LINGUIST List 7.314

Thu Feb 29 1996

Qs: Chinese, German, Bilingual, Bislama

Editor for this issue: T. Daniel Seely <dseelyemunix.emich.edu>

Directory

1. LIANG HONG, Chinese
2. GAVIN O SHEA LINGUISTICS PG, German Orthography-Question
3. "Monterroso, Edgar", Bilingual Families
4. Chris DeSantis, Seeking Native Speaker of Bislama

I am studing Chinese grammar at Nagoya University. Information as much as
possible on Chinese aspectology particularly are wanted. Please tell me
about new books and papers in your country.
My English is so poor but, I will try my best to make it communicable.
Hong Liang

I have been researching the linguistic issues around German spelling
reform. At the moment it looks as if the most recent reform proposals
will be accepted by the political authorities in the German speaking
lands, and that as of 1998 in Germany at least, new and/or variant
spellings and some different punctuation rules will be introduced. I
have three questions which I would appreciate responses to:

1) For those members of the list who write German as a native/learned
language, do they feel reform is actually required? If yes, do you
think the current proposals are sufficient? (The latest proposals can
be viewed on the WWW at http://www.ids- mannheim.de )

2) For those who use e-mail in German, what are the most common ways
to send the umlaut letters and Es-zett: for example <ae> for umlaut
<a>, or <ss> for Es-zett. Does anybody (except the Gopher menu!) use
<sz> for Es- zett any more, or different sequences for the umlauts?

3) If anyone is interested in spelling/orthography in their
own language, what have been the main issues in reform/standardisation
attempts in your language? What, if any, are the systems of e-mailing
diacritics/special letters in your language?

Any responses would be gratefully received, and if sufficient
responses received, I'll post a summary.

gosheaacadamh.ucd.ie Gavin O Se

Can someone help me?

I have been trying to contact several institutions regarding raising
children in bilingual families but not much success. Specifically, I'm
looking for resources or publications on how to introduce children to two
languages simultaneously. All the literature that I have found relates to
introducing a second language to monolingual children (not the case here).
 I am not a linguist nor an educator. I'm a medical epidemiologist and my
wife is also a researcher in public health. I am sure there has to be a
parent network out there or a linguist network that deals with bilingual
families. It is to you that I write hoping to get some answers.

I am a native Spanish speaker and my wife is a native English speaker. We
have been told by many people that the best way to bring our children in a
bilingual/bicultural setting is to speak both languages (one parent/one
language). Our son, who is 2 yrs. and 8 mths., has a 6-8 month delay
according to a Speech Therapist (who is herself bilingual). We were told to
expect this by people we know that have raised children in bilingual homes.
 I have seen the delay in speech development in my siblings' kids, they take
longer to "master" the vocabulary that would be appropriate for their age in
a monolingual setting.

So far no one is giving us straight answers. The Speech Therapist feels
that we need to have him in one language therapy session so that he will not
be delayed more. Our bilingual household friends insist that there is
nothing wrong. I feel very strongly my children should have the opportunity
to be bilingual/bicultural. My thinking is that I need to have a stronger
stand given we live in the US (Atlanta, GA) where Spanish is a minority
language. In the meantime, we are pained with guilt whether we are doing
the right thing or not.

Do you have any leads? If you respond, please let me know what your
academic background, professional training or personal experience has been.

I did find out about two books that are not longer in print. Does anyone
know where I can get copies of these ( I have called the US distributor and
they are not able to help)?

The books are:

 Saunders, G. "Bilingual children: guidance for the family"
 Amberg, L. "Raising children bilingually"

Both books are put out by Multilingual Matters. Multilingual Matters
replied the books cannot be obtained through them.

thanks much,

Edgar Monterroso, MD, MPH
ERM2CIDHIV1.EM.CDC.GOV

Seeking a native speaker of Bislama (Vanuatu pidgin) to evaluate a
sample of translated scripture text. Evaluator must be a native
speaker; must have good English skills; and should have a
knowledge of scripture vocabulary. Please contact Terry J. Moyer
at tjmoyerchq.byu.edu, or, if you wish to respond to the List I
will pass the information on to him.

Thanks in Advance.
I bhfad uainn go le/ir an drochrud...
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Christopher C. DeSantis /\|==|/\
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