Nellie from Hungary in the US
Jul 21, 2014 6:59:22 GMT 9
Post by Nellie on Jul 21, 2014 6:59:22 GMT 9
Hello fellow bilinguals,
My name is Nellie and I am mom to two bilingual monkeys, a 5-year-old girl and an almost 3-year-old boy. We live in the US, in rural Canton, Missouri, but I was born and raised in Hungary. My husband is American and the only language we both speak is English, although we both have a background in other languages.
The past five years of raising bilingual kid(s) has been both fascinating and frustrating, with lots of ups and downs daily as well as over the years. I work as a translator and studied the "psychology of the brain" (cognitive and experimental psychology) in college, so in some ways, I am continuing my own education by watching them learn. We are now entering the world of reading and writing and I am enjoying every minute of it. The frustrating part comes mainly from the lack of support: I often feel like I have to fight against the rest of the world around us to continue with their bilingual journey. There is a lot of ignorance (still) regarding other cultures, different values, and when this ignorance somehow hurts my children, it really upsets me.
By reading the Bilingual Monkeys site regularly and visiting the zoo as time allows, I hope to stay focused on using Hungarian daily, believing that the small steps taken regularly will add up to something important for the kids (and myself). I hope to find like-minded people here and contribute in any way I can.
It's nice to meet you all!
Nellie
P.S.: For more about our "ups and downs" and how traveling to Hungary helps with our bilingual journey, please see the post here.
Thank you, Adam, for allowing me to share my story with the universe through your site!
My name is Nellie and I am mom to two bilingual monkeys, a 5-year-old girl and an almost 3-year-old boy. We live in the US, in rural Canton, Missouri, but I was born and raised in Hungary. My husband is American and the only language we both speak is English, although we both have a background in other languages.
The past five years of raising bilingual kid(s) has been both fascinating and frustrating, with lots of ups and downs daily as well as over the years. I work as a translator and studied the "psychology of the brain" (cognitive and experimental psychology) in college, so in some ways, I am continuing my own education by watching them learn. We are now entering the world of reading and writing and I am enjoying every minute of it. The frustrating part comes mainly from the lack of support: I often feel like I have to fight against the rest of the world around us to continue with their bilingual journey. There is a lot of ignorance (still) regarding other cultures, different values, and when this ignorance somehow hurts my children, it really upsets me.
By reading the Bilingual Monkeys site regularly and visiting the zoo as time allows, I hope to stay focused on using Hungarian daily, believing that the small steps taken regularly will add up to something important for the kids (and myself). I hope to find like-minded people here and contribute in any way I can.
It's nice to meet you all!
Nellie
P.S.: For more about our "ups and downs" and how traveling to Hungary helps with our bilingual journey, please see the post here.
Thank you, Adam, for allowing me to share my story with the universe through your site!
I have also been told how difficult it is to learn, although I'd argue that it's a question of effort and attitude... but again, I'm probably the wrong person to comment on this, having learned it as my native language.
