Non Native Speaker raising our kids bilingual
May 16, 2022 21:15:30 GMT 9
Post by Carrie on May 16, 2022 21:15:30 GMT 9
Hello,
My name is Carrie and I live in the UK with my husband and three children (twins almost three and a baby). I was raised as a monolingual by my adopted family in the UK. As an adult I found out that my bio Dad's side of the family is from Austria originally and I began learning German. I have never lived in a German speaking country or needed German at work so it was fairly slow going at first, having neither natural exposure nor need. However I managed to get fairly fluent and when my children were born I was determined to raise them bilingually.
My husband doesn't really speak German (ml). He did a beginners course some years ago and has had fairly constant exposure to it since the twins were born. So he does understand the gist a lot of the time but it's rare to hear him speak more than a couple of words.
It's been challenging. At the start I didn't really have the right vocabulary or the cultural exposure (no knowledge of nursery rhymes, or which children's books and rhymes are classics, etc). I realised in the first year that if I wanted them to be comfortable in our ml I had to speak mainly German to them and not just the occasional bit like i did at the beginning.
So I try to only speak ml with them. However I do sometimes feel I need to switch. I plug ML words in when I don't know the ml word. Or if I can't adequately express myself in ml then I will switch to ML, but look up words and translate phrases later. If monolinguals are around (e.g. visiting family) I try to say things in ml and then repeat in ML so others can understand. However if we are in public or our home i address my children in ml.
I have learned loads, my ml skills are much better than when I started and i am still learning. I'm aware that the children won't have perfect ml because I don't. However given the choice between them speaking only ML, or good ML and broken ml then I am choosing the latter.
The twins (Lily and Alex) have a good understanding of the language and their usage is growing. However they tend to default to English (our ML) and often use it as a framework. E.g. I want Schokolade (chocolate) Mammy. It is rot (red). etc.
Jamie is too young to speak yet but we regularly read and do nursery rhymes (i now have an impressive collection memorised :-))
I have recently taken over as leader of a play group in the ml. I am hoping this will increase my children's exposure to native speakers and give my children more fun associations for the language (in particular peers). My father doesn't live near us but we are organising visits and I encourage him to speak ml with the kids. Unfortunately we don't have the means to travel abroad at the moment.
I have started a few new tactics this weekend and am looking forward to seeing how they play out. When they say something in ML I repeat back in ml 'do you mean X.' I'm surprised at how often they are then repeating it back to me in ml. Also if they want something they have to try and say 'I would like X' in ml, they were very reluctant at first as they have never even tried that phrase in ml before. Alex took to it quicker, realising there was biscuits involved. Lily still seems very reluctant.
My husband has also agreed to start having only German (ml) conversations at the dinner table. We started this last night. There was a lot of English words plugged in when he didn't know the German (he is a beginner after all). But I repeated back the German to him. I am hoping this will do a few things. Help my husband's German and help me get a better idea of what vocabulary he does and doesn't know so I have to switch less when chatting with him and translate less when I'm giving the kids instructions. I'm also hoping the girls will see it is ok to just have a go if you aren't sure of the words, normalising the learning process and making mistakes. As well as giving them more exposure.
I look forward to sharing our journey with you all and hearing about your journeys.
My name is Carrie and I live in the UK with my husband and three children (twins almost three and a baby). I was raised as a monolingual by my adopted family in the UK. As an adult I found out that my bio Dad's side of the family is from Austria originally and I began learning German. I have never lived in a German speaking country or needed German at work so it was fairly slow going at first, having neither natural exposure nor need. However I managed to get fairly fluent and when my children were born I was determined to raise them bilingually.
My husband doesn't really speak German (ml). He did a beginners course some years ago and has had fairly constant exposure to it since the twins were born. So he does understand the gist a lot of the time but it's rare to hear him speak more than a couple of words.
It's been challenging. At the start I didn't really have the right vocabulary or the cultural exposure (no knowledge of nursery rhymes, or which children's books and rhymes are classics, etc). I realised in the first year that if I wanted them to be comfortable in our ml I had to speak mainly German to them and not just the occasional bit like i did at the beginning.
So I try to only speak ml with them. However I do sometimes feel I need to switch. I plug ML words in when I don't know the ml word. Or if I can't adequately express myself in ml then I will switch to ML, but look up words and translate phrases later. If monolinguals are around (e.g. visiting family) I try to say things in ml and then repeat in ML so others can understand. However if we are in public or our home i address my children in ml.
I have learned loads, my ml skills are much better than when I started and i am still learning. I'm aware that the children won't have perfect ml because I don't. However given the choice between them speaking only ML, or good ML and broken ml then I am choosing the latter.
The twins (Lily and Alex) have a good understanding of the language and their usage is growing. However they tend to default to English (our ML) and often use it as a framework. E.g. I want Schokolade (chocolate) Mammy. It is rot (red). etc.
Jamie is too young to speak yet but we regularly read and do nursery rhymes (i now have an impressive collection memorised :-))
I have recently taken over as leader of a play group in the ml. I am hoping this will increase my children's exposure to native speakers and give my children more fun associations for the language (in particular peers). My father doesn't live near us but we are organising visits and I encourage him to speak ml with the kids. Unfortunately we don't have the means to travel abroad at the moment.
I have started a few new tactics this weekend and am looking forward to seeing how they play out. When they say something in ML I repeat back in ml 'do you mean X.' I'm surprised at how often they are then repeating it back to me in ml. Also if they want something they have to try and say 'I would like X' in ml, they were very reluctant at first as they have never even tried that phrase in ml before. Alex took to it quicker, realising there was biscuits involved. Lily still seems very reluctant.
My husband has also agreed to start having only German (ml) conversations at the dinner table. We started this last night. There was a lot of English words plugged in when he didn't know the German (he is a beginner after all). But I repeated back the German to him. I am hoping this will do a few things. Help my husband's German and help me get a better idea of what vocabulary he does and doesn't know so I have to switch less when chatting with him and translate less when I'm giving the kids instructions. I'm also hoping the girls will see it is ok to just have a go if you aren't sure of the words, normalising the learning process and making mistakes. As well as giving them more exposure.
I look forward to sharing our journey with you all and hearing about your journeys.