Irish in Belgium
Oct 8, 2017 21:59:17 GMT 9
Post by Aisling on Oct 8, 2017 21:59:17 GMT 9
Hi all,
I'm Irish, living in Belgium for the last 6 years. I'm a native English speaker and my husband is French-speaking Belgian. He grew up in a bilingual country so he already speaks French & Dutch, and went on to study linguistics in college so is pretty fluent in Spanish too. So, I felt pretty behind when I moved over first but I speak French now pretty well and can read a little Dutch! All of that to say that our little Brussels Sprouts will grow up in a multilingual environment!
We adopted Sprout No1 when he was 17 months. He had been in a solely French-speaking environment until that point. I immediately took up English with him and it's the only language I speak with him. He goes to Dutch-speaking creche. (That choice was less language based than it was convenient - the creche is next door, our friend's kids are already there and it's a lovely creche.) He has completely bowled us over with his comprehension speed. Within a few months he understood every word out of my mouth and as soon as he started creche it was the same with Dutch! He's awesome! He's speaking four-word sentences now at 28 months and he mixes up his languages a little but he's so expressive he has no problem making anyone understand what he means! We're now pregnant with Sprout No2 and we want to start bilingual training at home as soon as she's born! (and trilingual when she starts creche!)
This is a completely new area for us and we want to make sure we get it right! I was thrilled to discover Adam's blog and this forum. I bought his book for my kindle and am looking forward to reading up on best bilingual practice! I'm worried that French will completely take over for our Sprouts, as it is doing now with Sprout No1. He knows the English words but because I understand French he doesn't use English with me. I'm trying to figure out how to correct that so that he'll speak English with me and French with his Papa. Any advice on this would be most welcome!!
Looking forward to reading and learning!
Aisling
P.S. I can't change my avatar or profile photo for some reason... It won't let me save any changes. I'll keep trying!!
I'm Irish, living in Belgium for the last 6 years. I'm a native English speaker and my husband is French-speaking Belgian. He grew up in a bilingual country so he already speaks French & Dutch, and went on to study linguistics in college so is pretty fluent in Spanish too. So, I felt pretty behind when I moved over first but I speak French now pretty well and can read a little Dutch! All of that to say that our little Brussels Sprouts will grow up in a multilingual environment!
We adopted Sprout No1 when he was 17 months. He had been in a solely French-speaking environment until that point. I immediately took up English with him and it's the only language I speak with him. He goes to Dutch-speaking creche. (That choice was less language based than it was convenient - the creche is next door, our friend's kids are already there and it's a lovely creche.) He has completely bowled us over with his comprehension speed. Within a few months he understood every word out of my mouth and as soon as he started creche it was the same with Dutch! He's awesome! He's speaking four-word sentences now at 28 months and he mixes up his languages a little but he's so expressive he has no problem making anyone understand what he means! We're now pregnant with Sprout No2 and we want to start bilingual training at home as soon as she's born! (and trilingual when she starts creche!)
This is a completely new area for us and we want to make sure we get it right! I was thrilled to discover Adam's blog and this forum. I bought his book for my kindle and am looking forward to reading up on best bilingual practice! I'm worried that French will completely take over for our Sprouts, as it is doing now with Sprout No1. He knows the English words but because I understand French he doesn't use English with me. I'm trying to figure out how to correct that so that he'll speak English with me and French with his Papa. Any advice on this would be most welcome!!
Looking forward to reading and learning!
Aisling
P.S. I can't change my avatar or profile photo for some reason... It won't let me save any changes. I'll keep trying!!
And congratulations to you on the upcoming baby! 
