Can a child adopted from a foreign country at the age of eight easily relearn her first language as an adult? It seems so. Terri Kit-fong Au describes a group of Korean students in Australia who pick up Korean with ease. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Relearning A Language”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hello, hi, this is Roger. I’m calling from Indiana.
So what can we help you with today, Roger?
Well, my daughter, we adopted from Vietnam when she was eight years old, and she didn’t speak any English at the time. And I’ve heard that when she goes off to college, she’ll pick the Vietnamese back up that she lost, at least up to an eight-year-old’s level. She doesn’t care one way or another. Actually, I’ve even asked her about it. But she’s 18 now, and so it’s been 10 years, and she doesn’t speak any Vietnamese except maybe to count, and that’s about it.
Okay.
Mm—
So she’s planning to take courses in Vietnamese then?
No, I’ve just always heard from several people, in fact, that once she gets off to college and interacts with other people from Vietnam to speak the language, that she will likely pick up a speaking level. She’ll get back to the same level she was when she was a child in Vietnam. Really quick is what I’ve been told.
Yeah, that’s true, Roger. The people telling you that have told you something that is borne out by the data and the studies that I’ve read. There’s a chapter in a book by a professor from Hong Kong. Her name is Terry Kitfong Ao. And it’s about the study of kids from Korea, I believe in Australia, who had pretty much the same circumstance. They moved to Australia when they were young. They already spoke some Korean. They were raised as English speakers and then were re-immersed back into an environment where they could access the Korean that they still remembered. And by far and away, they were better with Korean. They spoke the sounds more correctly. They picked it up faster. They felt more comfortable. And I think your daughter will have exactly the same experience. If she starts hanging out with people who speak Vietnamese well, she will find these memories coming back, this language coming back. There will be a re-flowering of what she knew as a child. I think it would be pretty exciting.
She doesn’t care. She says, I don’t care if I learn Vietnamese again or not. But I think it would be pretty exciting all of a sudden to pick up another language fairly quickly.
Yeah, definitely. I’m with you. I don’t know how you can make her excited about it, but it’s possible that when she gets to school and she realizes that a lot of other people agree with you and me and Martha that this is a valuable thing to have, that she’ll start to see it as an asset. And maybe she’ll work hard at getting more formal training and education in the language. And maybe even getting to the point where she wants to go to Vietnam and immerse herself in it for a while. It’s great to have another language. Any way that you can get it, whether you can get it partially or wholly, having a second, third, or fourth language is valuable to any human being. But it’s one of those things that parents can’t really push on their children. Otherwise, the children tend to push back.
Well, I’m betting she’ll come around, too, about the language.
I think she will, too. And, Roger, do keep us updated. Let us know how she’s doing and let us know whether or not she is able to access that Vietnamese that she knew as a child and whether or not she works on it. She really should. I don’t know how to make somebody study a language, but if they were away, she’d be perfect for it.
I think so, too. You guys have a good day.
Thanks, Roger. Good luck to you.
Bye-bye.
Bye.
