作者： 蔡昇達
去年帶五歲大的女兒來美國念幼稚園，女兒一開始相當不適應，不想去上學、不想聽英文和講英文，可能因心情不好，前幾週皆沒有什麼食慾，吃得很少。
照片一： 第一天到幼稚園上學 (RASA)
幾個月來感謝其他台灣家庭的陪伴，讓她有說中文的朋友們可以一起玩，漸漸克服想家的情緒。
照片二： 有趣的復活節撿蛋活動 (Easter egg hunt)
今年三月開始(來美國七個月左右)，在家中不時會說出英文，如看到小熊軟糖，說「That's gummy bear」，想吃棒棒糖時會說要「lolipop」，某天我在修改論文，她在旁邊跟我說，「Why are you changing the upper case to lower case?」著實嚇了我一跳，原來在這個全英文的環境，她已自動學習了許多。上個月搭機飛波士頓，整理行李時她想帶上喜歡的小白鯨，但空間有限，她看著行李箱跟我說「Let's take them out and fill with another way」，之後把餅乾打散重放，挪出空間來。
照片三： 行李箱，左上為她最愛的小白鯨
這讓我相當震驚，七個月來沉浸在全英文的環境，已經讓她自動用英文思考和表達，縱然每天上學的時數不多，回家也皆和我講中文，亦沒有上課後任何的才藝或是運動課程。讓我體會到以前英文老師常講的，「不要先想中文再翻成英文，要直接用英文思考」，而我從來沒有做到過，也無法想像，看到女兒，才理解這個概念。也想到以前神經科學讀過的(1997 年的 Nature 文章)，「母語」和第二外語使用的腦區(尤其在 Broca's area)是完全不同的，且對我們而言，閱讀英文的速度就是比讀中文慢了五倍，讓我們在讀期刊上較美國人花去較多的時間，尤其在寫 systemic review、meta-analysis 時感受特別強烈。
圖片： 在 Broca's area，母語(紅色)和第二外語(黃色)的處理腦區不同(出自 1997 年刊登在 Nature 的文章)
感謝女兒願意離開熟悉的家，遠道到地球的另一端陪我度過一年，期許今年培養的英語能力，能讓她未來多些機會，也持續觀察未來是否能發展成「雙母語」的腦袋。
English version:
Last year, I brought my five-year-old daughter to the U.S. to attend kindergarten. At first, she had a hard time adjusting—she didn’t want to go to school, didn’t want to listen to or speak English. Perhaps due to her low mood, she had little appetite and ate very little in the first few weeks.
Over the past few months, we are grateful for the companionship of other Taiwanese families, which gave her Mandarin-speaking friends to play with. Slowly, she overcame her homesickness.
Starting this March (around seven months after arriving in the U.S.), she began to occasionally speak English at home. For example, when she saw gummy bears, she said, “That's gummy bear.” When she wanted a lollipop, she said she wanted a “lollipop.” One day, while I was editing a manuscript, she looked at me and asked, “Why are you changing the upper case to lower case?” I was quite startled—clearly, she had learned a lot just from being in an English-speaking environment. Last month, when we were flying to Boston, she wanted to bring along her beloved little white whale. But space was limited. Looking at the suitcase, she said, “Let's take them out and fill with another way.” Then she broke up some cookies and repacked them to make room.
I was deeply amazed—after just seven months immersed in an English-speaking environment, she had already begun to think and express herself naturally in English. Even though her school hours each day are limited, and she only speaks Mandarin with me at home, and doesn’t take any extracurricular classes or sports lessons, she has picked it up on her own. This made me truly appreciate something English teachers often say: “Don’t think in Chinese first and then translate into English—think directly in English.” I’ve never been able to do this, and couldn’t even imagine it—until I saw it in my daughter.
It also reminded me of something I read in neuroscience—an article published in Nature in 1997—which explained that the brain regions used for a native language and a second language (especially in Broca’s area) are entirely different. For us, reading English takes about five times longer than reading Chinese, which means we spend significantly more time reading academic papers than native English speakers—especially when working on systematic reviews or meta-analyses.
I'm thankful that my daughter was willing to leave the familiar comforts of home and accompany me to the other side of the globe for a year. I hope the English abilities she developed this year will give her more opportunities in the future, and I’ll continue to observe whether she might develop a truly “bilingual” brain.
Reference: Kim, K., Relkin, N., Lee, KM. et al. Distinct cortical areas associated with native and second languages. Nature 388, 171–174 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/40623
