Comments on: Multi-lingualism http://whiteperil.com/2005/06/19/multi-lingualism/ Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:45:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: John http://whiteperil.com/2005/06/19/multi-lingualism/comment-page-1/#comment-1324 John Tue, 21 Jun 2005 16:55:25 +0000 http://whiteperil.com/?p=706#comment-1324 I dunno about that - I think it's more muscle memory than morphological - those areas are pretty maleable, but twenty years of constatn use in a perticular patter will probably strengthen some muscles and tendons at the expense of others. Personally, I think it's more software than hardware. I dunno about that – I think it’s more muscle memory than morphological – those areas are pretty maleable, but twenty years of constatn use in a perticular patter will probably strengthen some muscles and tendons at the expense of others. Personally, I think it’s more software than hardware.

]]> By: Sean Kinsell http://whiteperil.com/2005/06/19/multi-lingualism/comment-page-1/#comment-1323 Sean Kinsell Tue, 21 Jun 2005 05:36:20 +0000 http://whiteperil.com/?p=706#comment-1323 Could it be morphological, too? As you know, I'm not trained in medicine, but, I mean, your bones stop growing entirely when you're around 30, right? Does training your tongue and palate get harder when you're in your mid-teens? I started studying Japanese when I was 19, and while people always tell me I have no accent (which makes my usage and grammatical errors all the more hilarious, apparently), it was a pain to learn. The muscle control is completely different from that used in American English: the tongue and palate are more taut, but the lips are more slack. Could it be morphological, too? As you know, I’m not trained in medicine, but, I mean, your bones stop growing entirely when you’re around 30, right? Does training your tongue and palate get harder when you’re in your mid-teens? I started studying Japanese when I was 19, and while people always tell me I have no accent (which makes my usage and grammatical errors all the more hilarious, apparently), it was a pain to learn. The muscle control is completely different from that used in American English: the tongue and palate are more taut, but the lips are more slack.

]]> By: John http://whiteperil.com/2005/06/19/multi-lingualism/comment-page-1/#comment-1322 John Mon, 20 Jun 2005 20:48:53 +0000 http://whiteperil.com/?p=706#comment-1322 Funny you should mention the accent. There is a dividing line at about 13 - 14 years old. I don't know if that has to do with the fact that kids that age go through the full 4 years of High School in America, or if the ear turns tone deaf in a lot of kids at that age, but kids who emigrate before then usually don't have an accent. Of course, those who live in Chinatown or some such may still have an accent, if their common milieu is not American. <BR /> <BR />I know a couple of Chinese who fall between ABC and FOB - they emigrated at about 11 or 12. No accents at all, but sometimes they'll write down an idiom completely wrong because they've never seen it written before (I want to write a book on this called "A Slow Pole Learns by Rope"), or they will make a non-native mistake (mixing "he" and "she" is common for Chinese, the pronouns are homonyms in Mandarin). Funny you should mention the accent. There is a dividing line at about 13 – 14 years old. I don’t know if that has to do with the fact that kids that age go through the full 4 years of High School in America, or if the ear turns tone deaf in a lot of kids at that age, but kids who emigrate before then usually don’t have an accent. Of course, those who live in Chinatown or some such may still have an accent, if their common milieu is not American.

I know a couple of Chinese who fall between ABC and FOB – they emigrated at about 11 or 12. No accents at all, but sometimes they’ll write down an idiom completely wrong because they’ve never seen it written before (I want to write a book on this called “A Slow Pole Learns by Rope”), or they will make a non-native mistake (mixing “he” and “she” is common for Chinese, the pronouns are homonyms in Mandarin).

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