Greetings from Budapest!
Mar 26, 2015 20:42:38 GMT 9
Post by Estelle on Mar 26, 2015 20:42:38 GMT 9
Hi everyone,
I have been reading the forum posts for a little while now and found some really helpful information! As we are pretty much at the beginning of our bilingual journey, all the advice I have read here was really useful and inspiring.
So, let me introduce myself. I am Estelle, I am the mother of two lovely little girls aged 2 years old and 2 months old. We had been living in Ireland for 5 years but we decided to move to Hungary when I was pregnant with Baby 1. My husband is Hungarian and I am French, the minority language parent. As I was on maternity leave when we moved here, I had the chance to be home with Nora for 1 year and a half. It definitely helped with her getting started with French. Now, she goes to the kindergarden and she is more comfortable speaking Hungarian than French. Yet, I am very happy to say that, with me, she speaks French and with her grandparents too. I notice that she is repeating what we tell her and learning new words even if she has less exposure with this language.
We have chosen the 1 parent 1 language approach to speak with the girls. But between us, it is a bit more “free style”. My husband and I would speak French with each other most of the time but if he or I have to explain something a bit complex, we would switch to English. That was our common language when we first met. I am a bit worried that this might be confusing for the girls…
My second concern, or let’s say challenge is about our Majority Language. My Hungarian, even after more than 2 years in the country is still basic. I understand quite a lot (well so far everything my daughter is saying, ufff!) but I am not able to express myself as I would like. I get confused with the endings, words orders…far from perfect. I was wondering if anybody would have a similar challenge? I am thinking that, if I don’t improve, it might have an impact on my child's willingness to learn / speak Hungarian…
Oh, I didn’t expect to write so much but I think that’s all for now…looking forward to meeting you all.
I have been reading the forum posts for a little while now and found some really helpful information! As we are pretty much at the beginning of our bilingual journey, all the advice I have read here was really useful and inspiring.
So, let me introduce myself. I am Estelle, I am the mother of two lovely little girls aged 2 years old and 2 months old. We had been living in Ireland for 5 years but we decided to move to Hungary when I was pregnant with Baby 1. My husband is Hungarian and I am French, the minority language parent. As I was on maternity leave when we moved here, I had the chance to be home with Nora for 1 year and a half. It definitely helped with her getting started with French. Now, she goes to the kindergarden and she is more comfortable speaking Hungarian than French. Yet, I am very happy to say that, with me, she speaks French and with her grandparents too. I notice that she is repeating what we tell her and learning new words even if she has less exposure with this language.
We have chosen the 1 parent 1 language approach to speak with the girls. But between us, it is a bit more “free style”. My husband and I would speak French with each other most of the time but if he or I have to explain something a bit complex, we would switch to English. That was our common language when we first met. I am a bit worried that this might be confusing for the girls…
My second concern, or let’s say challenge is about our Majority Language. My Hungarian, even after more than 2 years in the country is still basic. I understand quite a lot (well so far everything my daughter is saying, ufff!) but I am not able to express myself as I would like. I get confused with the endings, words orders…far from perfect. I was wondering if anybody would have a similar challenge? I am thinking that, if I don’t improve, it might have an impact on my child's willingness to learn / speak Hungarian…
Oh, I didn’t expect to write so much but I think that’s all for now…looking forward to meeting you all.
