Intrepidly Bilingual

Help Me: My Child is too Darn Stubborn

noreply@blogger.com (smashedpea) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:57:00 +0000

Things have been quiet around here, I know, but I’m still here. Things are going pretty well – the kids continue to speak German with me and other adults they know are German. Punk 2 speaks German to his German friends, even the younger ones that are still more prone to mixing, and has asked to learn how to read and write German. Punk 2 frequently speaks English with other German kids, but is quite eager to meet up with them. Sibling language continues to be English, though sometimes there is also room for German.

We’ve been coasting along happily for a while (which is probably why I haven’t had much to say lately), but Punk 1’s stubborn nature is once again getting the better of her. But rather than just rant about it, I would like to throw it out there in case any of you have any thoughts on the matter, or advice for us.

Yes?

So here it is: we made a deal at the beginning of the school year that Punk 1 could skip GermanSaturday School for grade 1, if, and only if, she agreed to work on reading and writing German with me at home. And by working I don’t mean grammar drills and the like, rather games and work sheets she loves doing. Home-made crossword puzzles, games of hangman, reading her beginning reader books together, etc. She agreed quite eagerly, and we thought all was well. Except that we never really practiced. We kind of forgot or were busy with other things, but occasionally she read or wrote a word or sentence or two, and of course we continued to speak German together.

Over the last couple of months, I have made much more of an effort to try to get her into something, like the German kiddie magazine I have subscribed her to, and I've also had Santa bring some new grade 1 work books (she loves work books, seriously!). Both were a big hit – but just not enough to really get her going (we’ve only read a couple of stories in one of the magazines and done the games; she’s only done a couple of the work sheets in the work book even though she continues to say she has fun with them).

And more recently she’s begun to pretty much outright refuse (sound familiar?) to even try to read or write German, even though she’s fully capable when she’s in the mood. She totally dug her heels in the other night over dinner when in conversation with Punk 2 the question around how to spell Kuh (cow) and Muh (moo) came up. She went so far as claiming that she couldn’t even hear the first sound in 'Muh', even though she had just spelled 'moo' without a problem and both words sound pretty much the same.

She has been stubborn from day one, and not just with using German. That’s how she rolls. Which is fine, ‘cause she’s getting it from both The Husband and me – but from the outside, I can see her standing in her own way again, for no particular reason other than that she’s decided to rather not do it. And I get it, reading and writing is not all that necessary in her everyday life, but what do we do?

Try harder? Leave her alone, trusting that she will eventually want to learn it and be able to pick it up later since it’s such a phonetic language? Sign her up for German Saturday School again, even though it's for second language learners and she'd have kids in her class that won't be able to speak much? Try out the heritage language classes through the school board? Try to get together with friends and hire someone to teach all of our kids reading and writing (my favourite option, just that the only people I know who are interested in this kind of thing have kids that are younger than my two)?

I can see how option 2 might have better results with someone as stubborn as her (yes, I have been there many times myself), but what if it doesn’t? I’m not ready to consider the possibility the kids won’t be able to read and write German.

Any thoughts anyone?

What would you do?

Shhhh!

noreply@blogger.com (smashedpea) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:49:00 +0000

Don't tell anyone, but I'm still here. Busy with things, trying to get ready for Christmas and with a couple of posts swirling around my head that I can't seem to get out. Harrumpf.

So in the meantime, make yourself comfortable, grab your favourite holiday treat, and enjoy the latest edition of the Blogging on Bilingualism Carnival, this time hosted over at Tales from Windmill Fields, all centred on how families raising bilingual kids celebrate the holidays while honouring their different holiday traditions.

If that doesn't put you in the mood, then what will?

Here's my own contribution, an old post sorry - but at least on topic with a rundown on we celebrate a German-Canadian Christmas.

***Thanks Rosalind, for hosting! If you'd like to keep up to date with future carnivals, host one, or submit a post, why not join our mailing list? You can also access all past editions of the Carnival on my Resources Page!

Not At All Spooky

noreply@blogger.com (smashedpea) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 16:33:00 +0000

The latest edition of the Raising Bilingual Children Carnival is now live over at "Verbosity leads to inarticulate, unclear things". Go check it out - as usual, you'll find a good bunch of helpful and inspiring articles from others in the same boat!

***Thanks Solnushka, for hosting! If you'd like to keep up to date with future carnivals, host one, or submit a post, why not join our mailing list? You can also access all past editions of the Carnival on my Resources Page!

No Frills Guide to Raising Bilingual Kids

noreply@blogger.com (smashedpea) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 15:30:00 +0000

Do:

Make yourself knowledgeable about childhood bilingualism.
Match your method to your goals.
Be persistent.
Be patient.
Believe in long term gains.
Know your child. If necessary, adapt whatever method you’re using to meet the child’s needs.
Compliment/celebrate their little and big successes along the way.
Surround them with resources in the target language (music, books, DVDs, on-line resources – don’t forget to check whether your library has a collection or can get things for you through interlibrary loans; try Craig’s List, Freecycle, etc.; exchange with your bilingual friends).
Get your kid(s) together with other kids who also speak the target language.
Think about how flexible you can be with the minority language when discussing things that might be too difficult for the child (e.g., lacking vocabulary, emotions running wild).
Expect responses in the target language, unless you are happy with your child understanding the language only.
Remember that no one has ever regretted knowing more than one language.

Don't:

Despair.
Correct every mistake the kid makes in his or her minority language.
Assume that what works for one child works for another.
Punish the child for not speaking the minority language.
Expect perfection.
Turn it into a struggle.
Ignore the kid’s questions and comments about why they are expected to speak the target language, dislike speaking it, etc.
Make fun of the kid for trying.
Let them get away without trying too often.
Give up.

Laying Low

noreply@blogger.com (smashedpea) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 19:41:00 +0000

My apologies for the lack of action around here these days. I’m still here.

We’re into our new routines where Punk 1 attends a new daycare and is finally in school all day, something she’s been waiting for since she was two years old, and where Punk 2 has started Junior Kindergarten and continues to go to the daycare both Punks have been attending together. It took a little while for everyone to get used to this new arrangement, especially young Punk 2 who’s been missing going to daycare with his big sister, but we’re all good now. Having them go to different daycares makes my morning and afternoon runs a little longer and I’m not looking forward to doing this in the winter time, but all in all this is working out quite well.

We’ve been quite busy with everything, everything except our efforts as far as German goes.

Which is a bit spooky since we’re not used to that, but actually quite enjoyable when I think about it. Both kids took big steps forward in German when we first went on vacation together this past July as they had much more opportunity to hear and speak German since I was around all day long, and then again when Oma came to visit and they both spent a lot of time with her, all in German of course, since she doesn’t speak more than a few words of English. It’s hard to believe that Punk 2 really only got into German when she was here last year, and that Punk 1 used to find it exhausting having to speak German for full days. Of course they are both older now, but I think it also has become easier because we are so much more in the swing of it than we were back in the days when Punk 1 still refused to speak German and Punk 2 insisted in mixing to his heart’s content. Things always seemed to be more of a struggle back then, if only because I constantly had to justify to Punk 1 why we were speaking German. And as entertaining as Punk 2’s mixing was, at times it was also frustrating since we didn’t know how this was going to turn out. So having them speak German so effortlessly and making such big improvements so easily has been really nice to see, or rather hear.

