It's been a fascinating journey so far. I really wish more families could experience this!
The U.S. is less multilingual than I'd expected. If I don't count dialects, I have only met one trilingual in person here.
Quite monolingual in many places, and I've sadly heard "I wish I could speak another language!" countless times! :(
Showing posts with label Multilingualism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Multilingualism. Show all posts
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Why three languages?
Did I want my kids to be trilingual so that they could get a great job in the future? NO! Japanese is a part of me, Chinese is a part of my husband, and English is another part of both of us, so we had to have all three languages.
我が子をトリリンガルに育てようと決めたのは、将来良い仕事に就かせるためだったと思いますか？違いますよ！日本語は私の一部、中国語は夫の一部、英語は二人に共通するもの。だから三つすべての言葉が私たちには必要だったというだけのことです。
我が子をトリリンガルに育てようと決めたのは、将来良い仕事に就かせるためだったと思いますか？違いますよ！日本語は私の一部、中国語は夫の一部、英語は二人に共通するもの。だから三つすべての言葉が私たちには必要だったというだけのことです。
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Building a multilingual home
マルチリンガルな家庭を築くことは子どもたちのため、日本にいる両親のため、夫の祖母のためでした。ところが数年前にとんでもなく愉快なことが起こりました。なんと私、広東語が少しずつわかるようになってきたのです！これは私自身全く予想していなかったことで、本当に驚きました。
Building a multilingual home was for my kids, my parents in Japan, and my hubby's grandma. But something incredibly amusing happened. I began to understand Cantonese! This was something I never expected. I was absolutely amazed.
もちろん夫にも全く同じことが起こっていました。何も努力することなく、私と子どもたちの間で交わされる日本語の会話が聞こえる環境の中で、ごく自然に日本語の単語を覚えていったんですね。
Of course, exactly the same thing was happening to my husband. He was naturally picking up Japanese words in the environment where he heard conversations in Japanese that were exchanged between our kids and me. He wasn't even trying to learn.
子どもが生まれる前、私と夫は図書館で日本語と広東語会話のテープ教材を借りてきてお互いの言葉を学ぼうとしました。でも面白くないし、あまりにも難しくてあきらめました。
Before becoming parents, my husband and I checked out Japanese and Cantonese language tapes so that we could learn each other's languages. But it was too boring and difficult, so we had given up completely.
子どもと、自分たちのそれぞれの母国語で自然に生活するだけでよかったんですね。魔法みたい～ でもよーく考えてみると、あたりまえのことをしていただけかもしれません。
All we were doing was to talk to our kids in our own native languages. It's like magic! But then, IT IS all natural and makes total sense!
Building a multilingual home was for my kids, my parents in Japan, and my hubby's grandma. But something incredibly amusing happened. I began to understand Cantonese! This was something I never expected. I was absolutely amazed.
もちろん夫にも全く同じことが起こっていました。何も努力することなく、私と子どもたちの間で交わされる日本語の会話が聞こえる環境の中で、ごく自然に日本語の単語を覚えていったんですね。
Of course, exactly the same thing was happening to my husband. He was naturally picking up Japanese words in the environment where he heard conversations in Japanese that were exchanged between our kids and me. He wasn't even trying to learn.
子どもが生まれる前、私と夫は図書館で日本語と広東語会話のテープ教材を借りてきてお互いの言葉を学ぼうとしました。でも面白くないし、あまりにも難しくてあきらめました。
Before becoming parents, my husband and I checked out Japanese and Cantonese language tapes so that we could learn each other's languages. But it was too boring and difficult, so we had given up completely.
子どもと、自分たちのそれぞれの母国語で自然に生活するだけでよかったんですね。魔法みたい～ でもよーく考えてみると、あたりまえのことをしていただけかもしれません。
All we were doing was to talk to our kids in our own native languages. It's like magic! But then, IT IS all natural and makes total sense!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Taking children's multilingualism personally
Stop Taking Your Children's Multilingualism So Personallyこの記事を読み反省することがありました。気をつけなくては・・・。
~ Multilingual Living
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Teaching reading and writing
Teaching Very Young Multilingual Children How to Read and Write in Their Languages?I love Madalena's response in the article!
~ Multilingual Living
"In Scandinavian countries, for example, literacy is taught first from age 7. Younger children have no need for this."I was shocked when my son had to "study" reading & writing in his kindergarten class last year. Why the hurry? I just don't understand.
I guess it's probably not a coincidence that those Steiner kids don't learn their alphabet until they're seven, either.
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