Your Brain on Music, Part 3

We have a lot of families in our studios that speak a second or even third language at home. Miss Allison once told me that she was taught if a child grows up hearing a second language, but not necessarily speaking that language, the neural pathways for that language are not pruned, but go dormant, so to speak. And then, if child later in life decides to speak that language, he or she will have a much easier time learning and speaking (without an accent) that language, than someone hearing the language for the first time.

As many of you know, Miss Allison keeps all sorts of useful information (and sometimes not so useful, but interesting nevertheless) in her head. But she couldn’t remember when or how she learned it. So I turned to my new favorite neuroscientist, Kenneth Wesson, and asked him to confirm and clarify for me. Here is what he said:

In such a case, a child grows up hearing what would constitute a second language rather than a foreign language. At that stage that early the developing young brain can accommodate the production of neural pathways for any language. Yes, it is true that those neural networks for language that are generated in the first 20 months of life are highly resistant to the pruning process. In the subsequent years, it is indeed likely that this “second language” proficiency may be reconnected easier than it will be to learn a completely new (third) language.

So, those of you who speak two languages at home, keep it up, even if your children only hear it, rather than speak it with you. Be sure not to neglect the music of your culture. Songs almost always contain authentic, natural language. Songs are almost always directed to the native-speaking population, so they usually contain contemporary vocabulary and idioms. Watch this  fabulous video for more information on the connection between language and music.

For those of us who speak just English, here are some suggestions for using music to help develop the neural pathways for a second language:

Those of you who speak a second language at home…I’m totally envious! Please, tell us what other ways you introduce a second language into your home using music.

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who despite being raised in San Diego when her language neural pathways were forming, speaks Spanish like the Finnish girl she is.

Your Brain on Music, Part 1
Your Brain on Music, Part 2