It looks as though speaking German is so normal and maybe even natural for them now that they just do it. We haven’t had any big ups and downs for a while now, and both of them speak German to me pretty much exclusively, regardless of where we are or who else is around. Even when I find myself being polite and speaking English to them because we’re at my in-laws, for example, they look at me funny and continue speaking German with me. Good for them – I’m still working on this part of it. The only thing I’m really watching with both of them is mixing and switching as this continues to get out of hand rather quickly if I let them get away with it.

Punk 1 will now often speak English when she’s speaking to both me and The Husband – normal behavior for a bilingual, I know, yet a change for her in that she used to repeat things in the other language before. She still speaks English with Punk 2 and during self-play, but I also overheard her this morning giving herself instructions in German. She hasn’t questioned why she speaks German with me in a while now, she just does. English continues to be her strongest language, and she’s well on her way to getting used to speaking French in school. Outside of me leaving her notes every once in a while in her lunch bag, in German of course, we haven’t done anything to make sure she stays on track with her German reading and writing – so this is one thing I will pick up with her. We have talked about it and she is not opposed to it, we just have to get into some sort of routine and do it. She is also asking a lot of questions these days about German vocabulary, either English words she doesn't know in German, or German words I use that she doens't understand. This is all good, and without meaning to brag I'm quite excited about her progress. She much more so than Punk 2 has questioned our whole family language arrangement, has been unwilling to speak German at times, and struggled with using it as she noticed her German is not entirely perfect. I'm pretty much tickled pink with her right now, and hope this will last - if not get better from here on in :)

Punk 2 is still willing to speak German with just about anyone, but knows to use English when spoken to in English. He’s enjoying going to school and is beginning to ‘write’ cards and lists for himself that he then shows to us to read back to him. Unlike Punk 1, he doesn’t expect us to magically know what he’s written, but really wants to hear what he wrote and usually finds his letter combinations quite amusing (which they are, given that he’s not usually into vowels, much). The odd time he hits on a real word, but so far these have all been either names of his friends or English words. He is more likely than Punk 1 to use German in self-play or absent-mindedly with others, but he also is much more at home in English. He’s also picking up more French from Punk 1, something that will help him next year when he starts French immersion SK. So far, I don’t recall him ever questioning me as to why we are speaking German, he just goes with the flow.

It feels really odd to say, but it appears that for the first time in a long time we can afford to relax – a bit!- about this whole bilingualism thing. I still read mainly German books to them or translate on the fly, I set up activities with their German friends, and all that kind of thing – but speaking German seems to have become so normal now that this is just what we do, rather than something the kids, especially Punk 1, needs to be convinced is how it should be. They don't even laugh anymore when The Husband tries to speak German, they just accept it as part of it all.

So really, no news is good news!

Brief Update

noreply@blogger.com (smashedpea) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:07:00 +0000

First things first:

I'm still rather absent from this space, but not enough to not still be in the loop on the latest edition of the Raising Bilingual Children Carnival! There are loads of participants this month, so please go check it out over at Babelkid - Raising Multilingual Children - you are sure to find some useful information or even inspiration that might be helpful to you.

Thanks Jan, for hosting this time around!

*** And as always, if you'd like to keep up to date with future carnivals, host one, or submit a post, why not join our mailing list? You can also access all past editions of the Carnival on my Resources Page!

-----
In other news, everything is chugging along just fine. Kind of anyway.

Punk 1 is now in grade 1 French Immersion, and ~~begging~~ asking - temporarily we hope - whether she can to switch to the English stream for grade 2 since apparently she doesn't actually speak any French. This is very much reminiscent of how she didn't want to speak German way back when, and hopefully nothing to worry about too much. She hasn't been using French all summer, so it's not surprising she's finding it difficult to get back into it. She also says that all the other kids are in the same boat, so it's not like she's having a harder time than anyone else. Also, things likely have kicked into a higher gear compared to what she was used to in Kindergarten, and she's still adjusting. We're still monitoring how things are progressing, but according to her teacher she is doing just fine.

The little Punk is now in Junior Kindergarten, in English until he can start in French when he enters Senior Kindergarten next fall. He appears to be doing well, though going to school is not as much of a love affair for him as it was (still is, really) for Punk 1. But at least he goes quite willingly and now often comes home to play doing homework and working on computer assignments. The other day, though, he came home with a car he lifted (I know! I was shocked, too!) from school - not in a bad way though, since he didn't try to hide it and declared quite openly he only brought it home so he could take it back the next day to play with it again. He just didn't want anyone else to put it somewhere he wouldn't be able to find it. This was still a first in our house since Punk 1 would have never done anything like this - but when we talked to him, it was quite clear that he understands we cannot just take things because we want them. And he returned the car the next day and hasn't brought anything back since. Phew :)

Both kids continue to speak German with me, though once again Punk 1 is sneaking in increasingly bigger amounts of English. Apparently this is because she doesn't want to explain everything to me in German and then again to The Husband in English (and very much like any bilingual would behave, so yay for her!), but it takes away important opportunities for her to speak German, so I'm not too sure about this just yet.

Otherwise we're settling back into normal life, now that all the summer excitement - vacation! camp! staying with the in-laws for a week! having Oma visit from Germany! starting school all over again! starting a new daycare! getting lice in summer camp! - is over and we're getting used to our routine.

More to follow, 'cause I'm still here. Really, I am.

August Carnival

noreply@blogger.com (smashedpea) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 00:19:00 +0000

Sorry peeps, I know this is unexcusably late, but there was a "Raising Bilingual Kids Carnival" last month - if you have not yet come across it, do check it out over at Tongue Tales! As usual, this is where you'll find a ton of interesting posts on the topic - and if you're in luck, you'll discover a new blog to love :)

** Thanks everyone for contributing, and thank you Tye for pulling it together this time around!

And you, if you'd like to keep up to date with future carnivals, host one, or submit a post, why not join our mailing list? You can also access all past editions of the Carnival on my Resources Page!

Easy-peasy Literacy Activity

noreply@blogger.com (smashedpea) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 16:12:00 +0000

1. Keep a vacation journal with your child in your minority language to encourage writing.
2. Let your child illustrate the journal to make it more fun.
3. Encourage your child read the journal back to you, or, as in our case, to our visiting Oma who only speaks the minority language.

I did this with Punk 1 when we were at the cottage, not only to encourage her writing in the minority language, but also to give her some sort of school-like activity as she was sad (!) to be off school for the whole entire summer and couldn’t wait for grade 1 to start.

