Post by Nellie on Aug 28, 2017 5:23:13 GMT 9
Well we have now been in France (from Chile) for one month and I figure it's time for an update on my daughter's language skills!
Our language goals since arriving have changed somewhat from what they were in Chile: we now want to try to maintain (and further develop) our daughter's Spanish to the extent possible, while of course ensuring that her French and English improve so that she can function in those languages at native speaker level.
We opted for a 'smooth' transition with the added benefit of giving her some extra Spanish time, by hiring a Spanish-speaking nanny to take care of her between 9 and 3 every day until school starts in just over a week Due to government guidelines regarding the care of children under 3 (she turns 3 in a few weeks), we were not able to hire the type of nanny I had originally planned for - 'educated', pedagogically-oriented etc. Instead, we found via a network a lovely Latina grandmother - and it has been wonderful! She has basically been playing with my daughter, taking her to the park...and as she literally doesn't speak a word of French, I am 100% sure that she is conversing in Spanish.
Funnily enough, through her, we have really realised just how good our daughter's Spanish is, as many times the nanny has told us stories about how my daughter corrected her (the nanny's) use of a more 'slang' word with the 'proper' one, or used a difficult expression - I am now feeling very grateful to her creche in Santiago!
Anyway, so all that to say that the Spanish is still dominating, but I'm not worried because soon school will start. In order to keep up the Spanish (although we know it will surely 'fall off' a bit, but we are realistic in our expectations), we are keeping the Latina nanny as a babysitter on Saturday nights (bonus for us that we will be able to go out on that night, with the excuse that it's an educational experience for our daughter haha!), and on Wednesday afternoons (when there is no school) we will have another babysitter, this one younger and more pedagogical (who we found through one of those agencies that Amy linked me to - thanks Amy!) look after her. I'm very happy with this arrangement, as I have understood that hearing a diversity of speakers is better than hearing only one, and I like the mix of a somewhat more 'structured' programme (although still play-based) once a week, together with a fun evening with someone who gives lots of cuddles and just generally spoils my daughter (as is the case of the older nanny
) on the weekends!
So that's for Spanish.
As for French, well my husband continues to talk in French and she is now being exposed to French at the park, in restaurants etc. She was being very resistant (she refused to say 'merci' to a waiter a couple of weeks ago on the grounds that 'yo hablo español')....BUT last week she spent 6 days at her Francophone grandparents' place, without us, and...wow, what a difference! Apparently within 3 days she was speaking French - no one could believe it! My husband went to pick her up and called me in shock - no one had ever heard her actually speak French outside of a few words here and there, so it was like discovering a new person!
The strangest thing is that when they arrived back at the place we are staying yesterday, the first words she said to me were in...English! And since then, although she has already gone back to using Spanish most of the time, she is actually responding to me in English every now and then. It's as though being with her grandparents has made her realise that she is supposed to adapt her language to the person she's speaking to - incredible! I am guessing that the fact that she has also heard me interacting with a few friends in English (which rarely happened in Chile) also helped.
Anyway, all that to say that I'm feeling very positive about how things will pan out from here once school starts!
Our language goals since arriving have changed somewhat from what they were in Chile: we now want to try to maintain (and further develop) our daughter's Spanish to the extent possible, while of course ensuring that her French and English improve so that she can function in those languages at native speaker level.
We opted for a 'smooth' transition with the added benefit of giving her some extra Spanish time, by hiring a Spanish-speaking nanny to take care of her between 9 and 3 every day until school starts in just over a week Due to government guidelines regarding the care of children under 3 (she turns 3 in a few weeks), we were not able to hire the type of nanny I had originally planned for - 'educated', pedagogically-oriented etc. Instead, we found via a network a lovely Latina grandmother - and it has been wonderful! She has basically been playing with my daughter, taking her to the park...and as she literally doesn't speak a word of French, I am 100% sure that she is conversing in Spanish.
Funnily enough, through her, we have really realised just how good our daughter's Spanish is, as many times the nanny has told us stories about how my daughter corrected her (the nanny's) use of a more 'slang' word with the 'proper' one, or used a difficult expression - I am now feeling very grateful to her creche in Santiago!
Anyway, so all that to say that the Spanish is still dominating, but I'm not worried because soon school will start. In order to keep up the Spanish (although we know it will surely 'fall off' a bit, but we are realistic in our expectations), we are keeping the Latina nanny as a babysitter on Saturday nights (bonus for us that we will be able to go out on that night, with the excuse that it's an educational experience for our daughter haha!), and on Wednesday afternoons (when there is no school) we will have another babysitter, this one younger and more pedagogical (who we found through one of those agencies that Amy linked me to - thanks Amy!) look after her. I'm very happy with this arrangement, as I have understood that hearing a diversity of speakers is better than hearing only one, and I like the mix of a somewhat more 'structured' programme (although still play-based) once a week, together with a fun evening with someone who gives lots of cuddles and just generally spoils my daughter (as is the case of the older nanny
) on the weekends!So that's for Spanish.
As for French, well my husband continues to talk in French and she is now being exposed to French at the park, in restaurants etc. She was being very resistant (she refused to say 'merci' to a waiter a couple of weeks ago on the grounds that 'yo hablo español')....BUT last week she spent 6 days at her Francophone grandparents' place, without us, and...wow, what a difference! Apparently within 3 days she was speaking French - no one could believe it! My husband went to pick her up and called me in shock - no one had ever heard her actually speak French outside of a few words here and there, so it was like discovering a new person!
The strangest thing is that when they arrived back at the place we are staying yesterday, the first words she said to me were in...English! And since then, although she has already gone back to using Spanish most of the time, she is actually responding to me in English every now and then. It's as though being with her grandparents has made her realise that she is supposed to adapt her language to the person she's speaking to - incredible! I am guessing that the fact that she has also heard me interacting with a few friends in English (which rarely happened in Chile) also helped.
Anyway, all that to say that I'm feeling very positive about how things will pan out from here once school starts!
