[carawilliams]

My daughter is 15 years old, and my husband and I have always been amazed by her. She taught herself to read as a toddler with a few picture books. My husband and I tried to help her, but she refused the help. When she was four, she saved up her allowance and bought a little box of beginner German flashcards and the accompanying CD. She flew right through them and was quickly speaking little bits of German. In elementary school, she was always so far ahead with her reading level that the teachers found a computer program that taught Latin and Greek roots. Instead of reading the beginner picture books with the rest of her class, she quickly absorbed the Latin and Greek. In 6th grade, she decided to try learning a bit of Japanese. After a few weeks, she was bored wih the language, but to this day, she can read Japanese signs and titles of things (apparently they have two alphabets and they also use Chinese characters, and she can read them all). In 8th grade, her school was offering Spanish classes, and she was always far ahead of her classmates, and within the first month, she spoke rapidly to her sister (who was in her sixth year of Spanish class) in Spanish, without ever looking confused. In 9th grade, she switched to French class and she never needed to study, but she still spoke French better than the rest of her classmates. A few months ago, she announced that she wanted to study Korean because she made friends wih a Korean girl in a language exchange program she was using to pick up extra French words after her French class ended. After about a month, she bought a novel in Korean and read it with very little difficulty. As I write this, she is chattering away on the phone with one of her Korean friends. She is talking very quickly and (to me) she sounds fluent.

I don't understand where all this skill with language is coming. My husband and I both only speak English, which is the case with our extended family as well. At first, I only thought that she was simply gifted, but the sudden advanced level in Korean has changed my mind. I did research, but no mental conditions that deal with a specific talent/obsession fully matches her. She has appropriate social skills and plenty of friends. She does well in other subjects in school, but she is extremely talented with languages.

Is there a condition she might have, or is she just gifted? I am just curious.

[~Christina]

Gifted and blessed

[Okaritix]

Doesn't sound like anything wrong with her.. very smart child...

[avlady]

most likely gifted, i wouldn't worry

[-jimi-]

As long as she is happy. Gifted kids can sometimes lack friends since they are different. But many gifted kids still have friends and a social life. As long as other parts of her life work, I would not worry. Just make sure she has access to mental stimulation, being smart means you can also get bored. And if you don't have to work for progress it might happen you never truly learn how to study things that are a bit harder for you. I was never gifted to that point but the first grades I didn't have to make any efforts, that meant that I never learned to study "their way". And when it was finally necessary, I didn't know how to. So don't forget to have her do "boring" things also.

[Crazy Hitch]

This is a great question carawilliams:

"Is there a condition she might have, or is she just gifted?"

My personal belief is, if your daughter is gifted this needs to be nurtured as much as possible. I know that there are Educational Psychologists that can assess to tell whether a child is gifted and talented (at least that's one suggestion I can think of to address that part).

As far as the part of whether or not your daughter has some sort of mental condition, I am glad that you are considering all possibilities. Unfortunately I can't comment much as I'm no expert in the field.

Which ever way this turns out, I wish your daughter a successful and prosperous future.

[pegasus]

Gifted and talented! Congratulations! (no illness, enjoy!)

[Idontsufferfrominsa]

I would say gifted. I might caution you to watch for mood or personality changes, as it seems the gifted are at the most risk. For now, enjoy her!