Do you use the ML here, or the ml no matter what?
Sept 25, 2017 12:01:04 GMT 9
Post by Marisa on Sept 25, 2017 12:01:04 GMT 9
Hello everyone!
Because of a comment I heard last week, I've been thinking about this for a while. Since I'm trying to be "preemptive" here
, I thought I'd use this forum to find out if you've seen yourselves in these situations, and if so, how you've handled them:
(1) Isabel-Marie had her first 'class' with a German native speaker last week. After that, I talked to this lady for a while. Very nice and productive conversation, I have to say. One of the things I noticed is that she talks to her 3-year-old in English extensively. Her daughter understands German, but always responds in English. She explained her reasons to do so, and one of the things she mentioned has given me some 'food for thought,' actually. She said that when she and her daughter are in the park, for example, and she (the daughter) does something that requires some 'disciplinary talk,' she can't do this in German because the other kid(s) and their parent(s) will not understand what she's saying to her daughter, hence the use of the ML (English) in that particular sphere (she doesn't want them to feel upset because they can't understand how she's disciplining her daughter). Honestly, since mine isn't old enough to put herself in a situation that would require my telling her something like "no, you can't do that, it's the wrong thing to do, talk to that kid and apologize," I hadn't even thought of that, but I'm sure such thing will happen at some point. So, for those of you who have experienced this situation, how have you handled it? Using the ML only for that particular instance? Using the ml, no matter what? Something in between? I was thinking that maybe I'd tell the parent that I only talk in Spanish to my daughter, so in that language, I was going to tell her this or that, and at the end I'll ask her to apologize to his/her kid in English. My guess is that my daughter's facial expressions will make this parent understand that I'm disciplining her in a firm, non-threatening way, and hopefully (s)he (the parent) will be OK with my not using English for that... So far, I've been pretty consistent using only the ml with Isabel-Marie, and I plan to continue to do so in the future, but I have to admit, that comment made me think whether I'll be able to keep a strong consistency... let's hope that's the case!
(2) OK, a different (and happier!) scenario now. I'm thinking of moments when your kids bring friends home for something fun like sleepovers, which I imagine will happen to me at some point. What has been your experience with this type of situation? Do you talk to the kid's friends in the ML and to your child in ml at all costs? Do you compromise? I imagine that responses vary, but I'm very curious to see how you handled it so that I can think of ways to do so when it happens to me!
As always, thank you for your help!
Because of a comment I heard last week, I've been thinking about this for a while. Since I'm trying to be "preemptive" here
, I thought I'd use this forum to find out if you've seen yourselves in these situations, and if so, how you've handled them:(1) Isabel-Marie had her first 'class' with a German native speaker last week. After that, I talked to this lady for a while. Very nice and productive conversation, I have to say. One of the things I noticed is that she talks to her 3-year-old in English extensively. Her daughter understands German, but always responds in English. She explained her reasons to do so, and one of the things she mentioned has given me some 'food for thought,' actually. She said that when she and her daughter are in the park, for example, and she (the daughter) does something that requires some 'disciplinary talk,' she can't do this in German because the other kid(s) and their parent(s) will not understand what she's saying to her daughter, hence the use of the ML (English) in that particular sphere (she doesn't want them to feel upset because they can't understand how she's disciplining her daughter). Honestly, since mine isn't old enough to put herself in a situation that would require my telling her something like "no, you can't do that, it's the wrong thing to do, talk to that kid and apologize," I hadn't even thought of that, but I'm sure such thing will happen at some point. So, for those of you who have experienced this situation, how have you handled it? Using the ML only for that particular instance? Using the ml, no matter what? Something in between? I was thinking that maybe I'd tell the parent that I only talk in Spanish to my daughter, so in that language, I was going to tell her this or that, and at the end I'll ask her to apologize to his/her kid in English. My guess is that my daughter's facial expressions will make this parent understand that I'm disciplining her in a firm, non-threatening way, and hopefully (s)he (the parent) will be OK with my not using English for that... So far, I've been pretty consistent using only the ml with Isabel-Marie, and I plan to continue to do so in the future, but I have to admit, that comment made me think whether I'll be able to keep a strong consistency... let's hope that's the case!
(2) OK, a different (and happier!) scenario now. I'm thinking of moments when your kids bring friends home for something fun like sleepovers, which I imagine will happen to me at some point. What has been your experience with this type of situation? Do you talk to the kid's friends in the ML and to your child in ml at all costs? Do you compromise? I imagine that responses vary, but I'm very curious to see how you handled it so that I can think of ways to do so when it happens to me!
As always, thank you for your help!
As you said yourself, I think that bystanders just get the gist that you are educating.
Easier said than done, I know!
Just trying to offer some encouragement. 
