderabad. his most of school staff are north indians. so he got opportunity to communicate in english most of time in school. i can see his understanding of english phrases levels are far better than his age because of this reason.

    even at home, me and my husband are narrating stories in english itself(i believe one phrase hear. understand English as english. don't translate it) and he is able to catch it. but me and my husband, even at school staff will communicate with basic indian english slang. of-course as a middle class family, we dont have option to send our kids to foreign schools like Ambanis :). but what are chances to not introduce MTI issue into kids communication before he stuck into it.

    is there any supportive institutes/schools in hyderabad ?
     
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  2. Rihana

    Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    That's an interesting question, Reesha. And I came to know about the term, MTI (Mother Tongue Influence), only after reading your post.

    The short answer is that if your child is attending an English medium school, he will most likely pick up an accent that is similar to that of most other students.

    The most important thing IMO is that you and your husband do not put too much emphasis on it. If child becomes conscious of your well-meaning intentions in any way, that will be a bigger problem.

    A casual google search shows quite a few language institutes in Hyderabad that might be of help but they seem to be aimed at adult speakers.

    Have you already noticed more than average influence of mother-tongue in his speaking?

    A few things you could try are:
    - Have him read aloud age-appropriate story books.
    - Watch good videos on youtube such as cartoons.
    - Record him talking, and play on a big screen like TV.
    - Starting in next grade or so, the school might have public speaking, speech competitions etc.
    - Most fun would be if he can take part in a drama or play with other children.
    - If any older child or retired person in the neighborhood is willing to spend some time conversing with child, that will help.

    Handle it with care. If you and your husband show too much concern about your accents, it will impact child. The insecurities of parents are better not shared with children when they are very young. Till children reach their teen years, they think parents are near perfect. : ) Why mess with that. : )

    Tagging @Novalis, @Amulet.
     
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  3. Novalis

    Novalis Gold IL'ite

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    Mother tongue influence could peter out progressively (even in adult immigrants) having grown up in sticky-accented environments of India. Which means -- accents are not parental-influenced immutable but are gradually built upon with exposure and vicinity! A toddling (learning) enthusiast from an Indian street could speak with much sophistication later on. A typified immigrant naturally picks up mashed accent with prolonged stay abroad even in that looming native twang that slides off the tongue uninhibitedly. We have our full rhotic (pronouncing fever as fee-war) and the Irish too have their rrh brogue along the Scots and their non-intervocal nuance. The telltale accent isn't mortifying but only charming even in the West to chirp with native tint.

    If your worrisome inquiry could be supplanted by: how can I arrest corrupted-tongue (c-t) influence rather than mother-tongue (m-t) influence? Then please read on.

    But what is this c-t influence?

    Early in my life, I used to delight in speech. I would scoop a fanciful word from some obnoxious literature and implant it murderously in my conversation -- just the heck! My failing was that I never looked up the pronunciation with no prevalence of multimedia of today.
    • So, scion was SKI-ON to that toothy kid rather than SYE-AN.
    • Angel and angelic were enunciated by me similarly with no shift in vowel.
    • Embarrassed timing to grasp that beloved is pronounced BI-LA-WED.
    This is corrupted-tongue influence through which the child would have acquired erroneous pronunciation and not the (benign) accented pronunciation intuitively or instructively as not all faculty even in swanky schools are endowed with the snooty received pronunciation.

    I could hold forth and thoughtlessly drone away in sourced cheat-sheets and anecdotal pitfalls and absolutely-must-dos which might only bewilder you further as we thrive only in our stylized and preferential learning habits. I don't know what would definitely work for you to induce your child to occasionally indulge in neutral-accented cartoons (contrast: funny anthropomorphic voices for amusement) and reportage channels and podcasts and radio shows to assimilate good diction, and, especially, pronunciation.
     
    Last edited: Feb 1, 2019
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  4. Novalis

    Novalis Gold IL'ite

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    To start with:

    There's that inner-voiced Oskar Matzerath incubating in all children. A parent usually deprecates the standing potential of a kid as -- woh toh baccha hai ..woh kya jaanta hai (he's a kid, what does he know). But, a precocious child is baffled by the thoughtless adult's conservative dealing of the sentient autonomy in a child.

    A no-holds-barred conversation I would have with a child regardless how wildly precocious or bludgeoned undistinguished the child is under parental supervision.

    "Bittu, playing you two English audio clips. Tell me the difference in them.

    (Play good English accent)
    (Play a malformed English accent - say, the regional reportage in jarring English)


    Right, the difference is that clip#1 sounds classy and the other bit off!

    Your dad and I don't claim impressive voiceboxes. Yet, you should not hold yourself off in that straitened intimidation to not aspire for correct English pronunciation. You would come across voices and accents and vocabulary in life much better. Do you understand me? We have your best interest but not the best model for you to aspire. It's one family-styled thing buying you a T-shirt that reads 'My dad is the best', but another self-centered thing for you to know that it's just fine lettering in good-spirited way. It just means MY DAD WANTS THE BEST FOR ME. When you spot anything better, even intuitively, just a feeling, though confusingly reasoned, then inquire, or observe, or fidget around that featured imprint in your life. We can only nudge and facilitate the learning which is solely your responsibility. You have the autonomy to select your methodology, impression or even your pace of learning. Just tell us if you have heard of any talk or any aspiration in class or playground that would befit you to be distinctive in sounding slightly better like that clip #1. Be eared to such nice tongues."

    A grown-up before plotting the onus solely on the parent must let the intent known to the child even as early in the fifth year. Such well-minded notions are consequentially rewarded only with the complicity of the child. Remember, there's so much wilful Oskar Matzerath in every child, wherein, the taken-in-confidence child strives to sustain the mom's worthwhile intent even in laissez-faire.

    Need anything specific, feel free to ping me. Good luck.
     
    Last edited: Feb 1, 2019
  5. Reesha

    Reesha Silver IL'ite

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    @Novalis Thanks is very small word for your explanation. but still i don't have words more than that. So Thanks allot for all. I depressed bit because very less people reacted on this topic which i feel very important in my kids life. But your guidance has given some good start. :)
     
  6. Novalis

    Novalis Gold IL'ite

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    @Reesha , am impressed with your genuine inquiry contesting the prevailing wisdom. Despite the small-mindedness in children aspiring to be likened with their parents in cared-for environments -- i want to be like my mom and dad -- your concern on kids to be purposefully nurtured transcending our fallibility is earnest -- i want you to acquire better accent than mine! If I had a child, I would never want him/her to emulate me or my language but stand out much better than me. And I would definitely nudge them to acquire and wag my finger to avail themselves of self-approached opportunities with parents enabling the motivation.

    Your inquiry to mitigate the mother tongue influenced English in kids has motivated implications. To me, foresighted parenting involves thoughtful discussions with friends/virtual forums on rising kids not contentedly but challengingly above us.

    Your inquiry is substantial, your anxiety to sustain good pronunciation from childhood is not meddling but mindful of such neglected consequences affecting the child later on, and above all -- 'practicing itself has taken years for me and still its going on' is a mutual despair for both of us. Yes, it takes years (even for me, I still get corrected) but with parental intervention that of yours, if the uphill aspiration could be less arduous for the kids, why not.

    I hesitated to respond only because I am not a parent though as a bystander the topic arouses me. Let me know if you need help.
     
  7. Amulet

    Amulet IL Hall of Fame

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    LOL!!:roflmao:
    Nothing at all is the matter with a grammatically correct language, with good elocution, but sweetly different accent.
     

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