tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25806438.post4274167313536184290..comments2024-01-26T09:29:04.765-08:00Comments on My American Meltingpot: Speaking in Tongues: Raising Bilingual ChildrenProfessor Tharpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04714326142739366426noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25806438.post-64031511800386539662012-05-09T10:29:04.784-07:002012-05-09T10:29:04.784-07:00Lori, I just wanted to thank you for such a refres...Lori, I just wanted to thank you for such a refreshing reflection of a multilingual/mixed culture family. <br /><br />I come from an big and relatively close-knit East African family in which there is only one person who married a non-African. Although I am yet undecided on my vision for my future family, I have dated and been attracted mostly non-Africans, simply by virtue of my circumstances. But my parents would prefer I marry someone of the same culture. More so my father, who tries to influence my opinion by telling me about the mixed marriages of his friends' children that failed...Let me just say he makes his opinion know in many ways. And that's frustrating for me not even because I personally aspire to a mixed family or am in a serious relationship but just on the principle of the matter. I think a successful marriage/family is less about whether the parents come from the same cultural background or whether the kids feel split between two worlds. If the parents are on the same page about child-rearing, the kind of home environment they want, their values, etc...all the other stuff can be handled. Well I'm young and green but at least theoretically, this is what I believe! <br /><br />Additionally, having a monolithic cultural heritage is not necessarily easy in itself. I have my own issues as the child of African immigrants in the US. <br /><br />This went longer than I expected but my main message was thank you!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25806438.post-7329820078513149012012-04-16T02:20:20.717-07:002012-04-16T02:20:20.717-07:00We had to switch tactics when we moved back to Bel...We had to switch tactics when we moved back to Belgium (Flanders) and my 3-year-old spoke not a word of Flemish since we had been raising him in English and French. He picked it up so quickly in school, but in the process did lose a lot of French. Since my husband and I speak English together it wasn't until his sister was born that he started actually speaking more French since I only speak French to her. She's getting the three from the start, English from her dad, French from me (and her grandparents) and Flemish in daycare. She seems to be just fine... so we'll see.<br /> <br />Here's some more food for thought<br />http://www.ted.com/talks/patricia_kuhl_the_linguistic_genius_of_babies.htmlOliviahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04308921132214932014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25806438.post-13137002214045972172012-04-11T08:11:11.563-07:002012-04-11T08:11:11.563-07:00Tatiana,
Good luck in Germany. I think your son wi...Tatiana,<br />Good luck in Germany. I think your son will easily become fluent in both German and English.<br /><br />Anon,<br />I totally agree and have been only allowing my kids to watch videos in Spanish. Sadly the only Spanish channel we get at home shows telenovelas almost 24/7 grrr...<br /><br />Amy,<br />If you can dream it, you can do it :)<br /><br />Christel,<br />Thank you! I have quite a few friends who came to this country as young children and seriously learned all their English from TV.Professor Tharpshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04714326142739366426noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25806438.post-48606670771568425802012-04-11T04:49:43.943-07:002012-04-11T04:49:43.943-07:00My sister speaks French with her children, her hus...My sister speaks French with her children, her husband only speaks spanish with them and they watch TV in english. So far it's been working well!!<br />Family reunions are really fun!<br /><br />My dad is Austrian and my mom is French, but French was the only language spoken at home, unfortunetly! We don't have kids yet but we've decided to have them watch TV only in english.<br /><br />PS: I love your story!!!!!Operation Cocooninghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01218208332166393109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25806438.post-55542440033964982962012-04-10T15:22:09.341-07:002012-04-10T15:22:09.341-07:00Omg that sounds like multilingual paradise! I don&...Omg that sounds like multilingual paradise! I don't have kids yet, but one of my dreams is to raise multilingual kids :)Amyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00057923648118987434noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25806438.post-70689238819048190762012-04-10T07:30:01.920-07:002012-04-10T07:30:01.920-07:00I only allow my daughter to watch TV in Spanish. ...I only allow my daughter to watch TV in Spanish. It has been wonderful. <br /> I am in academia (linguistics, second language acquisition) During a conference with a highly regraded researcher, I urged this as a way of reinforcing the minority language at home. She scuffed it off saying, the kids could just turn the channel. I wanted to be mouthy and say "as as their mother I COULD JUST TURN OFF THE TELEVISION". But I didn't. People who grant me funds were in that room and I took it to personal to be civil. <br />Tatiana's idea about iPad apps is great. My daughter has an iPod. She uses for music as well as a way to watch LazyTown. Episodes in Spanish are available via iTunes. We have Dish Latino to provide variety when it comes to watching TV. <br /><br />I love your story of your lunch. Reminds me of when I was visiting a friend in Switzerland. She speaks German and English. We traveled to the French speaking part to spend the night with her friend a dairy farm. The owners spoke French. My friend from Italy came to visit us as well. During lunch we had German, Spanish, French, Italian and English bouncing back and forth across the table. I love it!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25806438.post-40364758287203156382012-04-09T10:53:46.820-07:002012-04-09T10:53:46.820-07:00WOW! I'm super impressed! We're still figu...WOW! I'm super impressed! We're still figuring it out. My hubby is German and we moved to Germany last year, when the kid had just turned two. My in-laws only speak German with him, and I've set half of his designated iPad apps to German. Ready to immerse him via daycare, though!Tatianahttp://tatianainflux.comnoreply@blogger.com