From the beginning, my rule of thumb with my son has been to consciously practice at least two, ideally three different synonomous or similar German words and expressions, more or less at the same time. For example, we have had many a breakfast using all three common words for "bowl":
Alex: Ich habe Hunger. Du auch? Möchtest du Cheerios?
Jamie: Ja.
Alex: Ich hole die Näpfe ... Eine Schale für dich, eine für mich ... Möchtest noch eine Schüssel voll?
The most important reasons for this I would state in old-school humanist, pre-theoretical terms: sheer and simple love of words. But one aspect of the agenda can be stated theoretically: to foster metalinguistic awareness. When I use many words for the same thing, my son becomes more sharply aware that language is arbitrary, that there is no organic connection between a given object or phenomenon and a word or expression used to label it. This kind of awareness is linked to improved performance in a number of cognitive functions and tasks.
One of the recent insights about multilingualism is that it promotes metalinguistic awareness at an earlier age than monolingualism. A multilingual child, constantly negotiating between different systems of signification, intuits much sooner that language is arbitrary.
But it can also be fostered within a single language by actively confronting a child with multiple ways of saying the same thing.
Here are a couple of ways I have done that.
Alex: Ich habe Hunger. Du auch? Möchtest du Cheerios?
Jamie: Ja.
Alex: Ich hole die Näpfe ... Eine Schale für dich, eine für mich ... Möchtest noch eine Schüssel voll?
The most important reasons for this I would state in old-school humanist, pre-theoretical terms: sheer and simple love of words. But one aspect of the agenda can be stated theoretically: to foster metalinguistic awareness. When I use many words for the same thing, my son becomes more sharply aware that language is arbitrary, that there is no organic connection between a given object or phenomenon and a word or expression used to label it. This kind of awareness is linked to improved performance in a number of cognitive functions and tasks.
One of the recent insights about multilingualism is that it promotes metalinguistic awareness at an earlier age than monolingualism. A multilingual child, constantly negotiating between different systems of signification, intuits much sooner that language is arbitrary.
But it can also be fostered within a single language by actively confronting a child with multiple ways of saying the same thing.
Here are a couple of ways I have done that.
1) Diminuitives. For about whole first two years, I consciously sought to use both the regular form of a noun and diminuitive forms cheek by jowl.
Jamie, siehst du diese Katze da, die schwarzweiße? Schau, die kommt auf uns zu! Ach, so ein süßes kleines Kätzchen!
The great thing about diminuitives is that, since they are a different form of the same word, you don't have to recall them. In German, you (usually) get the further linguistic benefit of a gender switch (die Katze - das Kätchen) and a vowel change (a - ä), to negotiate all of which provides further little cognitive workouts and reinforces multiple other lexical and grammatical rules.
The great thing about diminuitives is that, since they are a different form of the same word, you don't have to recall them. In German, you (usually) get the further linguistic benefit of a gender switch (die Katze - das Kätchen) and a vowel change (a - ä), to negotiate all of which provides further little cognitive workouts and reinforces multiple other lexical and grammatical rules.
2) Synonym complexes. Here are a few of the synonym complexes I have worked a lot from the beginning:
mögen - gefallen - gern tun/haben
sehen - bemerken - erblicken
her/hinsehen - schauen - gucken
Kleidung - Klamotten - Sachen
Geschichte - Erzählung - Buch
It is sometimes not so easy to come up with "natural" ways of working all the synonyms in, as in the above example with the bowl. With puppets, it is very easy. You begin a conversation with the puppet, and you each use a different word/expression, then at some point you can get further ones in. A couple of examples from memory:
Friedel: Herr Sager, können Sie bitte diese Geschichte lesen?
Alex: Welches Buch ist das? Ach, Schattenbach! Ja, Jamie liebt diese Erzählung, nicht wahr, Jamie?
Jamie: Ja!
Alex: Möchtest du dieses Buch hören, oder eine andere Geschichte?
Jamie: Dieses Buch.
**
Alex: Ich mag dieses Spiel! Was meinst du, Friedel—magst du es auch?
Friedel: Ja, es gefällt mir sehr. Aber ich weiß nicht, ob Jamie es auch gern hat. Hey Kleiner, magst du das Spiel?
Jamie: Ja!
Friedel: Ihm gefällt es auch, Herr Sager!
**
Friedel: Schaut mal, ein Kolibri!
Alex: Wo? Ich sehe ihn nicht.
Friedel: Oben am Rosenstrauch! Guck mal, Jamie, bevor er weg ist! Siehst du ihn?
Jamie: Ja!
Friedel: Da ist er weg. Jamie hat ihn erblickt, Herr Sager.
Alex: Ihr bemerkt alles.
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