Persistence pays off!

Hello World!

It's been nearly 5 months since I have updated my progress here, and even been quite a while since I visited the forum. A lot seems to be happening here!

I cannot describe how elated I feel at the moment on how my daughter has progressed since last year. Believe it or not, Adam's magical words of getting someone to play with her did the trick finally!! In the process, I have also made a lot of friends around.

And here's how it goes!

I was quite convinced (as a mommy with a strong gut feeling) that if only I could find just that one person to help my daughter patiently a little at a time, it would help her change immensely. But, whichever turn I took seemed to be a dead end, until one fine day, I found someone who helped me get a university student who wants to become a kindergarten teacher, and who didn't have any interest in English. It was as if the "bilingual angels" were hovering around our home and granted my wish because that's exactly what I wanted!! That my daughter should not have any other exposure except Japanese and it should be done in a playful way. So after the initial greetings and concerns were exchanged, the university student would come to our home whenever our schedules worked out, and all she had to do was just be there and get talking.

None of us knew what had to be done, and even that student was initially very apprehensive as there was nothing defined. But I kept assuring her that we were doing fine, and all I needed was her time. Of course, I told her that I would pay her by the hour, which initially she found it delicate to accept, but I almost imposed it on her!! This kind of a schedule worked out a few hours in a month, and within a span of 3 months from January to March, my daughter finally started speaking up in Japanese without any hesitation. The student was just perfect for her, and even she felt so happy as she did not think that this would even work. Imagine asking for a Japanese teacher in Japan! I think I would be the only weirdo with this request, but I guess my daughter had different needs!! It took a while for me to convince them why I am even doing this, and I got them to come home once on a casual visit. However, the end result was fascinating for me as well as that student! As if a genie came out of the lamp! However, now that student has started working since the beginning of this month, so we may not have regular meetups, but she has promised to come over whenever she can.

And, another thing which I started working on was to tap my daughter's interest, and it turned out to be music. I enrolled her for classical music through the online medium, and I also sit with her during the classes as it is her initial days. Singing also started to boost her confidence level as a person.

I am not sure which worked first, but I guess a culmination of all these efforts is finally paying off. I wouldn't say that she is perfectly muttering away in Japanese, but that certain barrier has now been broken. And I don't have to keep pushing her any longer on how to do what.

Today was her first day in Grade 4, and the classmates who had seen her 2 years earlier were surprised (or maybe shocked!) to see my daughter actually talk in Japanese!!! And, I have also been hearing from various quarters about how my daughter no longer needs to be asked anything, as she herself comes forward to talk!! Even if it is a low tone, she has now successfully overcome that invisible barrier.

So now what seems to be happening is that she is getting stronger in Japanese, and English is almost taking a backseat. She doesn't want to watch programs in English (and prefers to watch them dubbed in Japanese!! LOL) So, now we are trying to bring in some rules that we are not going to switch languages and stay faithful to the original versions! It's all about bringing a balance, and now I have to hunt Adam's treasure box for something that will click for us.

I have a lot more to share, but this is one of the major updates.

Thanks Adam! I owe you a lot!