Comments on: Ask an Expert: Should I do something about my son’s grammar mistakes?

By: Beth Ortuño

Beth Ortuño — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:09:24 +0000

Susan I think it will not do any harm for you or your husband to calmly say “I think you meant to say ___” and repeat after him the correct version, as long as it doesn’t make your son upset. It’s no good if he gets frustrated about not doing things “right” and he can’t help being little. But there’s nothing wrong with showing him models and examples of the correct way, if he doesn’t get stressed out by you doing it.

By: Ask an Expert: A Primer « SpanglishBaby

Ask an Expert: A Primer « SpanglishBaby — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:12:35 +0000

[...] Should I do Something about my Son’s Grammar Mistakes? [...]

By: Beth Ortuño

Beth Ortuño — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:21:06 +0000

My daughter (18 years old now) was raised in only one language. I remember she was preschool age and saying things like, “My mommy, I want you to pick up the me! Hers no!” (meaning, Mommy I want you to pick me up not her). I thought it was super cute that she always addressed me as “My mommy” never just plain “Mommy”. I never worried about it and never corrected her grammar. She just figured it out. I was more concerned with whether she could appropriately use please, thank you, sorry, and excuse me.

By: SpanglishBaby - 5 Ways to Enrich your Child's Vocabulary

SpanglishBaby - 5 Ways to Enrich your Child's Vocabulary — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:05:01 +0000

[...] certain verbs, for example, but they’re not aware of the exceptions. Just give her the correct model in your response, but don’t make a big deal out of it. My daughter does this constantly with [...]

By: Silvia

Silvia — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:27:46 +0000

My son use to make mistakes all the time, and sometimes I have to bit my tong before I correct him!! it's so hard to contain myself, but lately he is getting better using the correct grammar, whoo hoooo! .-= Silvia´s last blog ..Luna Nueva, corto / New Moon, latest trailer =-.

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:51:05 +0000

Thank you! I will use the tips that you have given me.

By: Boca Beth

Boca Beth — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:19:10 +0000

I recall reading The Bilingual Edge cover to cover the summer it came out, and I still quote from them the fact that with young children particularly it is NOT important to correct grammatical errors immediately to prevent long term incorrect useage. In the classroom I used to witness regularly how singling out a child to correct his use of the new language embarassed him in front of his peers and resulted in inhibitions early when it came to practicing the new language. That is why I often carry that book with me on my keynote/training events and point my fellow teachers to follow the examples and tips given in this resource guide. Modeling the correct use of the word(s) is often enough to help the long term retention of proper grammar in both native and new languages .-= Boca Beth´s last blog ..Music Monday Presents Chances to Win Boca Beth Set and FREE Bilingual Lesson Fun =-.

By: Dariela

Dariela — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:22:12 +0000

This is so interesting! My son is now having a similar problem with the feminine and masculine articles in Spanish. It is ALL the time. I do repeat it to him correctly and he says it after me but in the next sentence he just uses the wrong one again. I have faith that he will learn sooner than later out of listening to the right way! And I'm happy to read what the expert says which is very similar to what I'm doing. .-= Dariela´s last blog ..We're back / De regreso =-.

By: Multilingual Mania

Multilingual Mania — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:38:18 +0000

In second language acquisition research we call this "subject/verb agreement". Learning which verb conjugation and which pronoun to use is a skill that sometime is later acquired in the continuum of second language development. Native speakers of the language and kids that have a lot of exposure to the language will come out of this stage much more quickly. But I've seen English-speaking students who are learning Spanish still working on this issue in second and third grade. We often say that students begin to come out of this stage at the intermediate level of language proficiency. If we think about it, we sometimes hear grown adults who have intermediate proficiency sometimes make subject-verb agreement errors-"she walk", etc. I always recommend parents to read "predictable books" and model the syntax (word order/structure) to students. Create a predictable book with verb conjugations-Yo quiero leche. Maria quiere leche. Tú quieres leche. Pero Sam y Olivia no quieren leche!) and other similar little stories. We have the kids draw little pictures with it and we make tons of books like that. .-= Multilingual Mania´s last blog ..The Importance of Raising Bilingual Children =-.

By: smashedpea

smashedpea — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:24:10 +0000

Thanks for this – it’s quite interesting since our little one (English and German, just turned 2 in July) has been saying “I catch you!!” for a few weeks now, often while he runs away and clearly is expecting me to catch him. Or “I carry you, please?” while he holds up his little arms waiting to be picked up.

It’s never worried us and it still doesn’t, and so we don’t correct him. Sometimes we turn it into a game, though, so that maybe I start running away from him at his “I catch you” request. Sometimes he thinks that’s hillarious, other times he gets upset and repeats “I catch you!!!” – just a lot more forcefully

Even though I haven’t worried about this, not yet anyway, thank you for the explanantion of why this kind of thing might be happening.
.-= smashedpea´s last blog ..What’s With Me? =-.