What does it take to acquire another language? In my previous episode, I used a phrase that I have heard many times, “Oh, but there's another language spoken in the home.” The statement can mean so many things and nothing at all. I want to break down what it takes to acquire another language in today's episode.

If we are to embrace the notion that teaching multilingual learners is not just a job and care of the English Language Development (ELD) specialist, but that all of us play a part in the EL students' learning, then I want to offer some education around what it means to acquire another language.

What you will hear about in this episode:

• My background with language, when I learned English, and other languages I understand and speak
• Learning two or more languages at the same time will not cause confusion
• There are two ways to acquire a second language simultaneously when a person is exposed to two or more languages since birth, and sequentially when a person starts learning a new language after they have established some competence in their native tongue
• Language competence is different for each bilingual person

Show Notes:

• Episode 87 - What Does it Take to Acquire a Language and Why All Teachers Should Know This

Resources Mentioned:

• The ESL Teaching Roadmap – membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join.
• Simply Ieva ESL Teachers Pay Teachers Store
• 1:1 ESL Teacher Coaching Session
• Essential Lesson Plan Bundle

Related/Previous Episodes:

• Episode 80 - Empowering English learners - an Asset Based Approach
• Episode 86 - 3 Essential Truths to Reaching ELs in Your Classroom

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