She loved writing in our journal, though as time went on and she started to forget about missing school, her entries became increasingly shorter. I never pushed her for more, since I wanted to keep it fun and not frustrate her about using her minority language. Instead, I added to her entries, so that now there is at least a short paragraph for each day.

Now Oma has arrived to babysit Punk 1 for a couple of weeks before school starts. Oma is here to have fun with the kids, of course, but part of the plan is also to engage Punk 1 in some literacy activities. So, Punk 1 can use the journal to now read to Oma what she did on her vacation, and the two of them can then talk about it as well. Punk 1 will get the practice, and Oma will be happy to hear what we did on vacation – a win-win for both.

Punk 1's entries are a bit short on the details, but it was such good practice for her. She obviously enjoyed keeping this journal, and often woke up in the mornings eager to write her entry for the past day. I’m pretty sure that she would have written more had the weather not been as perfect as it was, and we would have stayed inside more. But we usually went out after breakfast and didn’t come back for any sort of inside activity until bed time, so there wasn’t a lot of time for reading and writing.

But the main thing is that she had fun doing this and never even noticed that she was learning and practicing things!

Maybe you have to know German to really appreciate her writing, but here are some examples:

[Punk 2] hat Gaburtstag. Das Mann hat gans laut gerülpst. Bläh!
[It’s Punk 2’s barthday. The (she used the wrong article) man burped veri loudly. Blech!]

[Mama’s Freundin A] hat gekommn. Und wir waren im Kanu.
[Mama’s friend A is cme. And we were in the canoe.]

Wir waren in Gatineau Park. Wir waren alle schwimmen.
[We went to Gatineau Park. We all went swimming.]

Budding Biliteracy

noreply@blogger.com (smashedpea) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:52:00 +0000

Punk 1, six years old now, has been working away at her literacy skills, at least in the formal sense since we of course laid the groundwork at home, for the last couple of years through school (Junior and Senior Kindergarten = 2.5 hrs/day, starting at age four). It is there that she learned to identify all letters and accompanying sounds, and it is there that she started to read. She had been waiting to finally start school since she was two, she was self-motivated when she finally got there, and clearly expressed an interest in reading and writing. All we had to do at home was support her by helping her sound out words, spelling words to her so she could write them, and eventually letting her read to us.

At first, all her reading was in English, though when she asked me to help her, our conversations around it were in German. I spelled English words to her using the German alphabet, and she read the words back to me in English. Oftentimes, she then translated the word into German and asked for help writing that as well. Or she tried to sound out English words, and asked me, in German, for help when she ran into trouble. It may sound confusing, but it really wasn’t – she knew to speak German to me (yay OPOL!), and it was quite natural for us to use German to talk about these English words. It also really helped her learn the German alphabet – she knew it through the ABC-song, of course, but this way her knowledge of the individual letters became much stronger.

Since biliteracy had always been part of the plan, it only made sense to see whether she was able to do in German what she was doing in English. Initially, she was a bit reluctant to try, but her curiosity (or competitive streak?) quickly got the better of her and she tried. And to our amazement, as well as hers, we realized that pretty much everything she had learned in school in English had transferred into German so that she was able to read and write German almost as well as English. She stumbled a bit with some things, such as letters that don’t exist in English (Ä/ä, Ö/ö, Ü/ü, ß), and common vowel or consonant clusters (sch, ch, ei, ie, eu, etc.). But once I explained those to her, things became noticeably easier.

Reading German still seems to be a little harder for her because her German vocabulary is relatively smaller and she comes across more words she doesn’t know. However, she can – and does – read German (though she generally prefers to read in English). She even seems to love the lengthy German compound words and is keeping track of how long the words are that she has read all by herself without any help from me (she stands at 17 letters, I think, though unfortunately I can’t remember the word).

Things are about to become more interesting as she enters grade 1 this September. French literacy will become increasingly important since she will continue in French immersion, and of course we will keep up the English at home. And we will also continue with German, though outside of starting her on a subscription to a German kid’s magazine for her age group (yay for publishers which do send such magazines overseas!), we haven’t really made any plans. We are not registering her for German Saturday School this year as she is likely to be too far ahead again – instead she has promised to do a bit of ‘work’ with me at home. Mainly, we will continue doing what we’ve always been doing, and make whatever adjustments we think are necessary (based on her age, developing interests, etc.) to keep things going.

Pondering

noreply@blogger.com (smashedpea) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 19:12:00 +0000

I have noticed for a while now that young Punk 2 seems to be somehow 'better' at speaking German than Punk 1. And maybe better is not the right word – it's more that he seems to be much more comfortable with it and able to use the language in ways she cannot (does not?). It’s hard to put my finger on it since I am not a linguist and don’t have the technical background to identify what I think I am witnessing. The feeling I have is of course based on my observation, but maybe that is tainted by some subjective bias or lack of knowledge, I don’t know.

Anyway, I only notice this when he speaks German, not English. ‘Cause really, Punk 1 has two years on the little guy and it shows. Her language development is way ahead in both English and German. Her vocabulary is bigger, her grasp on grammar is better, she knows more songs and rhymes, and overall she can express herself much better. Just like it should be, given the age difference.

But what I’m hearing when they speak German is that it seems to be somehow easier for him to put his sentences together, and to use new words, or to use words he already knows in different contexts. She has more tools to use, but he seems to be able to express himself with more ease and can play around with the language easier in trying to get his point across. It’s not that his sentences are perfect (they are not) and hers are not, or that he makes more sense than she (he doesn’t) – it’s all about subtle differences in how they use German.

My take on it is that this is because she refused to speak German for the first few years of her life, once she was past the early talking stage anyway, and he didn’t. It’s like her German has missed some sort of developmental language milestone and she now has to compensate as best she can and seemingly work a little harder.

Oma is arriving soon, and I can't wait to see if she notices this as well. But in the meantime, if you have any thoughts on this, please let's hear them!

Minority Language Play Dates

noreply@blogger.com (smashedpea) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 16:52:00 +0000

As Punks 1 and 2 grow older and have more active social lives, increasingly so with different sets of friends, family time is taking a bit of a hit – as is time for and with German. We want the kids to have friends and have fun at birthday parties and such, of course, and we make an effort to spend most of our weekend time together as a family, but over the last 6 months or so it’s been getting harder to also fit in activities with German friends. And it’s not just our schedule that has been increasingly busy; something similar seems to be happening to the kids’ German friends as well, leading us to have fewer German play dates than we did just a year ago.

But when we do have something set up, the kids always look forward to it. They have never indicated they’d rather be doing something else, leading me to wonder sometimes whether they love their German play dates more than getting together with their English friends. If they do, it has nothing to do with them being in German, however. Rather, it's probably because they don’t get to see their German friends as often as their English ones and because these German play dates are different (maybe more special?) from their regular English ones.

