do you think TV helped your multilingual children with language acquisition?

[littleElif]

hi,

just wondered if it finally time for us to get a TV.

I'd rather not but DD doesn't seem to be able to pick up English very well at nursery. we are thinking of different ways to increase her exposure to English also at home. at home we speak my language and daddy's language with her. but as said, her English just doesn't come on. started to wonder if a TV might help.I am not planning to park DD for hours in front of that box but wondered if the occational english children's programme might actually do her some good.

any experiences?

TIA!

Definitely. Dd goes to a French school, but we speak English at home. To me it is an important tool for increasing vocabulary - not all words come up at school.

I agree with Portofino. My DD has even been through periods of acquiring new accents: BBC, American (in her Barney phase, Welsh (Fireman Sam) etc.

We work with DVDs only, though, so I can control that it's not just random crap.

As an aside, have you tried CDs in the car etc? My children have definitely learned loads through music.

I totally agree with the other posters, tv definitly helps increase their vocabulary and helps them with pronunciation. Songs and rhymes are also excellent ways of developing language.

Also, to me, it is important that she has shared "cultural" knowledge with her peers. She should be watching what they watch. There is some crap out there, but if you pick your channel, I find that most early years TV is generally quite educational.

Vocab is my big worry. School is fine, but life is lived outside of that. Traffic lights, shopping, home things, holidays etc etc. I like her to have a wide experience as possible.

This has included not only TV but holiday clubs/out of school activities.

Yes I am sure it would help.

I quite like those Baby Boom Boom CDs too for little ones, if your language is covered.

We dont have a TV either but I do let DS1 watch Wibbly Pig on bbc iplayer maybe twice a week. thats it.
I also go to Debutots where a lady tells a story and encourage children to take part.
We listen to music in english in the car
and i do my best to speak to them in english though it really doesnt feel natural to me so i do it maybe 50% of the time.
Since doing all that, his english has improved (he is 2.3) but he is still miles away from children from english speaking families.

how old is your DD?