Ciao from Sydney!
May 3, 2016 13:30:14 GMT 9
Post by Virginia on May 3, 2016 13:30:14 GMT 9
Hi there, I'm Virginia - born and grown up in Italy, and I have been living in Sydney (Australia) for the last 8 years. I'm married to a Kiwi (New Zealander for those not familiar with the local slang) who has only limited Italian, and we have a 15 month old daughter, Viola. I have always been speaking Italian to her, very consistently since birth, and since I've been back at work (4 days a week), we decided to send her 2 days to an English speaking childcare and 2 days with an Italian nanny (who only speaks Italian to her). My husband also tries his best to read to her in Italian and speak as much as he can in Italian, but to communicate with him I often have to speak to him in English (his understanding is basic). I have no family here, but do have a few Italian friends.
So far Viola understands REALLY well Italian and is even more sophisticated than in English (she can point to her body parts when asked, she picks up 'the book with the red bus' rather than another one etc.). She also said her very first word in Italian ('giu", which means 'down' and which she uses very correctly). She also says 'mamma' and 'papa', but I guess they are quite non-language specific. I've noticed recently that she is starting to say 'hello' and 'bye bye', which she has picked up from childcare and community, as we never use them at home...I cannot help but being disappointed and worried that it is a bad sign. Is this the case? Note that she perfectly understands and waves at 'ciao' as well, it's just that she doesn't say that.
I am following pretty much all of the tips in this blog, we read A LOT to her every day, particularly in Italian, play Italian music, talk to her in Italian all the time...is there anything else I can do?
I guess I am a bit worried from some stories of other bilingual parents around me whose kids at over 5 years old are only passive, and do not speak the language.
Would love to hear some success stories of people in a similar situation, especially given that Italian doesn't have the same 'prestige' as English.
Thanks all for your support!
So far Viola understands REALLY well Italian and is even more sophisticated than in English (she can point to her body parts when asked, she picks up 'the book with the red bus' rather than another one etc.). She also said her very first word in Italian ('giu", which means 'down' and which she uses very correctly). She also says 'mamma' and 'papa', but I guess they are quite non-language specific. I've noticed recently that she is starting to say 'hello' and 'bye bye', which she has picked up from childcare and community, as we never use them at home...I cannot help but being disappointed and worried that it is a bad sign. Is this the case? Note that she perfectly understands and waves at 'ciao' as well, it's just that she doesn't say that.
I am following pretty much all of the tips in this blog, we read A LOT to her every day, particularly in Italian, play Italian music, talk to her in Italian all the time...is there anything else I can do?
I guess I am a bit worried from some stories of other bilingual parents around me whose kids at over 5 years old are only passive, and do not speak the language.
Would love to hear some success stories of people in a similar situation, especially given that Italian doesn't have the same 'prestige' as English.
Thanks all for your support!
