Asalamu alaikum! - From Egypt!
Apr 14, 2016 8:05:08 GMT 9
Post by Fatima on Apr 14, 2016 8:05:08 GMT 9
Hello everyone! I am American and my husband is Spanish-Senegalese but we currently reside in Egypt for studies. So there's English, Spanish, and Arabic right there. Arabic being the Majority Language and English and Spanish the minorities. We have a daughter, 2.5 years old, and a new son, 2 months old.
We never read up on bilingual or multilingual raising strategies or anything like that before having our children. I didn't think it would be complicated, I speak to her in English and her father speaks to her in Spanish, and she'll learn Arabic at school. Simple! Only thing is, my husband, from the start, would speak to her in English! I would have to tell him to speak to her in his own language. And whenever I would ask him why he won't speak to her in Spanish, he would say "because you won't understand me" or "I'll speak to her in Spanish later when she gets older" or "I forget". I shook my head frustrated.
I, growing up a monolingual with both English-speaking parents, totally envied bilinguals, people who didn't have to struggle through some class. People who were just raised with both languages zapped into their heads! (Not literally of course.
) How cool is that!? So here I am frustrated because my husband, the quad- oh wait, hecta-lingual (yes hecta!) was depriving our child of being an easy trilingual. But anyway, to make a long story short, we went to go visit his parents who only speak Catalan and Spanish in the house, and our daughter started picking it up so quickly! So finally after seeing that, and after another nagging from me, he's since started to speak to her fully in Spanish (although I still have to remind him). It's been a week so far, so we'll see how it goes.
My goals are to have our children speak in all three languages fluently including reading and writing. Our minority languages are important because they are the only ways of communicating with family and they are also a great asset of course. I've since started collecting books in English and Spanish. A question, if my husband is not home a lot to speak to them/read to them in Spanish, should I take up speaking it sometimes or not? Also should I read to them in Spanish as well?
Our children also have family in Senegal, so French is another language that I believe they should learn at some point. My question is, how should I introduce French to them? Should I start taking them to French playdates and tutors from the get-go or should I wait till later after they've developed the first three languages a bit? (There are many French speakers here in Egypt so there wouldn't be a problem finding resources.)
We never read up on bilingual or multilingual raising strategies or anything like that before having our children. I didn't think it would be complicated, I speak to her in English and her father speaks to her in Spanish, and she'll learn Arabic at school. Simple! Only thing is, my husband, from the start, would speak to her in English! I would have to tell him to speak to her in his own language. And whenever I would ask him why he won't speak to her in Spanish, he would say "because you won't understand me" or "I'll speak to her in Spanish later when she gets older" or "I forget". I shook my head frustrated.
I, growing up a monolingual with both English-speaking parents, totally envied bilinguals, people who didn't have to struggle through some class. People who were just raised with both languages zapped into their heads! (Not literally of course.
) How cool is that!? So here I am frustrated because my husband, the quad- oh wait, hecta-lingual (yes hecta!) was depriving our child of being an easy trilingual. But anyway, to make a long story short, we went to go visit his parents who only speak Catalan and Spanish in the house, and our daughter started picking it up so quickly! So finally after seeing that, and after another nagging from me, he's since started to speak to her fully in Spanish (although I still have to remind him). It's been a week so far, so we'll see how it goes. My goals are to have our children speak in all three languages fluently including reading and writing. Our minority languages are important because they are the only ways of communicating with family and they are also a great asset of course. I've since started collecting books in English and Spanish. A question, if my husband is not home a lot to speak to them/read to them in Spanish, should I take up speaking it sometimes or not? Also should I read to them in Spanish as well?
Our children also have family in Senegal, so French is another language that I believe they should learn at some point. My question is, how should I introduce French to them? Should I start taking them to French playdates and tutors from the get-go or should I wait till later after they've developed the first three languages a bit? (There are many French speakers here in Egypt so there wouldn't be a problem finding resources.)
What a wonderful, multilingual family! Personally, I think that with lots of Spanish influence, French will come pretty easily. With French readily available in Egypt and family in Senegal, I would let the French exposure happen naturally. Have frequent conversations (telephone or video chat) with family in Senegal, attend French events in Egypt that are for families. I think your children will learn it easily enough as ml because of need and exposure and its close relationship with Spanish. My ml is French and I am able to follow along and read in Spanish without having had any schooling or any real need to use Spanish. Other than I think it is THE most beautiful language in the world!!! 