For one thing, they take more effort to set up, as their German friends don’t necessarily live around the corner from us like their school and daycare friends. I am usually friends with the other mother/parents, so we don’t just drop of our kids at each other’s houses and return a few hours later to pick them up. Instead we socialize, so the play dates tend to last longer and are more likely to involve a shared meal. And lastly, some of our friends are not available for weeks on end as they spend more time in Germany than we do, especially during the summer time.

But the kids love their German play dates, and I think they are important as they contribute to helping us stay on track with keeping up the German:

The kids get to hang out with other little German speakers and have fun together, in German.
They hear and use German with people other than only me, both kids and adults. This way, they get more practice with German speakers their own age, native speakers, and they hear different accents and words. And maybe more importantly, they have more reason to actually use German.
Sometimes we build in a cultural component, like a visit from Nikolaus.
We borrow and lend resources, like books, CDs and DVDs.
We hear and exchange stories about going to Germany and what it’s like there, making the place more real in the kids’ minds and making them look forward to visiting themselves.
We find out about the often sudden and erratic appearance of German goods, especially this good stuff, in local stores, or some cultural event we didn’t know about.
Often times, someone brings a German treat, either something home-made or something they got from Germany and had stashed away in a cupboard.
The kids build connections and relationships to German, Germans and maybe even Germany.
They become more eager to talk about Germany and find out what it’s like there, again helping them to see it as a real place and not just some far-flung land their mother comes from.
Interacting in German becomes more normal and 'every-day'.

I had to work to establish a circle of German friends, especially with people who have kids of similar ages and who are interested in having their kids grow up with German. It’s not always easy to find the time, especially with those whose husbands also don’t speak German and who may be interested in things other than getting together to give the kids the opportunity to interact in German. But we try. And whenever we go to one/host one, the kids come away with something good and are eager for more.

Hanging with Monolingual German Kids

noreply@blogger.com (smashedpea) — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 18:25:00 +0000

We recently got to spend time, a day only really, with a friend visiting from Germany with her partner and three kids. Her eldest, who mainly kept to himself, knows a bit of English as he’s started taking it in school, but the other two do not. This, of course, made for a much different experience for our own kids who are used to speaking German with people who generally understand English. And who, in the case of German-speaking kids we know, often find it easier to communicate in English than in German.

I, of course, was excited to see my friend again (it’s been 5 years after all!), and very curious to see whether our Punks could hold their own with her kids auf Deutsch. It’s not a fair comparison, I know that, but I was curious to see how they’d do with (mainly) monolingual German kids where code-mixing and –switching, something they both do regularly unless I stop them, was not going to get them anywhere.

In the end, I didn’t get to witness too much verbal interaction amongst the kids. Had I not been so excited to see my friend, then maybe it’d have dawned on me before that our kids were going to be their normally reserved, shy selves until they had warmed up, and maybe even more so than normal as they were (a) excited about going on vacation (we had the car packed up and where on our way already), and (b) completely overwhelmed by my friends’ three rambunctious and outgoing kids who were quite openly demanding to hear some German from them.

But it still went well!

Punk 1 was more shy than usual, likely because she had been so excited to meet my friend’s daughter who is only 5 months older than her, and clung to me for quite some time, in spite of little M trying patiently and repeatedly to play with her and talk to her. She spoke to me in German without any hesitation at all, and answered questions posed to her by everyone. However, when she spoke with anyone but me, initially she didn’t do more than provide one word answers. She got more comfortable as the day went on, but never became as talkative as she is with people she knows better. It was only later in the afternoon when we’d made it to the local playground that the girls took off for a couple of hours! They played and hung out on the shady branches of a tree together, with Punk 1 telling me afterwards that they talked for the whole time. None of us overheard any of it, of course, but ever since that afternoon, Punk 1 has been more interested in moving to Germany for a year (one of our ~~pipe~~ dreams), is asking to skype with M, and occasionally talks about her friend M “in Deutschland!!”.

Punk 2 wasn’t quite as shy for once, but for the first time pretty much refused to speak German, if only to the other kids. My friend’s younger son, still more than twice his age, was quite smitten with him and tried to engage him from the get-go. And Punk 2 was quite willing to play with him, just not talk German. In fact, it was Punk 1 who complained later that the other kids were constantly bugging her to translate everything Punk 2 had said to them in English. But he played with all the kids, especially the boys, and he no doubt heard all the comments they made about him being so little and truly speaking German when they overheard him speak with me. However, all this attention on his German really did not help matters; I suspect he might have gotten into German soon enough had everyone only stopped asking for it. But he had a good day and still talks fondly about his new friend F. He’s also talking about going to Germany next summer to visit F, and has high hopes that the two of them can go swimming together.

Both Punks had a good visit and importantly, made another positive – and hopefully lasting - association with German and Germany. Something that should help them stick with German. For me, of course, it was great seeing my friend again, and we’re really hoping that our kids can develop some sort of friendship as well.

As for my little field experiment, that didn’t quite work out in that I didn’t really overhear much German amongst the kids. But since Punk 1 had spoken a fair bit of German throughout the day with me and the other adults, I did ask my friend what she thought of it. She has always been interested in how the kids' bilingualism has been progressing and has often sent us German books and CDs to help them along. And I of course wanted to know how someone actually living in Germany and who is not at all immersed in their way of speaking (article and pronoun confusion, creative grammatical constructions, etc.) would react.

And to my surprise, the thing that – to her at least – stands out most is not any mistakes, but Punk 1’s intonation when speaking German. Apparently, though I have never noticed this myself and neither have any of my local German friends, when she speaks German she does so using the Anglo speech melody (just like Jen’s kid!). She made it clear however, that her own daughter M does not have any of the above-mentioned issues with German. Yes, M makes some mistakes as well – but from the sound of it they are comparable to how Punk 1 speaks English, and not German. This is not entirely unexpected, but it goes to show how important it is to keep exposing the Punks to as much German as possible.

But there you have it, this was the kids’ first real time hanging out with monolingual German speakers, and they had a good time, leaving them even more eager to go to Germany. And me, I am tickled pink by it all!!

July Carnival

noreply@blogger.com (smashedpea) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 19:18:00 +0000

Here we go again, the latest edition of the Blogging on Bilingualism carnival has been unleashed!

Go check it out over at Busy as a Bee in Paris!

** Thanks everyone for contributing, and thank you Maria for pulling it together this time around!

And you, if you'd like to keep up to date with future carnivals, host one, or submit a post, why not join our mailing list? You can also access all past editions of the Carnival on my Resources Page.

