Sterotypes. ...

[Kenlee]

Should we judge a book by its cover....

If you see an Asian would they be naturally better at numbers...

Will the Caucasians always be better at sport....

Is it better to be bilingual and does that mean you can learn another language quicker than a mono lingual person.

Are all private schools for the snobs...and all comprehensive full of Chavs?.

Is it really that important to put a label on someone...

Ooh blimey. It's very early for debating these, and there are some very sweeping statements there.....

I just want to power point out that labels are no good....

Although I was surprised that we all do it...but to what degree is acceptable...?

The commonest on here? That the big name boys boarding schools are stuffed with floppy haired hooray Henrys called Cholmondely and Bertie who are basically not very bright but who manage to get onto Oxbridge and then a well paid job in the city due to either the old boys network, or their schools manage to pull some special strings that no one else has access to or they are so over tutored by the school that the A*'s achieved at A level were not an actual true reflection of their ability and that they will get sent down after two terms. Of course getting this place at Oxbridge in this distinctly dubious way rather than on true ability means that they are depriving super clever state school children of places.

I have never heard that white people are good at sport.. Its weird that stereotypes exist that some of us have never even heard of! Kind of proves they are bullshit.
Some people like stereotyping. Not sure why. But it is toxic and is something we should do our best to avoid.

Spot on happygardening, and all from Essex are chavs, and all chavs are thick, and all that live in the south/southeast are rich, that all Eastern Europeans are criminals, that only white people are racists ..... And on and on. Most don't even know they are doing it, do they. We would certainly all be better off if we resisted pre judging.

Couldn't agree more deadsimple we miss out on so much by prejudging whether it be people of any background/race, art, music,theatre food or anything. Although I hasten to add when it comes to food I've already pre judge anything made with slugs/larvae/grubs/worms.

happygardening - only if you knew what the food was made of before you ate it.

Is it better to be bilingual and does that mean you can learn another language quicker than a mono lingual person.

That stood out for me as inconsistent with the others. Surely being fluent in two langauges is higher skilled than fluent in only 1?

Also from what I have read, once you have grasped the concept that other languages don't operate the same as English, it does seem to be easier to pick up an additional language. My DD is picking up Spanish far faster than she originally grasped French. e.g concept of gender for random things etc etc.
That of course doesn't mean for 2 specific individuals, but just on average, in general.

All the others I agree, are gross generalisations.

Teen - So would you say this 'concept' applies only if the first two languages were European or would it still apply if for instance, the first learnt two languages were English and Gujurati ?

You are comparing apples and oranges. Being Asian or Caucasian is not comparable to being bilingual.

I don't know (i'm a scientist not a linguist). And I know nothing about Indian languages.

BUT I think it is not unlikely that understanding the concept and practice that languages are structured differently, with different gramatical rules, would make it easier to master any third language, and therefore someone on average learning a 3rd language may find it easier than a similar person, on average, learning their second.

Certainly my DD1 initially struggled with the whole concept of gender, different ways of making past tense, different order of words etc. To pick up her second MFL she didn't need to go over that hurdle.

(Though related languages would I think clearly be likely to be easier to pick up).

Also, I suspect something may happen in brain wiring when learning a second language young, which again may help with learning a third? Any neuroscientists care to comment?

I have always thought the cross over in Latin languages such as Spanish, Italian and Portuguese would be fairly easy. I have always found French difficult. In fact Mandarin speaking Chinese find it difficult to speak Cantonese and vice versa. Although, Mandarin is now taught extensively in Hong Kong. So even the same language with a diffrent tone base and dialect can present difficulties.

My daughter being Tri lingual has already said that she needs to do more work on her French. Ha Ha I say good luck to her....I hated French at school.

I have to admit though the more languages you know the easier it is when your on holiday...

Kenlees - i think you've hit the nail on the head and aswered my question really, you put it more eloquently. I agree with you that the "crossover" between latin languages as you put it would make it easier to learn more such languages than those with different tone etc, therefore the stereotype as mentioned in the OP, is not valid in all cases.