Hello from Brussels
Aug 2, 2016 23:36:31 GMT 9
Post by Lucia on Aug 2, 2016 23:36:31 GMT 9
Hi everyone,
My name is Lucia and together with my husband Jorge and our baby Daniel, we constitute a monolingual Spanish family living in Brussels.
My wish is to raise our baby boy bilingual, even if he's been born in a monolingual family. I love English, I love the fact that it allows me to communicate with so many different people around the world like no other language does, and I am convinced about the immense richness of being raised bilingual. I work in English and I consider myself to be quite fluent in the language; still, my command is not and never will be like the one of my mother tongue and I am very aware of that.
This raises some concerns for me. My fears revolve around two issues mainly. First and foremost, that my relationship with my son could be somehow determined by the fact that English is not my mother tongue (will I be funny/tender/loving enough in English?); second, that I am going to pass on a 'flawed' English.
I learned about this web page because I read the book. It provided me with very interesting insights:
1) Reading aloud seems an even more important cornerstone of the bilingual journey in my case, since it will ensure that my boy will be listening to 'fully proper' English, at least for some minutes every day.
2) I loved to read about a more flexible approach regarding the different methods to raise bilingual kids. Before reading the book I was mainly aware of the OPOL and ML@H methods, but defined in very strict terms. I liked it that the book referred also to the possibility of the majority language parent talking in the minority language at least part of the time if possible. I always had thought that this would confuse the child but it doesn't seem to be the case, right?
I'm delighted to join this very wide community and am looking forward to making the most out of our shared experiences.
All the best,
Lucía
My name is Lucia and together with my husband Jorge and our baby Daniel, we constitute a monolingual Spanish family living in Brussels.
My wish is to raise our baby boy bilingual, even if he's been born in a monolingual family. I love English, I love the fact that it allows me to communicate with so many different people around the world like no other language does, and I am convinced about the immense richness of being raised bilingual. I work in English and I consider myself to be quite fluent in the language; still, my command is not and never will be like the one of my mother tongue and I am very aware of that.
This raises some concerns for me. My fears revolve around two issues mainly. First and foremost, that my relationship with my son could be somehow determined by the fact that English is not my mother tongue (will I be funny/tender/loving enough in English?); second, that I am going to pass on a 'flawed' English.
I learned about this web page because I read the book. It provided me with very interesting insights:
1) Reading aloud seems an even more important cornerstone of the bilingual journey in my case, since it will ensure that my boy will be listening to 'fully proper' English, at least for some minutes every day.
2) I loved to read about a more flexible approach regarding the different methods to raise bilingual kids. Before reading the book I was mainly aware of the OPOL and ML@H methods, but defined in very strict terms. I liked it that the book referred also to the possibility of the majority language parent talking in the minority language at least part of the time if possible. I always had thought that this would confuse the child but it doesn't seem to be the case, right?
I'm delighted to join this very wide community and am looking forward to making the most out of our shared experiences.
All the best,
Lucía