Blink (and Carnival Time)

noreply@blogger.com (smashedpea) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 16:18:00 +0000

That’s how fast our vacation to le parc de la Gatineau/Gatineau Park, l’Outaouais and the NCR went by, which happened to be around the same time the June edition of the Bilingual Carnival was posted – so don’t wait, hop on over to Bilingual Russian to check things out before it’s time for July’s Carnival, going live at some point next week over at Busy as a Bee in Paris (if you want to contribute, send your submission over to Busy by Saturday, July 23rd!).
*****

The kids were on a roll with their German before we left, but speaking and hearing way more German all day long while we were away helped them consolidate their grasp of it and learn more. Not only did they pick up some new cottaging-related vocabulary, like “Guck mal, der große Fisch ist da wieder unter dem Steg!!!!” [Look, the big fish is back underneath the dock!!!] und “Hol mal die Paddel, dann gehen wir Kanufahren!” [Go get the paddles and we’ll go canoeing!], they also were constantly talking about what they saw and often asking questions. Punk 2 especially, as the youngest, was often stunned and had to be creative in describing what he found interesting. This is how he came up with 'cow' for the statue of a moose by the side of the road and the entirely new word 'cowdog' for the ginormous black and white dog we came across one weekend (all in German, of course).

What struck me most was that during this time, the increased German in their day-to-day lives led them to sometimes speak German to each other! As much as I have encouraged them to do so at home, it never really worked out or lasted too long, understandably so, but at the cottage they initiated it and talked and played in German from time to time. At some point Punk 1 even told Punk 2 she no longer understood English and he had to speak to her in German! Which he did, without the slightest hesitation, flexible little guy that he is. He only didn’t like Papa trying out his German on them once again and demanded he continue to speak to them in English.

I had also packed only German books and CDs for them, though they ended up being so fascinated by a new book Punk 2 got for his birthday that I might as well not have bothered to bring anything else.

And for a good literacy activity, Punk 1 and I kept a vacation journal. Her teacher had encouraged her to keep up writing over the summer, though not necessarily in German, and she was into it when I suggested it. She never wrote much and we never got around for her to illustrate it, but we now have at least a sentence or two for each day we were away. She is now in summer camp for the first time ever and thinks it’s a good idea to keep this up – though it looks like we’re doing it on a weekly basis since she is way too tired when I pick her up after work.

The Husband, of course, was also there, ensuring that English had its place. But since we were in bilingual and French-speaking parts of Canada, Punk 1 also felt inspired to practice her French. As we were driving to the cottage, we stopped in Ottawa and she immediately picked up on all the French spoken around town. She said that she couldn’t understand more than a word/phrase here or there, but started saying a few things to us in French and on drives often asked me or Punk 2 for random words she would then translate into French.

We’ve been back for less than a week now and English once again is more dominant in their lives. However, since we also met a German friend with her three kids on our way to the cottage and they’ve had all this increased German over the last little bit, they are still speaking to each other in German just as much as they did at the cottage and are now more than ever talking about wanting to go to Germany next summer!

And Punk 1, always paying attention to everything that goes on around her, must have overheard bits and pieces of a conversation we had with my German friend and her husband about us wondering whether/how we could swing living in Germany for a year, told me last night as I was getting her ready for bed that she’d like to go to Germany next summer and have us all stay there for at least a year or more :) Whenever we had mentioned this to her before, she had been interested in going there for vacation, while at the same time being absolutely appalled at the idea of actually living and going to school there. I know this is a change that is unlikely to last, but it’s nice to hear anyway.

It was a great trip – most importantly a wonderful vacation, but who knew this would turn into some kind of German love-fest for the kids :) I hope it lasts!

Language Preferences – Punk 2

noreply@blogger.com (smashedpea) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 14:59:00 +0000

Punk 2, who turned 4 just the other day and continues to hold out hope that at some point soon he’ll get to drive every piece of heavy equipment and try out every contact sport he comes across, has never known anything but OPOL (the one parent, one language approach to raising kids to be bilingual). Being somewhat more flexible in disposition than Punk 1, he has never had a problem with it, although he argued quite convincingly when he was about 2.5 that he couldn’t possibly speak German without mixing English into it. And so he mixed like crazy for the first three years of his life – until Oma came to visit last summer and he figured out how to keep his languages separate.

Since then, he has been speaking German with me and English with Papa, with a little bit of mixing going on both ways. Usually because he doesn’t have the vocabulary (this happens a little more in German than in English), but it also is evident in sentence structure (much more so in German than in English). He is very willing to speak German with Punk 1, but usually doesn’t as she generally answers him in English, leading him to use English as well. But this works the other way around to – if she is in the mood for German with him, he is never the first to switch back into English.

He speaks English with the world around him, but doesn’t hesitate to mix in some German to make up for missing vocabulary. I am not sure how aware he is of this, but he sure expects others to understand him. Maybe this is because when this happens at home, all of us, even The (mainly monolingual) Husband, generally understand him, or maybe this is a developmental thing that will go away with time. All I know is that I don’t remember Punk 1 ever doing this, but then again, she was a little older than he is now before she actually started to say things in German, and may have skipped this phase entirely. Of course, it might also be that this is just him in the process of figuring things out – they are both very different in their approaches to language and wouldn’t necessarily do things the same way anyway. Over the past year, however, he stopped insisting on using his favourite German words in English conversations. He now doesn’t do it much at all anymore or is able to correct himself when he does.

He has no problem speaking either English or German to both adults and kids, depending on what language people are speaking. However, since Punk 1 is often around during play dates with other German-speaking kids, he will follow her lead into English if that is what she does.

His literacy skills are developing and he knows the alphabet in both languages, can spell his name in both languages, and he can count in both languages. He has no problem when I translate English books into German when I read to him and in fact, sometimes tells me to do just that. Punk 1, when given the choice, will always pick English (and not because she is reading along with me) and will sometimes also ask that I don’t translate.

He doesn’t generally say things like not liking German or wishing he could speak English with me – the kind of thing Punk 1 sometimes says, and definitely did when she was his age. In fact, the other day I offered to read a book in English because I was tired and didn’t want to translate anything on the fly, and he asked me not to: “Aber ich mag Deutsch!!” [But I like German!!]

He has come a very long way and we’re amazed that things are going so well. I know to not take anything for granted as things often turn on a dime with his sister, after all. But for now, I’m excited to hear him speak German and be so enthusiastic about it.

Language Preferences – Punk 1

noreply@blogger.com (smashedpea) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 18:13:00 +0000

Punk 1, barely 6 years old and missing 7 teeth with another one ready to come out soon, is an OPOL child. While she actually refused to follow along for a while, she has come around and is now well used to speaking German with me and English with Papa. She appears content with it, although she sometimes says otherwise. When Punk 2 came along, she was still in the midst of her English-only phase although she understood German just fine, and opted for English as the sibling language. I have always encouraged her to speak German with him (and still do), but except for the odd conversation here and there, she really doesn’t.

Outside of our family, she speaks English with most people we encounter of course, as she is well aware that English is the community language. But when it comes to people she knows to speak German, it makes a difference whether they are adults or other kids.

With the adults, she generally speaks German, regardless of whether they also know English and regardless of who else is around. With German-speaking kids, however, she has come to very clearly prefer English – which all German-speaking kids we know around here also speak, oftentimes better than German at that, and are all too happy to use, too.

