Hello from English-speaking family in Russia!
Jun 16, 2018 17:42:54 GMT 9
Post by James on Jun 16, 2018 17:42:54 GMT 9
Hello everyone,
My name is James; I am a native speaker of English, and I live in Russia now.
I've been reading Bilingual Monkeys for some time now and finally decided to join. I have to admit: I am not a parent, and my case is about someone who isn't a little child anymore. I hope you don't mind this; I hope to become an active member of your wonderful community. I have already found a lot of interesting and useful information here, information that helped me. Perhaps I will be able to share something useful too.
My story is a little – or a lot – twisted. I am a bilingual...elder brother.
As for me personally, I have always used my native language whenever possible. It is my language, my history, my identity, and that's final. Period.
My sister is almost twenty years old now (yes, I know, it is a little late). We've lived in Russia for over fifteen years, and even though she could speak English as a little child, she was raised in a monolingual environment (mother could, but chose not to, speak English to her) and, as a result, lost her ability to use it almost completely. Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to be always in touch with her; I live separately. For a long time, she didn't show any interest in English at all.
The situation changed about two years ago. One day, she came up to me and said, "Jim, speak English to me, please; I know it's easier and better for you." She expressed interest in reacquiring our native language, preserving our ways and traditions, and has proven to be most serious about this. For over a year now, I've spoken only English to her, and she has learned to understand me perfectly. We used to rely on instant messaging to maintain closeness, writing tons of messages to each other each day; we both have started to use only English for this purpose too. We've made huge progress.
But I still face one big challenge: she refuses to speak English herself. She is afraid and ashamed; no matter how hard I try to show her that her English is, in fact, good. I do my best to encourage her, but my best seems to be not good enough. Whenever I try to make her (delicately, of course) speak English, she starts acting like a kid, sometimes even literally running away from the conversation. This is why I'm reading resources for parents, and this is why I'm here.
I can only hope that you will accept me and won't think that I'm insane.
My name is James; I am a native speaker of English, and I live in Russia now.
I've been reading Bilingual Monkeys for some time now and finally decided to join. I have to admit: I am not a parent, and my case is about someone who isn't a little child anymore. I hope you don't mind this; I hope to become an active member of your wonderful community. I have already found a lot of interesting and useful information here, information that helped me. Perhaps I will be able to share something useful too.
My story is a little – or a lot – twisted. I am a bilingual...elder brother.
As for me personally, I have always used my native language whenever possible. It is my language, my history, my identity, and that's final. Period.
My sister is almost twenty years old now (yes, I know, it is a little late). We've lived in Russia for over fifteen years, and even though she could speak English as a little child, she was raised in a monolingual environment (mother could, but chose not to, speak English to her) and, as a result, lost her ability to use it almost completely. Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to be always in touch with her; I live separately. For a long time, she didn't show any interest in English at all.
The situation changed about two years ago. One day, she came up to me and said, "Jim, speak English to me, please; I know it's easier and better for you." She expressed interest in reacquiring our native language, preserving our ways and traditions, and has proven to be most serious about this. For over a year now, I've spoken only English to her, and she has learned to understand me perfectly. We used to rely on instant messaging to maintain closeness, writing tons of messages to each other each day; we both have started to use only English for this purpose too. We've made huge progress.
But I still face one big challenge: she refuses to speak English herself. She is afraid and ashamed; no matter how hard I try to show her that her English is, in fact, good. I do my best to encourage her, but my best seems to be not good enough. Whenever I try to make her (delicately, of course) speak English, she starts acting like a kid, sometimes even literally running away from the conversation. This is why I'm reading resources for parents, and this is why I'm here.
I can only hope that you will accept me and won't think that I'm insane.
