Rules of trying to raise a child trilingual
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| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | | User | Thread poster: Britta Dennisen Rules of trying to raise a child trilingual |
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cess
France
French to English
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i just discovered this forum and i first wished to thank you all for these very helpful tips. I am French, my partner is German and we mostly communicate in English. I was wondering if any of you could recommend a book that deals with how to raise trilingual children.
best wishes
Cecile
| | | | Catherine Gorton
United Kingdom
French to English
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| | Rule is no rule! | May 14, 2007 |
Hi,
I am French, married to an Englishman and mum of a German toddler (well, through his birth he is German but on top of it he is also British and French of course).
When he was born we were living in Germany and I thought of leaving the German language to school, telly etc (although I speak and write German fluently) but I was afraid of getting the little one "mixed up" with too many languages. We moved to Wales 1 year ago so that I can forget the German for now although I regret it but even my plan of sticking to 1 language only when I speak to my son doesn't really work: when we are in the street or in the playgroup people address us in English so in order not to be rude I talk to him in English.
Even at home "only French" doesn't always really work: he has English books or nursery rhymes he learnt through the baby group or his English grandparents and when he shows me the books or does the gestures about the nursery rhymes, I have to give in and read or sing in English. But as soon as he is happy as it was done we switch back to French. So even if I was thinking when I was pregnant that I would have the golden rule of only speaking in French to him I must admit that now my rule is no rule, but fun!
As his father spends a lot of time away in Germany for work I think it is OK for me to "replace" him for the English books or songs when Ryan wants it... and otherwise it is all French between the two of us... and back to English when Daddy is here!
We still would like him to learn German (especially as we may have to go back for work one day) but for the moment I think it is OK with only 2 languages.
Catherine
 
| | | | Berni Armstrong 
Spain
 Member (2002)
English
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Moderator of this forum | | Give your gift with love... | May 14, 2007 |
Catherine Gorton wrote:
..... I was afraid of getting the little one "mixed up" with too many languages. |
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Sadly, this is heard all too often among bilingual couples. However, if they were to do any research into the area they would find that, far from confusing the child, bilingualism enriches the child's brain.
... in order not to be rude I talk to him in English. |
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Never let the gift you are giving your child be endangered by pandering to feelings of embarrassment among strangers. As long as it is clear that you are not talking about them, then other people have no right to have their curiosity or nosiness threaten your relationship with your child and the child's advancement in learning two (or more) languages.[/quote]
| We still would like him to learn German |
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Then start now Catherine. Young kids absorb languages, they don't have the chore of learning them that the rest of us have from about 12 -14 onwards.
Good luck with your efforts, but remember, whatever you do, give the gift you are giving your child with love and it will all work out for the best.
| | | | Fabio Descalzi
Uruguay
Member (2004)
German to Spanish
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MODERATOR | | An example of "always in the same context" | Jun 12, 2007 |
Hi people
This doesn't pretend to be an example of trilingualism, but anyways the anecdote speaks by itself.
A couple of Spanish speakers lived and worked 8 years in Germany. There they married and had their baby girl born.
Back in Uruguay, with the baby some 3 months old, they recovered their habit of speaking Spanish all the time, but kept a special habitude: speak German in the car ("their second home", 'cos they live very far from their workplace, and even much farther from their parents' homes).
These days, the baby is 2 years old - and starts saying things in German whenever they are in the car!
Isn't it nice?
[Edited at 2007-06-12 22:26]
| | | | iuliab
United States
German to Romanian
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| | Mother 2 languages, father and community third language | Sep 11, 2007 |
We're expecting our first child and would like to raise our child trilingually. I am a Hungarian-Romanian bilingual, my husband is American, and we live in the US. Even though my husband is quite fluent in Romanian, we think it's better if he speaks his native language (English) to the child. There are no Hungarian or Romanian communities in this area, so I'm pretty much left with being the source of two languages. Is anybody else in a similar situation? I'd appreciate any suggestions.
| | | | Ričardas Ulozas
Luxembourg
Lithuanian to Latvian
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| | Right approach | Sep 20, 2007 |
Hi,
I think it is the right approach. But even better is to speak each other's languages. We speak just Lithuanian (father) and just Latvian (mother), children reply in the parent's language they speak to, between each other - depends, but at school the older boy speaks French, so he is a real trilingual. Kids associate language to a person or sometimes to a place (a French spoken room, for example).
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| | Pages in topic: < [1 2] | |
The translation workplace 