There was a time when she stuck to German with other German kids, but she no longer does, at least not when there is more than one other kid around. The first time I noticed this was during a play date with my friend’s daughter – Punk 1 was mainly playing with Punk 2 in English, and when they involved little M who took a while to warm up, they didn’t switch into German as they would have in the past. I assumed this was due to Punks 1 and 2 being so used to speaking English with each other, but we’ve had other occasions since, some not involving Punk 2, when she still spoke English to German-speaking kids, as for example during the monthly outings of our German playgroup.

I still think sibling language plays a role in what she speaks with other kids, at least as long as Punk 2 is also around, but other factors must factor in as well. For example, she is much more used to speaking English with other kids from school, daycare, and other organized activities, and she of course knows that all those other German friends also speak English. She is stronger in English, as are most of her German-speaking friends, making it an easier choice for all of them. And unless we are in a private setting, German also very obviously is the minority language and English is all around us, something she is aware off and that might make it more convenient to use. And of course, it often is also the preference of the other kids to speak English, and not German.

In terms of literacy skills, she can read in both English and German (and in French, too, according to yesterday’s report card – though if you ask her, she will very firmly tell you that she only speaks a little French and doesn’t read it at all….). Her German reading, in which she gets relatively less practice, may lag a little behind what she can do in English, but not much. She doesn’t write much except for birthday cards and the like, but can figure things out in both languages (and again also in French, at least according to her teacher) – but with all of it, her preference quite clearly is English. So when she is the first one up on a weekend morning, she often goes downstairs to lounge on the couch and read a book quietly to herself, but she generally picks an English book. The only time she chooses to read in German is when she is reading to me, or when she is helping me read a book to Punk 2.

We know kids develop differently, but still, we are very happy to see her do so well when we know other German-speaking kids around here who only understand German but don’t speak any. But it's interesting to observe, too. She has only really gotten over her consistant refusal to speak German a couple of years ago, yet things are never constant. Yes, she speaks German now - but sometimes willingly, other times because she knows I will give her a hard time if she doesn't. Sometimes with Punk 2, generally not. For a period of time she spoke German with other kids, now not so much. Sometimes she tries to get away with all English with me or goes to Papa for any requests, rather than say it in German to me. Othertimes she asks for German play dates. Everything is constantly in flux, but it looks like we are headed in the right direction.

German Children Songs and Rhymes

noreply@blogger.com (smashedpea) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 16:06:00 +0000

Thanks to Cartside for asking everyone to chime in and add to her collection of some of her kids’ favourite action songs and rhymes. Looks like her kids and mine have a few favourites in common, but I also came across some new ones I can now introduce to the kids. Danke Cartside, great list!

And because she asked, here are some of our favourites – not all are action songs or rhymes (I can’t remember or know enough and some of the ones I’d have listed are already on Cartside’s original list), but most of the ones I am listing below do have a little something to keep the kids engaged and entertained. And if your kids are like mine they can easily come up with their own actions for songs that normally don’t have any, similar to how Punk 1 turns into a duck every time we sing or hear ‘Alle meine Entchen’.

So here we go, some of our recommendations – hopefully you’ll find something your kids will enjoy!

Hoppe, hoppe Reiter

* The melody I know is slightly different, but you can listen to it here. (As a bonus, this site has a bunch of other songs you can listen to as well, plus instructions on how to do the actions.)

Hoppe, hoppe Reiter,
wenn er fällt dann schreit er.
Fällt er in den Graben,
fressen ihn die Raben.
Fällt er in den Sumpf,
macht der Reiter plumps.

[Kid sits on your lap, facing you, each leg dangling off one side. Bounce kid on your lap throughout – gently or wildly, depending on her age and temperament – hold on to her and let her drop almost to the ground between your knees when you come to the ‘plumps’ at the end.]

Große Uhren (Uhrenkanon)

* Unfortunately, I couldn't find a good video of it, but here's a guy playing it on the guitar. Chances are you are more musical than me, so maybe you can get the idea from it.

[Have kid seated on your lap, facing you, one leg dangling off on each side.]

Große Uhren machen tick-tack,
tick-tack,
tick-tack.
[Repeat tick-tack as often as you like, speaking and moving very slowly while moving kid from left to right at each ‘tick’ and ‘tack’.]

Kleine Uhren machen tick-tack,
tick-tack,
tick-tack.
[Repeat tick-tack as often as you like, speaking and moving a little faster.]

Und die kleinen Taschenuhren machen
ticke-ticke-ticke-ticke-ticke-ticke-ticke-ticke-ticke-ticke-ticke.
[Speak and move kid really fast at ticke-ticke and keep going as long as you like, tickling and wobbling or pushing kid from side to side.]

We also like to add:

Und die großen Kirchturmuhren machen ding-dong,
ding-dong,
ding-dong.
[Very slowly again, pretending to throw kid off lap at 'ding' and pulling them back up at 'dong'; keep going as long as you like.]

I’ve also come across versions including an alarm clock (Wecker), and I suppose you could also add a sun dial (Sonnenuhr) and an egg timer (Eieruhr) if you wanted to.

This has been a favourite at our house for years now, and it keeps getting wilder as the kids get older. So we now wobble them around pretty hard (carefully and controlled of course), but never did that when they were babies. Just so we’re clear.

Auf der grünen Wiese

* This might be slightly different from the original as I’ve only seen it once a few years ago and then re-created it when Punk 1 started to enjoy this kind of thing. But anyway, the kids like it. I had a hard time finding a video for it, but this one gives you an idea of the melody.

Auf der grünen Wiese steht ein Karussell,
manchmal fährt es langsam, manchmal fährt es schnell.

Anhalten.
Türen aufmachen.
Einsteigen.
Türen schließen.
Hinsetzen.
Anschnallen.
Festhalten.

Aufgepasst – das Karussell fährt loooooooos!!!

[This is best done in a group – everybody makes a circle and holds hands, and then moves in the circle for the first two lines. Everybody stands in one spot after that and does the actions (opening doors, getting in, etc.) – until you get to the last line when you hold hands and start moving very quickly in a circle again, usually until everyone falls over each other in a heap of giggles.]

Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer

*It takes a while before the vocals come on, but this is pretty much exactly the way I learned it.

Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine Wanze,
auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine Wanze.
Seht Euch mal die Wanze an, wie die Wanze tanzen kann,
auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine Wanze.

[Now repeat, each time taking out letters in all instances of 'Wanze' and 'tanzen' until you are left with silences for those two words.]

Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine Wanz,
auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine Wanz.
Seht Euch mal die Wanz an, wie die Wanz tanz kann,
auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine Wanz.

Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine Wan,
auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine Wan.
Seht Euch mal die Wan an, wie die Wan tan kann,
auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine Wan.

Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine Wa,
auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine Wa.
Seht Euch mal die Wa an, wie die Wa ta kann,
auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine Wa.

Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine W,
auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine W.
Seht Euch mal die W an, wie die W t kann,
auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine W.

Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine _,
auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine _.
Seht Euch mal die _ an, wie die _ _ kann,
auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine _.

[If the kids haven’t had enough at this point, you can start adding letters in again.]

Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine W,
auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine W.
Seht Euch mal die W an, wie die W t kann,
auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine W.

Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine Wa,
auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine Wa.
Seht Euch mal die Wa an, wie die Wa ta kann,
auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine Wa.

Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine Wan,
auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine Wan.
Seht Euch mal die Wan an, wie die Wan tan kann,
auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine Wan.

Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine Wanz,
auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine Wanz.
Seht Euch mal die Wanz an, wie die Wanz tanz kann,
auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine Wanz.

Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine Wanze,
auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine Wanze.
Seht Euch mal die Wanze an, wie die Wanze tanzen kann,
auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer sitzt ‘ne kleine Wanze.

Drei Chinesen

* This is not much of a song (and you can feel free to change ‘Drei Chinesen’ to ‘Vierzehn Leute’ or something else that has four syllables in total) – but the fun comes when you change all vowels to the other vowels and Umlaute. In the comments to the song someone totally rewrote it and turned it into a little ditty about monkeys going to the bakery - the idea is the same, it becomes fun because you make a mess of the vowels.

Drei Chinesen mit dem Kontrabass,
die saßen auf der Straße und erzählten sich was.
Da kam die Polizei und fragt “ Ja was ist denn das?”
Drei Chinesen mit dem Kontrabass!

Dre Chenesen met dem Kentrebess,
de seßen ef der Streße end erzehlten sech wes.
De kem de Pelezee end fregt “Je wes est denn des?”
Dre Chenesen met dem Kentrebess!

Dri Chinisin mit dim Kintribiss,
di sißin if di Strißi ind irzihltin sich wis.
Di kim di Pilizi ind frigt “Ji wis ist din dis?”
Dri Chinisin mit dim Kintribiss!

[Etc with a, o, u, ä, ö, ü.]

Es geht ein Mann die Treppe hoch

Es geht ein Mann die Treppe hoch. [Walk your fingers up the kid’s outstretched arm.]
Klingelingeling. [Carefully pull your kid’s earlobe a couple of times.]
Klopf klopf klopf. [Gently knock on your kid’s forehead with each ‘klopf’.]

Guten Tag Herr Nasemann!! [Touch kid’s nose as if to shake hands to exchange greetings.]

* Mine enjoyed this one while they were babies and still ask for it now.

Zungenbrecher

Zehn zahme Ziegen zogen zehn Zentner Zucker zum Zoo.

And:

Fischers Fritz ißt frische Fische,
frische Fische ißt Fischers Fritz.

[Say 3 times fast.]

* Stricly speaking, these are not our favourites as the kids don’t know them yet. I just thought of them as fitting onto this kind of list – and now that I’ve found them hidden somewhere in my brain, I sure will introduce the kids to them. Punk 1 has just turned 6 and knows a couple of tongue twisters in English, so this should be right up her alley. Also, if this is your thing, you can find tons more by searching the web for ‘Zungenbrecher’ or just start here.

Still ist’s im Zimmer

* I really like this lullaby, and not because I grew up with it – I didn’t actually know it until a friend sent us a CD with it when Punk 1 was born. But I have been singing it to both of our kids since they were babies, and am including it because I’ve become quite attached to it (even though it’s plain and has no actions). Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything about it on the web, so here's the CD we got it from - it has been one of our favourites from the first time we listened to it.

Still ist’s im Zimmer, draußen wird’s Nacht.
Einer gibt immer gut auf Dich Acht. [I usually change ‘einer’ to 'Mama'.]
Mit meinen Händen streichle ich Dich.
Schlafe mein Kleines, drück Dich an mich.

Still ist’s im Zimmer, draußen wird’s Nacht.
Einer gibt immer gut auf Dich Acht.
In meinen Armen wiege ich Dich.
Schlafe mein Kleines, drück Dich an mich.

Still ist’s im Zimmer, draußen wird’s Nacht.
Einer gibt immer gut auf Dich Acht.
Mit meiner Decke wärme ich Dich.
Schlafe mein Kleines, drück Dich an mich.

Still ist’s im Zimmer, draußen wird’s Nacht.
Einer gibt immer gut auf Dich Acht.
Mit meiner Liebe schütze ich Dich.
Schlafe mein Kleines, drück Dich an mich.

And that’s it, or at least all I can think off right now. Let me know if you find something on this list you and your kids can get into – we have had a lot of fun with them.

And if you are looking for more inspiration for children’s music, big hits at our house are this Nena CD, also available as an MP3 download, and this children's song book, although it doesn’t seem to be available right now, at least not on Amazon. Both CD and book have helped me a lot to remember some of my old favourites, and the kids have learned a ton of songs this way. Not necessarily of the action kind, but they have always loved to dance to Nena ~~(just like I did, in an earlier life)~~ and adore the book for its beautiful illustrations.

And hopefully this will also be the kick in the butt I needed to finally compile all our kid-friendly resources and put them on this blog. I’ve got tons of links all over the place and have been meaning to put them all on here for a long time, but somehow I never got past creating that little spot on my sidebar with exactly one link in it. Pathetic, I know, so feel free to remind me to do this if nothing happens. Politely, if you can :)

Making Progress

noreply@blogger.com (smashedpea) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 17:04:00 +0000

Here are two recent quotes from Punk 2, almost 4 years old now:

“Punk 1, was ist das name of that [pointing to the robot she is drawing on her friend’s birthday card] in Deutsch?”

And:

“Kann ich bitte Socken für meine Schuhe im Kindergarten haben, Mama?”
[Can I please have socks for my (indoor) shoes for daycare, Mama?]

Maybe it doesn't take much to impress me, but I find both of them interesting. They are not necessarily good examples of how he normally speaks German as he usually mixes less than in the first example, and isn’t always quite as good as in the second one, at least not when the sentences are that long.

But they are interesting - not because there is such a contrast between the two - but because in the first case he is taking the initiative to ask his sister for a German word, even though they weren’t even talking at the time. And if they had, it would have been in English anyway. So what if his sentence structure is a bit off and he’s using both languages at the same time again – he’s asking to learn more German!

And the second one I like because it gives me hope. Hope that one day they will both be able to speak German with fewer mistakes than they make now. Because really, even though they can make themselves understood quite easily, they both make a number of mistakes on a regular basis. They do so in English as well and some of it is no doubt age-related (e.g., incorrect irregular verbs – ‘throwed’ and that kind of thing), but it happens much more so in German. They regularly use the wrong articles, have problems with pronouns (du/dich, etc.), and don’t get the sentence structure right. Their overall grammar and choice of words can be on the creative side, and they sometimes add a German word ending to an English word and translate phrases directly out of English that may not make sense in German. I probably could come up with a more exhaustive list if I thought about it a little more, but the point really is that this sentence impressed me because it is so much better than how he often gets things out.

