Hola from UK!
Jan 14, 2021 0:20:46 GMT 9
Post by Ana on Jan 14, 2021 0:20:46 GMT 9
Hi!
We are a Spanish-Cantonese family living just outside London. I am Spanish and have been living in the UK for almost 10 years and my partner is British-born but his family are originally from Hong Kong. We have two children, a boy aged 3 and a girl aged 13 months.
Our multilingual journey is going better than expected, but it's only early days for us. I only speak Spanish to the children even when we're out with other people, my partner speaks only Cantonese and they are learning English at nursery. I communicate with my partner in English as none of us speak the other language but even when we are all together we carry on speaking Spanish/Cantonese to the children.
The older one is doing really well, he started talking at an average age and has never mixed languages, he speaks all 3 languages, Spanish is currently his strongest one and he speaks at the same level as any other Spanish child of his age. His Cantonese is fairly good but sometimes he doesn't have enough vocabulary to explain things that he could in Spanish. We are not very sure how good his English is as he only speaks it at nursery and most of the time seems 'shy' to speak it in front of us, but they say it's also good for his age (although he has a bit of a Spanish accent which is quite funny). So, all in all, things going well but I'm dreading the day he starts speaking English to us and I can also anticipate that he'll be speaking English to his sister. I am also worried that the girl will speak mostly English as most of the bilingual children around us, I appreciate that what our boy does is not the most common thing.
For us, it is very important that they speak all three languages as the grandparents can't speak English and we are both very close to our extended family. The paternal grandparents live close to us so they get to see them regularly which I hope will help to develop Cantonese. We also travel often to Spain and they get to spend time with their cousins.
My goals are for them to be fully bilingual in Spanish and English, so be able to write and read in Spanish and be able to understand and speak Cantonese within a family setting. I wonder if this is overly ambitious?
Many thanks for creating this forum, it is really useful to read other people's experiences and feel that we are not alone. Although I know many bilingual families around us, I feel that for some of them it's not that important to develop both languages and they seem to have just given up and accept the ML.
We are a Spanish-Cantonese family living just outside London. I am Spanish and have been living in the UK for almost 10 years and my partner is British-born but his family are originally from Hong Kong. We have two children, a boy aged 3 and a girl aged 13 months.
Our multilingual journey is going better than expected, but it's only early days for us. I only speak Spanish to the children even when we're out with other people, my partner speaks only Cantonese and they are learning English at nursery. I communicate with my partner in English as none of us speak the other language but even when we are all together we carry on speaking Spanish/Cantonese to the children.
The older one is doing really well, he started talking at an average age and has never mixed languages, he speaks all 3 languages, Spanish is currently his strongest one and he speaks at the same level as any other Spanish child of his age. His Cantonese is fairly good but sometimes he doesn't have enough vocabulary to explain things that he could in Spanish. We are not very sure how good his English is as he only speaks it at nursery and most of the time seems 'shy' to speak it in front of us, but they say it's also good for his age (although he has a bit of a Spanish accent which is quite funny). So, all in all, things going well but I'm dreading the day he starts speaking English to us and I can also anticipate that he'll be speaking English to his sister. I am also worried that the girl will speak mostly English as most of the bilingual children around us, I appreciate that what our boy does is not the most common thing.
For us, it is very important that they speak all three languages as the grandparents can't speak English and we are both very close to our extended family. The paternal grandparents live close to us so they get to see them regularly which I hope will help to develop Cantonese. We also travel often to Spain and they get to spend time with their cousins.
I have been reading the book and I find it very useful to know what to expect as, as I said, I think we have been very lucky so far but it will become increasingly difficult to develop all the languages. Another of my worries is that as they grow older and the family conversations become more complex we will have to speak English (for example whilst eating together) and the minority languages will be limited to either of us being alone with them. I would be grateful for some advice handling this.
Many thanks for creating this forum, it is really useful to read other people's experiences and feel that we are not alone. Although I know many bilingual families around us, I feel that for some of them it's not that important to develop both languages and they seem to have just given up and accept the ML.
Here is my 
Having grandparents nearby surely is a plus. I have many friends who know some obscure dialects because they use it to speak to their grandparents only! I am from Malaysia, where we all grow up with multiple languages.
