Australian in Germany
Jan 30, 2015 9:52:43 GMT 9
Post by Robyn on Jan 30, 2015 9:52:43 GMT 9
Hello All
I am an Australian living for almost 1 year in Germany with my German husband and two children. I am a qualified Youth Worker and Teacher and for the past 8 years worked in Local Government in Australia, and the last two years with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people promoting Reconciliation. I don't work as I am taking German lessons and enjoying getting to spend more time with my kids. At the moment we live with Oma, Opa and 96 year old Ur Oma. This has its challenges but also some great intergenerational moments. Like many of you, it is not only raising a bilingual family that is the challenge, but also being away from one or both sides of the family (depending on your situation). Having seen the two year process of migrating first hand many a time with my friends in Australia, we have now hit the 1 year bump and deciding what to do...of which language is a consideration...and somehow I stumbled across this great site!
In this region children don't learn English until around 10, as bordering on France they start with French first...makes sense really! We were considering staying here for a few years and then going back, but now we are not sure.
My son is pretty much bilingual, switching between the languages quite easily, although sometimes mixing grammar. He has started to read and write in English. My daughter however has changed from only speaking English and understanding German, to mainly speaking German (local dialect as well) to a few words in English. It is in someways easier for me having the minority language to teach as so many of our friends come from around the world and many with ESL (English as Second Language), so I am used to constantly correcting and encouraging. My husband credits his good English and Ozzie accent to me.
At the moment I have hit the "what writing style" to use with my son. The one they use in Australia or here, or do I do both which might be useful in helping him section (right term?) the two languages when he is writing?
Besides that, we love to travel, meet new people, learn about new cultures and be in nature!
Looking forward to learning from and with you all.
I am an Australian living for almost 1 year in Germany with my German husband and two children. I am a qualified Youth Worker and Teacher and for the past 8 years worked in Local Government in Australia, and the last two years with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people promoting Reconciliation. I don't work as I am taking German lessons and enjoying getting to spend more time with my kids. At the moment we live with Oma, Opa and 96 year old Ur Oma. This has its challenges but also some great intergenerational moments. Like many of you, it is not only raising a bilingual family that is the challenge, but also being away from one or both sides of the family (depending on your situation). Having seen the two year process of migrating first hand many a time with my friends in Australia, we have now hit the 1 year bump and deciding what to do...of which language is a consideration...and somehow I stumbled across this great site!
In this region children don't learn English until around 10, as bordering on France they start with French first...makes sense really! We were considering staying here for a few years and then going back, but now we are not sure.
My son is pretty much bilingual, switching between the languages quite easily, although sometimes mixing grammar. He has started to read and write in English. My daughter however has changed from only speaking English and understanding German, to mainly speaking German (local dialect as well) to a few words in English. It is in someways easier for me having the minority language to teach as so many of our friends come from around the world and many with ESL (English as Second Language), so I am used to constantly correcting and encouraging. My husband credits his good English and Ozzie accent to me.
At the moment I have hit the "what writing style" to use with my son. The one they use in Australia or here, or do I do both which might be useful in helping him section (right term?) the two languages when he is writing?
Besides that, we love to travel, meet new people, learn about new cultures and be in nature!
Looking forward to learning from and with you all.
The fact that your children are able to make memories with their great-grandmother is a wonderful thing. My wife's parents live in another city, but it's not too far away, and her grandmother--the great-grandmother for my kids--lived with them until she passed away a few years ago. So my kids saw her often and still remember her fondly. (Come to think of it, I shared some thoughts about her death in the blog post 
