Danish in New Zealand
Jan 13, 2015 7:15:59 GMT 9
Post by Jo on Jan 13, 2015 7:15:59 GMT 9
Hi there,
I'm so excited to have found this page and I've just read a few other introductions, as I find the subject of bilingualism really interesting and am determined to raise a little bilinguist myself.
My name is Jo, I'm Danish and have been living in Christchurch, New Zealand for the past 4½ years. My partner is kiwi and speaks only English and limited Danish, whereas I speak Danish, English and German. Our daughter, Klara, is 16 months old and I'm 100% dedicated to raising her bilingual and with good reading/writing skills in both languages, as well as insisting on her speaking to me in Danish only. My advantage is that I've taken a couple of years off to be at home with her, as my partner travels with his work about 200+ days a year.
There is a Danish community here, but none of my close friends here are Danish, so I am alone in teaching her the language. I speak Danish to her 95% of the time and only use English if others are included in the conversation. I've bought hundreds (I know it's a bit extreme) of Danish language books and movies and we watch a Danish movie or show every morning and read 2-3 Danish books every day. My daughter now speaks about 20 words and 15 of them are Danish and she understands and responds well to both languages. She goes to pre-school twice a week, so she gets plenty of English language as well, even when her dad is away with work. We are going to spend 2 months in Denmark later this year, which I'm really excited about, as I know that it is the best way to improve her Danish.
I'm looking forward to exploring this page and learning as much as possible. Even though I am very determined, I still have what I call "bad-Danish-days", where I don't feel like I've done enough. It is definitely proving to be a bigger job than I imagined to teach an entire language by myself.
Jo
I'm so excited to have found this page and I've just read a few other introductions, as I find the subject of bilingualism really interesting and am determined to raise a little bilinguist myself.
My name is Jo, I'm Danish and have been living in Christchurch, New Zealand for the past 4½ years. My partner is kiwi and speaks only English and limited Danish, whereas I speak Danish, English and German. Our daughter, Klara, is 16 months old and I'm 100% dedicated to raising her bilingual and with good reading/writing skills in both languages, as well as insisting on her speaking to me in Danish only. My advantage is that I've taken a couple of years off to be at home with her, as my partner travels with his work about 200+ days a year.
There is a Danish community here, but none of my close friends here are Danish, so I am alone in teaching her the language. I speak Danish to her 95% of the time and only use English if others are included in the conversation. I've bought hundreds (I know it's a bit extreme) of Danish language books and movies and we watch a Danish movie or show every morning and read 2-3 Danish books every day. My daughter now speaks about 20 words and 15 of them are Danish and she understands and responds well to both languages. She goes to pre-school twice a week, so she gets plenty of English language as well, even when her dad is away with work. We are going to spend 2 months in Denmark later this year, which I'm really excited about, as I know that it is the best way to improve her Danish.
I'm looking forward to exploring this page and learning as much as possible. Even though I am very determined, I still have what I call "bad-Danish-days", where I don't feel like I've done enough. It is definitely proving to be a bigger job than I imagined to teach an entire language by myself.
Jo
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