Hello from USA!
Jun 10, 2016 8:00:12 GMT 9
Post by Annilyn on Jun 10, 2016 8:00:12 GMT 9
My husband and I are expecting our first in less than a month. We're so excited. My husband and I met in Russian class in college. We have both worked as Russian teachers. We love Russian and Russian culture, and want to raise our son with a knowledge of Russian. But we're both afraid it won't work because neither of us are native speakers, none of our family speaks it, and we don't live in an area with a high concentration of native Russians for our son to interact with.
I really want to do as much as I can to help my son learn it while he is young because I know it is so much easier. My parents had a similar situation when I was born. They both had learned French. When I was 2 we moved to France and lived there for two years so I picked up French. When my parents first began teaching me, I stubbornly refused to speak French with them and I know it was really difficult for them. When we moved back to the States, I forgot a lot of the French I had learned (mostly my own fault for not speaking to my mother in French when she tried). But some of it remained with me and I believe that I gained some of the benefits of bilingualism despite the fact that I am not currently a fluent French speaker.
I also was able to see children's amazing ability to learn a second language demonstrated when I worked as a English teacher in Ukraine. Even with the fairly limited exposure our afterschool program provided, young children made significant progress in picking up English even when they didn't have much support at home.
We have considered using OPOL, but neither of us wants to be the one to speak Russian all the time because we're afraid our relationship with our son will suffer since it isn't our native language. So we're trying to figure out other options. I am hoping that using some of the immersion techniques I used teaching English and setting aside time to speak Russian and read Russian (I have been collecting Russian children's books for years) every day will help my son gain some of the benefits of bilingualism. I'm hoping to find support from others who may be in a similar situation and any additional suggestions on our adventure in bilingual parenting.
I really want to do as much as I can to help my son learn it while he is young because I know it is so much easier. My parents had a similar situation when I was born. They both had learned French. When I was 2 we moved to France and lived there for two years so I picked up French. When my parents first began teaching me, I stubbornly refused to speak French with them and I know it was really difficult for them. When we moved back to the States, I forgot a lot of the French I had learned (mostly my own fault for not speaking to my mother in French when she tried). But some of it remained with me and I believe that I gained some of the benefits of bilingualism despite the fact that I am not currently a fluent French speaker.
I also was able to see children's amazing ability to learn a second language demonstrated when I worked as a English teacher in Ukraine. Even with the fairly limited exposure our afterschool program provided, young children made significant progress in picking up English even when they didn't have much support at home.
We have considered using OPOL, but neither of us wants to be the one to speak Russian all the time because we're afraid our relationship with our son will suffer since it isn't our native language. So we're trying to figure out other options. I am hoping that using some of the immersion techniques I used teaching English and setting aside time to speak Russian and read Russian (I have been collecting Russian children's books for years) every day will help my son gain some of the benefits of bilingualism. I'm hoping to find support from others who may be in a similar situation and any additional suggestions on our adventure in bilingual parenting.
Very positive podcast review of my book Bilingual Success Stories Around the World at Kletsheads 
