Shortly after we are born, through the early developmental stages of human life, we begin to develop what is known as our “Mother Tongue”. This is our native language, which is acquired from the close contact that we share with our family when we are growing up. This language is a core aspect of our personality, it determines the language of our thoughts, feelings, and expressions. What separates this language from any other we may learn throughout our lives is that a native language is attained without formal education but is acquired through natural immersion. For some, this language will hold a special position in their lives and while they may learn other languages throughout their life, they will never attain the same level of fluency or familiarity as with their native language. However for others, due to the circumstances of their early lives, they attain not one but two or more native languages. This is often due to parents or other family members having different native languages, but sharing a mutual one. Children born into such families are given the unique opportunity of gaining the natural language intuition of a native speaker of not one, but multiple languages. Instead of living a Monolingual life, they will live a Multilingual one.
At Kindervilla, this multilingual childhood is always on our minds. The children under our care are born into the unique privilege of having multiple native languages and as such we seek to nurture and preserve these languages so that they can be used to their full potential throughout the rest of the child’s life. This multilingual journey begins in our Kinderkrippe, where through our language program Polyglot Minis, we begin the early stages of multilingual education in a safe and inviting environment. Through story books, games, and activities, the children in our creche are given that important boost to their language acquisition early in their lives.
The journey doesn’t stop there though. For Kindervilla children, their day-to-day lives are one of multiple languages and every aspect of our daily routine is built around the intuitive and natural development of language skills. Whether it’s free play with other multilingual children or concentration phases with our language teachers and assistants, the discovery of their native languages is our focus and it’s always a rewarding process to be a part of.
But a multilingual lifestyle is not just about language, but also culture, and at Kindervilla language and culture are woven together. We have the pleasure of celebrating a variety of cultural holidays and festivals throughout the year, with native language speakers that bring an authentic cultural experience into the house for the children to enjoy. These multicultural celebrations cultivate understanding and tolerance in the children at Kindervilla and go hand-in-hand with language teaching, providing our native speakers with the perfect opportunity to bring their language and culture into the spotlight.
As the modern world grows more interconnected, so too does it grow more multilingual. Being raised in a family of multiple language speakers is more common now than ever before and in a world where international business and communication are so prevalent, the multilingual lifestyle that we cherish at Kindervilla is a lifestyle of great opportunity. For us, laying down those early stepping stones on that long language journey is something we take great pride in.
Autore: James Bailey
