Babies Identify Languages

The News:
The babies between four and six months are capable of distinguishing visually between two languages just by observing the facial gestures of a speaker. After six months of age, only the babies who live in an environment in which the family speaks two languages support this skill, because they are forced to be more attentive … What is the importance of the visual perception in the baby and his comprehension of the world to which he has just arrived? It is known that they are capable of distinguishing faces and that they can appreciate in them the annoyance or the happiness. Now, a new investigation shows that, in spite of just looking at the gestures of the face of his speaker, a baby can distinguish if one speaks to him in a language or in other. According to Núria Sebastián, researcher …, this skill "is part of the set of capacities that the child has" … The results demonstrate that experience modifies the brain. (It appeared in El País)

Comment
Let’s start with some irrelevant questions: Could there be trilingual babies? Perhaps not, because the thing about to be bilingual comes from having parents that speak different languages, although I wonder… if one of them is bilingual and the other speaks a third language… Does some languages cost them more than others? For westerners, the Mandarin and the Japanese are quite difficult to learn. I suppose that it does not matter to babies. What would happen if a baby has a Mexican father and a Spanish mother? Would it count as bilingual? After all, accents and meanings, even if we are talking of a single language, vary among regions.

What is true is that if someone still doubted that babies are a marvel and a blessing for their parents, should be ashamed. Few things equal in tenderness, beauty and inspiration, to the laugh of a baby. And if the baby is the own one, the effect is magnified. Certainly there are moments of discomfort (night crying, change of diapers, etc.), but what father / mother does not overcome them with love?

Now, the babies come with the book empty and although they have an unknown kind of connection with their mother, they are going to be discovering their environment little by little. As the article mentions: they will be attentive. It is up to us, adults "wise persons," to produce for them an agreeable, positive, full of love world. Will we be able to do it?

The babies catch everything according to the study, even different languages. Then let’s be careful with the example that we offer them, let’s pay attention to the attitudes that we use in their closeness and of course, let’s observe the tone that we use, not when we speak to them (since I suspect that the majority of us play the innocent, smile at the point of hurting those muscles that we use very little and say foolish things as "beautiful little angel, how is my cherub doing? Cuchi-cu, baby!"), but when we speak to other members of the family. It happens sometimes that we speak to the babies in the tone of a fairy tale and we shout to our spouse and elder sons in a language and tone proper of a cheap bar. It’s wrong!

At the end, example, attitude, and tone, are types of languages for family communication. And as well as our babies identify the Korean, the Russian, or the Dutch, from the English, they are capable of identifying and of answering to the most sophisticated languages of love, anxiety, annoyance, or … hate.

What the Bible Says
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. (Psalm 127:3-4)

Do not give toys to your baby, give away words of affection, fondness and love to all members of the family in the environment near to the baby. Remember that loving your baby, is not about of just covering him with kisses and to speak to him in "babysh."