Hallo from Indonesian in Germany!
Feb 3, 2018 5:40:48 GMT 9
Post by Alika on Feb 3, 2018 5:40:48 GMT 9
Hi everyone!
I've been reading the posts here at The Bilingual Zoo for a while now and would finally like to formally introduce myself. I'm Alika from Indonesia, married to another Indonesian, and we are both currently finishing our Master's in Germany. We have a daughter, aged 1, who was also born in Germany. Both my husband and I see the value in raising our daughter multilingually, because we've experienced firsthand how speaking another language helps us to connect with others from different cultures and backgrounds, and allows us to tap into a wider knowledge base, both of which are becoming more and more important in today's world. Aside from Indonesian (currently ml1), we'd like her to be able to speak English (currently ml2), and hopefully some German (currently ML), too.
I learnt English in Kindergarten when my dad pursued his own studies in the States, while my husband learnt English from school back home in Indonesia and from games and movies. My first exposure of German was in high school in Indonesia and my husband only 2-3 years ago before he started his degree. Our German sadly isn't that great since both of our programs are fully taught in English, but at least we get by for everyday interactions.
Our daughter has started attending daycare 5 days a week for 6 hours since last October, so that's where she gets most of her German exposure from. Sometimes I sing her German children's songs and take her to the local library and buy several German books to read her, but at home we mostly focus on Indonesian on weekdays and English on weekends, the latter which just started recently. Before we spoke mostly Indonesian with an English reading session everyday.
The problem is that once we finish our degree, we will most likely be returning home to Indonesia and so it will be the ML, and English and German being ml1 and ml2, respectively. With English I have less concern in maintaining our routine because there's a lot of English resources out there (my young nieces and nephews picked up English from cartoons and games without anyone speaking English to them--they are by no means bilingual, but at least they have a good passive understanding of English) and I am much more confident of my English-speaking abilities. With German...I really don't know how to go forward. I'd love for her to be exposed to some German because that's part of her 'history' and and I'd like to nurture what she has acquired so far although I know she probably would not be as fluent in German as she will be in Indonesian or English, but at least I'd like to foster the love of learning another language in her while she's young. The thing is I'm not familiar with the vocabulary one uses to interact with a child in German, although I don't mind learning along with her. So if anybody has some advice or tips, I'd really appreciate it! I'm also open to suggestions for German books and other resources appropriate for 1-year-olds so I can stock up on them while I'm still here.
I look forward to getting to know all of you better.
Cheers,
Alika
I've been reading the posts here at The Bilingual Zoo for a while now and would finally like to formally introduce myself. I'm Alika from Indonesia, married to another Indonesian, and we are both currently finishing our Master's in Germany. We have a daughter, aged 1, who was also born in Germany. Both my husband and I see the value in raising our daughter multilingually, because we've experienced firsthand how speaking another language helps us to connect with others from different cultures and backgrounds, and allows us to tap into a wider knowledge base, both of which are becoming more and more important in today's world. Aside from Indonesian (currently ml1), we'd like her to be able to speak English (currently ml2), and hopefully some German (currently ML), too.
I learnt English in Kindergarten when my dad pursued his own studies in the States, while my husband learnt English from school back home in Indonesia and from games and movies. My first exposure of German was in high school in Indonesia and my husband only 2-3 years ago before he started his degree. Our German sadly isn't that great since both of our programs are fully taught in English, but at least we get by for everyday interactions.
Our daughter has started attending daycare 5 days a week for 6 hours since last October, so that's where she gets most of her German exposure from. Sometimes I sing her German children's songs and take her to the local library and buy several German books to read her, but at home we mostly focus on Indonesian on weekdays and English on weekends, the latter which just started recently. Before we spoke mostly Indonesian with an English reading session everyday.
The problem is that once we finish our degree, we will most likely be returning home to Indonesia and so it will be the ML, and English and German being ml1 and ml2, respectively. With English I have less concern in maintaining our routine because there's a lot of English resources out there (my young nieces and nephews picked up English from cartoons and games without anyone speaking English to them--they are by no means bilingual, but at least they have a good passive understanding of English) and I am much more confident of my English-speaking abilities. With German...I really don't know how to go forward. I'd love for her to be exposed to some German because that's part of her 'history' and and I'd like to nurture what she has acquired so far although I know she probably would not be as fluent in German as she will be in Indonesian or English, but at least I'd like to foster the love of learning another language in her while she's young. The thing is I'm not familiar with the vocabulary one uses to interact with a child in German, although I don't mind learning along with her. So if anybody has some advice or tips, I'd really appreciate it! I'm also open to suggestions for German books and other resources appropriate for 1-year-olds so I can stock up on them while I'm still here.
I look forward to getting to know all of you better.
Cheers,
Alika
It is a bit of a challenge but with dedication and perseverance I am sure you can make it through this bumpy bilingual journey. 
(When you've finished it, I'd be grateful for your impressions in a review at Amazon and Goodreads. Thank you!)
