Post by Alison on Feb 2, 2018 20:32:42 GMT 9
I'm feeling inspired by Adam's blog post highlighting the success of so many families. I've been following most of it for a few years now and find it so interesting to read about all the ways people adapt and use different strategies to suit their own circumstances. This meant I was reading and preparing long before I even got pregnant with our first child so I'm in a much better position than I would have been without such good examples.
The biggest hurdle is that our ml (Norwegian) is not my native language, my husband works long hours, we don't have much contact with his family and they don't speak it all the time as they have another ml (Sami) and it can be hard to get resources. I can be a perfectionist sometimes so that can also be a challenge as I avoid doing things if I worry I won't do them perfectly.
I'm going to set myself the challenge of writing weekly under three headings. My son is 9 1/2 months so I'm still a long way from being able to track his ml progress and I can sometimes feel discouraged because I have no idea if what I'm doing is enough, panicked because maybe the language input he gets isn't varied or spoken with a good accent and there are a lot of situations where he hears the ML.
THREE POSITIVES
1. I always speak ml to my son and it feels very strange if I use ML with him so I hardly ever do it and if I do, I always automatically try to translate into ml (even if that means having to use Google translate to find the words!)
2. I know lots of ml children's songs and sing them to my son a lot. Some are part of his bedtime routine and others I sing at different points in the day. Now he can express that he is not happy for me to stop so it can mean I have to keep singing for a loooong time. Luckily I know enough songs to fill an hour and I have many more songs on CD and in books ready to learn.
3. My son has enjoyed a few short bedtime stories for months now so it's a fixed routine for us. He has recently started to enjoy a wider range of books and loves turning the pages of board books. He can also express that he is not happy to stop reading so once I start, it can mean reading a BIG pile of books. Great for his language development but very time consuming. We have a quite a few books in ml and I can translate most of the books we have in ML apart from the adjectives. Also he got some money for Christmas so we are going to order a few new books (they are extremely expensive and shipping costs are very high so this isn't something we can do often - strange for us because we are so used to cheap books in the UK).
TWO DIFFICULTIES
1. I feel quite embarrassed talking ml to my son in public. There are plenty of people speaking other languages to their children but they all sound like native speakers so I worry about how I will sound. I'm sure most people won't know that I'm not a native speaker so I probably shouldn't worry too much about that. I also worry that people will think I'm trying to show off that I can speak another language or that I'm showing off my bilingual child. I know it's more important to focus on how important it is for my son to be able to communicate with his grandparents (as well as all the other amazing benefits). I just need to convince myself of that in the moment. I also worry people will think I am being rude as they know I can speak ML perfectly so might not understand why I choose not to.
2. My husband and I find it really difficult to use ml between us because we are so used to using ML and can communicate much more quickly and easily that way. I keep thinking it doesn't matter because my son is so young that we still have time to change the habit. But I've been saying that for months now and we still haven't changed it. I guess I need to focus on how much easier it will be if we manage to change the habit now than if we wait until he is older and encounter problems with him refusing to use ml because we use ML in front of him so often.
ONE CHALLENGE
This week I will try to only use ml with my husband when my son is present. Or maybe I should try to use it as much as possible with my husband even if my son isn't there but be stricter with myself when my son is present.
The biggest hurdle is that our ml (Norwegian) is not my native language, my husband works long hours, we don't have much contact with his family and they don't speak it all the time as they have another ml (Sami) and it can be hard to get resources. I can be a perfectionist sometimes so that can also be a challenge as I avoid doing things if I worry I won't do them perfectly.
I'm going to set myself the challenge of writing weekly under three headings. My son is 9 1/2 months so I'm still a long way from being able to track his ml progress and I can sometimes feel discouraged because I have no idea if what I'm doing is enough, panicked because maybe the language input he gets isn't varied or spoken with a good accent and there are a lot of situations where he hears the ML.
THREE POSITIVES
1. I always speak ml to my son and it feels very strange if I use ML with him so I hardly ever do it and if I do, I always automatically try to translate into ml (even if that means having to use Google translate to find the words!)
2. I know lots of ml children's songs and sing them to my son a lot. Some are part of his bedtime routine and others I sing at different points in the day. Now he can express that he is not happy for me to stop so it can mean I have to keep singing for a loooong time. Luckily I know enough songs to fill an hour and I have many more songs on CD and in books ready to learn.
3. My son has enjoyed a few short bedtime stories for months now so it's a fixed routine for us. He has recently started to enjoy a wider range of books and loves turning the pages of board books. He can also express that he is not happy to stop reading so once I start, it can mean reading a BIG pile of books. Great for his language development but very time consuming. We have a quite a few books in ml and I can translate most of the books we have in ML apart from the adjectives. Also he got some money for Christmas so we are going to order a few new books (they are extremely expensive and shipping costs are very high so this isn't something we can do often - strange for us because we are so used to cheap books in the UK).
TWO DIFFICULTIES
1. I feel quite embarrassed talking ml to my son in public. There are plenty of people speaking other languages to their children but they all sound like native speakers so I worry about how I will sound. I'm sure most people won't know that I'm not a native speaker so I probably shouldn't worry too much about that. I also worry that people will think I'm trying to show off that I can speak another language or that I'm showing off my bilingual child. I know it's more important to focus on how important it is for my son to be able to communicate with his grandparents (as well as all the other amazing benefits). I just need to convince myself of that in the moment. I also worry people will think I am being rude as they know I can speak ML perfectly so might not understand why I choose not to.
2. My husband and I find it really difficult to use ml between us because we are so used to using ML and can communicate much more quickly and easily that way. I keep thinking it doesn't matter because my son is so young that we still have time to change the habit. But I've been saying that for months now and we still haven't changed it. I guess I need to focus on how much easier it will be if we manage to change the habit now than if we wait until he is older and encounter problems with him refusing to use ml because we use ML in front of him so often.
ONE CHALLENGE
This week I will try to only use ml with my husband when my son is present. Or maybe I should try to use it as much as possible with my husband even if my son isn't there but be stricter with myself when my son is present.
), you'll definitely fortify your efforts and your progress over time. I'm really glad to hear that the Track Your Progress board has been a helpful source of support to the early days of your bilingual journey. 
