I agree with your statement wholeheartedly. It’s very difficult to help people learn about other cultures without saying something offensive (inadvertently) out of ignorance. I see this all the time when nonnative people in the U.S. talk or write about or otherwise depict Native Americans. It’s so frustrating, and the Native American case is one reason why you’ll never see me advocating “trying on” the practices of another culture beyond learning languages, songs, etc. It’s too easy to cross the line–again using the Native American case as an example–from learning about the practices of another culture to embracing a fake, offensive, New Age version that claims to be authentic yet is anything but.

If you see places where this site could do a better job of avoiding stereotypes, please let me know! I don’t claim to be an expert to any culture (even my own), but I do want to help people broaden their children’s understanding of people whose experiences differ from their own. There’s no one-size-fits-all way to do that, so I’m exploring the possibilities. . .

Flash cards and electronic DVDs are probably the worst thing you can do to your child. Children also learn speech by the vibrations produced by a speaker and feel the nuances and cadence of the language through these vibrations produced. If you want your child to learn another tongue, wait till they are older and get a professional teacher.

So while I do encourage parents to try to help their children learn a second language, please do not feel that if you don’t start in the first year, all is lost. Also, if the only experience the child has with a second language is through flash cards or DVDs, don’t expect them to become bilingual. Learning a second language, just like your first, is best done in a meaningful context, like hearing adults use it, or using language for a real purpose.

http://contexts.org/socimages/2009/11/27/stunning-example-of-the-neutrality-of-whiteness/