Mom of two girls, living in Netherlands; ml Papiamentu
Dec 10, 2018 5:24:17 GMT 9
Post by Rose P on Dec 10, 2018 5:24:17 GMT 9
Hello from the Netherlands!
I've been following Adam Beck for years now (on occasion) and when my first daughter was born almost 5 years ago and I was in the hospital, I was researching how to best raise her bilingual because I was feeling so motivated.
The ML is Dutch, and I myself was born on a small Island in the Caribbean called Curacau. The spoken language there is Papiamentu (a language which is best described as a mix between Spanish/English/Dutch/Portuguese) .
I kind of failed miserably though at raising her bilingual.
When trying to teach my daughter Papiamentu I keep 'forgetting' that I'm supposed to speak in Papiamentu and automatically start in Dutch. Only to remember I was planning to do the ml thing weeks later.
The challenges I encounter are:
- My Papiamentu (ml) isn't as good as my Dutch (ML), so I tend to automatically talk Dutch (ML).
- There are very very very few resources to be found in Papiamentu. Only a handful of children's books (online I can only find like 5 or so), almost no children's music (only a few really old songs from when I myself was young). No cartoons, no children's TV station, almost nothing on YouTube. It's really frustrating.
- I happen to live far apart from the rest of my family, so I am the only one who is able to speak the ml to the kids.
- We rarely visit the Island because of the distance and it's so very expensive. So very little immersion that way.
Situation now:
My youngest daughter passively understands some Papiamentu, like the easy basic stuff: open the door, put on your shoes, are you hungry, etc. When I ask her to repeat something I said in the ml, she actually will (try to) repeat what I just said. She is willing to learn, that's a good sign. Her Dutch is really good for her age, by the way (she started talking at a really young age and was speaking full sentences around 1 year and a few months).
Four weeks ago my second daughter was born...and I feel motivated to give it another go. I try to speak the ml to her, like when I'm feeding her (the baby) and changing her clothes etc. But again, I catch myself speaking mainly Dutch unintentionally. I hope that by teaching baby sister the ml that big sister will also tag along in the process.
Today I read Adam's newsletter that came in my inbox, and read the post about him introducing a third language to his kids, Spanish. I was reading all the advice and resources mentioned and I suddenly had an idea...
My sisters all grew up on Curacau and were taught Spanish in school. But here in the Netherlands Spanish isn't in the curriculum in most schools. So, even though I can understand some Spanish, I can't really speak it or write or anything.
So to get this thing started I opened up a Netflix acount, and made a profile for the kids, and started streaming cartoons in Spanish. Also I made myself a new profile and added shows I like to watch to the playlist and also (when available) changed the audio to Spanish.
Feeling motivated I spoke Papiamentu the entire afternoon and evening to my eldest daughter!
My plan for now (sorry for the long post
)...
1) start/proceed by speaking Papiamentu as ml to baby daughter, and try to speak ml to eldest daughter when at home. (I feel awkward speaking ml outside of the home to her, afraid I'll seem 'unadjusted' to the culture and language of the Netherlands.)
2) start exposing myself and two daughters to Spanish
3) after a while (say, one month from now?) assess if the Spanish thing is something I want to continue and if I'm serious about it by then. I will see if I can build up my own Spanish ability (courses, Duolingo, etc) and fully embrace Spanish as our ml.
I'm hoping that by starting this thread I will keep motivated at this bilingual (trilingual) journey for me and my kids.
Rose P.
I've been following Adam Beck for years now (on occasion) and when my first daughter was born almost 5 years ago and I was in the hospital, I was researching how to best raise her bilingual because I was feeling so motivated.
The ML is Dutch, and I myself was born on a small Island in the Caribbean called Curacau. The spoken language there is Papiamentu (a language which is best described as a mix between Spanish/English/Dutch/Portuguese) .
I kind of failed miserably though at raising her bilingual.
I myself moved to the Netherlands at a very young age, and though I was raised bilingual (not on purpose though ) my Dutch is so much better and has somehow become my 'mother language' even though it's the second language I was taught. I even think and dream in Dutch.
) my Dutch is so much better and has somehow become my 'mother language' even though it's the second language I was taught. I even think and dream in Dutch.When trying to teach my daughter Papiamentu I keep 'forgetting' that I'm supposed to speak in Papiamentu and automatically start in Dutch. Only to remember I was planning to do the ml thing weeks later.
The challenges I encounter are:
- My Papiamentu (ml) isn't as good as my Dutch (ML), so I tend to automatically talk Dutch (ML).
- There are very very very few resources to be found in Papiamentu. Only a handful of children's books (online I can only find like 5 or so), almost no children's music (only a few really old songs from when I myself was young). No cartoons, no children's TV station, almost nothing on YouTube. It's really frustrating.
- I happen to live far apart from the rest of my family, so I am the only one who is able to speak the ml to the kids.
- We rarely visit the Island because of the distance and it's so very expensive. So very little immersion that way.
Situation now:
My youngest daughter passively understands some Papiamentu, like the easy basic stuff: open the door, put on your shoes, are you hungry, etc. When I ask her to repeat something I said in the ml, she actually will (try to) repeat what I just said. She is willing to learn, that's a good sign. Her Dutch is really good for her age, by the way (she started talking at a really young age and was speaking full sentences around 1 year and a few months).
Four weeks ago my second daughter was born...and I feel motivated to give it another go. I try to speak the ml to her, like when I'm feeding her (the baby) and changing her clothes etc. But again, I catch myself speaking mainly Dutch unintentionally. I hope that by teaching baby sister the ml that big sister will also tag along in the process.
Today I read Adam's newsletter that came in my inbox, and read the post about him introducing a third language to his kids, Spanish. I was reading all the advice and resources mentioned and I suddenly had an idea...
What if instead of teaching the kids Papiamentu as the minority language, I switch to Spanish as the minority language? There are plenty of resources for Spanish (cartoons, YouTube, books, music etc.). Spanish is also spoken a lot on the island (Curacau), and Papiamentu actually has a lot of (Mexican) Spanish influences!
The only thing is...*I* don't speak Spanish *lol*.
So to get this thing started I opened up a Netflix acount, and made a profile for the kids, and started streaming cartoons in Spanish. Also I made myself a new profile and added shows I like to watch to the playlist and also (when available) changed the audio to Spanish.
Feeling motivated I spoke Papiamentu the entire afternoon and evening to my eldest daughter!
My plan for now (sorry for the long post
)...1) start/proceed by speaking Papiamentu as ml to baby daughter, and try to speak ml to eldest daughter when at home. (I feel awkward speaking ml outside of the home to her, afraid I'll seem 'unadjusted' to the culture and language of the Netherlands.)
2) start exposing myself and two daughters to Spanish
3) after a while (say, one month from now?) assess if the Spanish thing is something I want to continue and if I'm serious about it by then. I will see if I can build up my own Spanish ability (courses, Duolingo, etc) and fully embrace Spanish as our ml.
I'm hoping that by starting this thread I will keep motivated at this bilingual (trilingual) journey for me and my kids.
Rose P.
