Laura in the US
Jul 2, 2014 13:51:45 GMT 9
Post by Laura on Jul 2, 2014 13:51:45 GMT 9
My name is Laura and I have 2 boys, ages (almost) 4 and 1. My husband is in the US Air Force, so we travel quite a bit, but we currently live in the US. I only spoke one language growing up (English) and my husband only speaks English as well, so I never thought I would attempt to speak another language with my kids. But after years of studying Japanese in college, living in Japan for 3 years and completing a master's degree in Advanced Japanese studies, I wanted to give my kids the gift of bilingualism--or if nothing else, an exposure to a second language at an early age.
I started out very small with my oldest son and spoke to him mostly in English, but as he got older and started speaking, I realized that this was the best time for him to learn Japanese. I spent a good couple of months speaking to him in only Japanese when he was 2 1/2 and he was picking it up wonderfully, following instructions and learning how to count. But when family arrived when my second son was born, along with the stresses of a new baby, I slipped back to using English more regularly. This coincided with the start of English preschool 3 days a week, and his English level skyrocketed and his Japanese was almost forgotten.
For about 6 months now, I've been focusing more on using Japanese with the boys when I'm with them at home and my older son has been making a lot of progress. I do feel obligated to translate for him in English when he doesn't understand, and I'm training myself to answer him in Japanese when he speaks to me in English. This has been the hardest part! It's just natural to answer a question in the same language, and I find myself going back and forth between the two languages at times. My pronunciation is quite good, but Japanese is not my native language and I do get stuck on a word or expression I don't know at times. I am trying to look up these words and keep a list of them to go over so I can remember them later on. We have also started lessons with a native speaker who lives in the area once a week, which has been helpful.
I am looking forward to reading about other parents' strategies to develop the minority language in their households. And I'm hoping for some encouragement to continue along this journey! Some may think I am crazy for trying to teach my kids Japanese when it is not my native language, but I know I would regret it if I gave up at this point.
I started out very small with my oldest son and spoke to him mostly in English, but as he got older and started speaking, I realized that this was the best time for him to learn Japanese. I spent a good couple of months speaking to him in only Japanese when he was 2 1/2 and he was picking it up wonderfully, following instructions and learning how to count. But when family arrived when my second son was born, along with the stresses of a new baby, I slipped back to using English more regularly. This coincided with the start of English preschool 3 days a week, and his English level skyrocketed and his Japanese was almost forgotten.
For about 6 months now, I've been focusing more on using Japanese with the boys when I'm with them at home and my older son has been making a lot of progress. I do feel obligated to translate for him in English when he doesn't understand, and I'm training myself to answer him in Japanese when he speaks to me in English. This has been the hardest part! It's just natural to answer a question in the same language, and I find myself going back and forth between the two languages at times. My pronunciation is quite good, but Japanese is not my native language and I do get stuck on a word or expression I don't know at times. I am trying to look up these words and keep a list of them to go over so I can remember them later on. We have also started lessons with a native speaker who lives in the area once a week, which has been helpful.
I am looking forward to reading about other parents' strategies to develop the minority language in their households. And I'm hoping for some encouragement to continue along this journey! Some may think I am crazy for trying to teach my kids Japanese when it is not my native language, but I know I would regret it if I gave up at this point.
Very positive podcast review of my book Bilingual Success Stories Around the World at Kletsheads 
