kids

[Fabienne]

Quote:

(Fabienne @ Feb. 20 2005,06:31) my husband did a bit of both, which, I know, is not what experts advise (one language/one parent system).
I have a similar situation in that my wife is Puerto Rican, and I am Anglo. Both my wife and I are completely bilingual and speak each other's native languages accent free. Â But my wife has always spoken Spanish to my daughter, and I speak about 50/50 English and Spanish to her. The experts and their system be dammed. I don't buy that theory, because kids at that age are programmed to sort out language. You are just challenging them to think in 2 languages at the same time, and stimulating their brains at wharp speed. The upshot: My kid, at age 4.5, speaks 2 languages fluently without an accent in either.
OK, good, that's encouraging.

 

[globetrotter]

Quote:

(Stu @ Feb. 21 2005,13:24)

Originally Posted by Fabienne,Feb. 20 2005,06:31

my husband did a bit of both, which, I know, is not what experts advise (one language/one parent system).
I have a similar situation in that my wife is Puerto Rican, and I am Anglo. Both my wife and I are completely bilingual and speak each other's native languages accent free. Â But my wife has always spoken Spanish to my daughter, and I speak about 50/50 English and Spanish to her. The experts and their system be dammed. I don't buy that theory, because kids at that age are programmed to sort out language. You are just challenging them to think in 2 languages at the same time, and stimulating their brains at wharp speed. The upshot: My kid, at age 4.5, speaks 2 languages fluently without an accent in either.
OK, good, that's encouraging. Â

the cutest is when they are trying to figure out what langauge to speak to whom, i have seen kids at a certain age convinced that an individual speaks spanish, and translate everything for them, even though that person understands english. my son will sometimes "translate" for me - he will tell me what my wife said, even though I understood.

 

[Fabienne]

Yep, same scenario here. he'll repeat the same word or sentence in French for me, or in English for his father.

He gets upset with me if I tell him, while reading a book in German, that the butterfly is a "Schmetterling". He'll look at me, frown, and say, "Non, c'est un papillon." He used to do that between English and French, but he has accepted the duality at this point.

The other funny thing is when he says something pretty much unintelligible and you try to figure out which language it might be in. For a while, some time ago, he had me stomped with "Blanquette". He kept saying the word, perfect French accent, and I thought: How could he possibly know this dish (it's a veal dish with a lemony cream sauce). I wouldn't put it past his father to start reading cookbooks to him at night. Only to figure out, silly me, that he meant "Blanket".

Our current riddle is the word "Bouge", which he says when he sees snow or mountains.