This Week's Topic: Languages

A pair of our Moms Council members, Staci Eddy and Lisa Baca-Sigala, tackled the heavy topic of last week in the first edition of our Moms Talk feature. The ensuing discussion brought up the concept of learning other languages, so that's what we'll lead with this week. We also snuck in a question about what they think are some of the kid-friendliest places to go. Please feel free to join in the discussion, and please send us any questions you'd like to see answered or addressed.

And now, on to the questions:

How important do you think it is for your child to learn other languages?

Staci Eddy: While not the highest educational priority, I think it's wonderful to expose young children to different languages. I speak Greek to my daughter as often as I remember! Starting young makes sense: young children seem to learn languages much more easily. And it seems like a no-brainer to want your child to be multilingual.

However, a good Latina friend of mine (whose mother was a bilingual teacher) disagrees. We were discussing the last Mom's Talk article when, much to my surprise, she told me she believes bilingualism confuses children. It often takes them much longer to get a solid grasp of language generally, keeping them perpetually behind single-language students. It wasn't a point I'd considered before.

So, as with all things, there's controversy!

Lisa Baca-Sigala: My eldest college coed daughter at speaks three languages (French, Spanish and English) and my husband and I constantly struggle with our 11-year-old twins to practice their Spanish.

As the saying goes, “People don’t care about what you know until they know you care.” The internet has taken us global as a community. The more we can reach out to communicate to other cultures in culturally sensitive ways (like language) the more connected we become to each other.   

Especially in Los Angeles County, there are more than 178 different languages spoken every day.  Driving in any direction you can find yourself in East Los Angeles, Little Tokyo, Chinatown, Koreatown, Thaitown, Little Cambodia, Little Armenia, and Little Bangladesh and so on.  

What are some of the kid-friendliest businesses around?

Staci: As far as local kid-friendly businesses go, I can tell you that on Wednesday Burger Nights at The Park and pretty much any night at El Compadre, you're sure to see lots of families. I was also surprised to see high chairs at the Allston Yacht Club today -- the owner said they have kids in all the time. Great news!

Lisa: Any Krispy Krème Donut Shop. You can watch the donuts being made, have a cup of cocoa and then eat one!