I don’t expect their German to be perfect and understand that these kinds of mistakes are due to them not getting enough exposure to German. And I know that things like the upcoming visit from Oma will help with all of it, but it’s awesome to hear him take the initiative to learn more and to get a glimpse of what might be possible!

Bilingualism Carnival

noreply@blogger.com (smashedpea) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 18:31:00 +0000

Another excellent edition of the Blogging on Bilingualism Carnival is currently underway over at Mummy Do That!

Go check it out to see what other people raising kids to be bi- or multilingual are up to - once again, there's a good mix of interesting and helpful posts. A joy to read, as always!

But before you go, my own contribution is down here :)

** Thanks everyone for contributing, and thank you Cartside for pulling it together this time around!

And you, if you'd like to keep up to date with future carnivals, host one, or submit a post, why not join our mailing list? You can also access all past editions of the Carnival on my Resources Page.

Switcheroo

noreply@blogger.com (smashedpea) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 13:38:00 +0000

Punk 1 has decided English is her language. This has always been this way for no obvious reason other than she is stubborn, though maybe one day she will surprise us and articulate her reasons a little better than saying , “Because!!!” or “I want to!!” In the meantime, we keep chugging along and she demonstrates that she is okay speaking with real Germans fresh from Germany when Oma’s friends E and P pay us a short visit. Not that I doubted that, but it sure was nice to see, or rather hear.

And then she does surprise me (again) by switching to German (!) with Punk 2 for a few minutes as they were talking in their bunk beds one night. They always do this in English, although Punk 2 is open to German and just follows what she does. But this night she switched into German for one topic, with him following suit, and then back to English as they moved on to something else, again with him following her lead.

This does not normally happen. English is their language, even during play dates with other German kids or in the middle of a German conversation they are having with me (here is an example). This was totally out of character for Punk 1, and I’m not entirely sure what happened, or why.

It was not a conversation for which they didn’t have the vocabulary to keep going with English – they were, however, sharing with each other what is part of my bedtime routine with each of them (about the best and worst parts of their day). I do this every night with each of them separately, but this is the first time I overheard them talking about it together, after we turned off the lights. It was quite cute – one moment they were chatting away in English, they moved on to what they liked/disliked about their day in English at first but quickly switched to German, and when they were done talking about it they moved on to something else and switched back to English.

The odd thing is that this was initiated by Punk 1 – the same Punk 1 who is fond of translating what I say to Punk 2 into English (completely unnecessary and it bugs me like you wouldn’t believe), can be quite vocal about English being her favourite language and who was never really interested in speaking German with her little brother (except last summer when Punk 2 started speaking German in complete sentences, first with Oma then with everyone, and she was so taken in by it that she indulged him for a bit). So whenever I hear them speak German to each other, it feels somehow special as I know German is not their sibling language. And so it was this time - lovely really to hear the two of them speak German to each other, even if it was for only a few minutes.

But I also wonder about what made them, her really, switch. Their person-language bond is in English, after all, and it's not like they don't have the vocabulary to talk about their day in English. But these kinds of things are always intriguing, similar to when they just break into German song completely out of the blue and in the middle of one of their strange little games. I appears that this is just something that they do, and it doesn't seem to faze them. At all.

Another Bilingual Milestone?

noreply@blogger.com (smashedpea) — Fri, 27 May 2011 19:14:00 +0000

When Punk 1 speaks English she never code-switches or -mixes, as a rule. The only exceptions I have noticed occur on the rare occasions she doesn’t know a word in English, it doesn’t exist, or it’s the name of something. Like this weekend, when we made every German kids’ fave dessert though it never really was mine – Amerikaner - and she offered one up to Papa by saying “Papa, you should try one of those Amerikaner! They are great!!!!!” Although even then, she is more likely to talk around it than to actually use a German word.

She has no rule against code-switching and -mixing when she speaks German, however, and does it when she thinks of English words faster or finds it easier to express herself. If I am not on the ball with this and stop asking her to say things in "Deutsch bitte!!", she very quickly moves into all English. It’s gotten to be a bit of a game for us so that occasionally she does it on purpose and waits for me to catch her do it and make a joke about it, tickle her or do something amusing to get her to stop.

I have often wondered why it’s seemingly so easy for her to keep German out of her English, when she doesn’t really care about mixing or switching when she speaks German. I think it’s because she knows that all German-speakers we know around here also speak English and that she will be understood either way, and maybe also because she doesn’t want to speak German (or so she says, I am not entirely sure this is actually true).

I have also often wished that she’d be able and/or willing to code-switch and –mix both ways, the way all other bilinguals I know do.

But things might be changing with Punk 1 as over the last week she had not one but two instances of struggling to find an English word! In both instances these were everyday words she most definitely knew, yet they both came out in German before she could stop herself. And it took her a few seconds to find the English word she needed. Judging by the look on her face, it just happened and wasn’t entirely welcome by her, making her frown and look quite perturbed by it all.

I know this may not seem like much, but to me it really stands out as this has never happened to her before (or else I wasn't around). And she noticed and knew that this was not what she normally does or what normally happens when she is having a conversation in English.

I was surprised by it as well, but think it might be a good sign. Maybe she is just a little more relaxed about speaking German so she doesn’t control it quite so tightly anymore? Maybe it’s a step forward since code-switching and –mixing or not being able to think of a word in the right language is normal behavior for bilinguals?

She later also made a comment about Punk 2 mixing much more than she does (true), something I took as an opportunity to talk about code-switching and –mixing with her. She knew that doing it makes things easier at times and had noticed that I try to stop her (and Punk 2) from doing it. I also explained to her that I try not to do it around them until they are a little more solid in both their languages, although I find it much easier, too, and do it myself with my bilingual friends.

She seemed to be okay with that explanation and has not brought it up since. But me, I can’t help but hope for more instances of her German getting into her English. Not because I’m mean and am looking for her to have a hard time keeping her languages apart, but because I have always found it a little odd that she’d allow English into her German conversations, but not vice versa. It’s normal bilingual behavior, and I want her to take advantage of it.

How We Became an OPOL Family

noreply@blogger.com (smashedpea) — Tue, 24 May 2011 19:01:00 +0000

I said before that we didn’t give all that much thought to raising our kids to be bilingual as we both, that is The Husband and I, just knew that we were going to. This is true in the sense that it was a decision we made easily, not one that was fraught with doubt or questions as to whether or not it was the right thing to do. It doesn’t mean we didn’t talk about it, though – we did, of course, covering everything from how important it was for them to be able to communicate in both English and German so they could talk with both sides of their family; and how great it would be if we could travel to Germany and they’d just be able to talk to the locals and play with whatever kid we might run into; to how amazing it would be if they could do some or even all of their for post-secondary education there; and how funny it’d be if this actually worked and the kids ended up picking up more German than The Husband ever had. We talked about it a whole lot - but always with a sense of excitement and awe.

What we didn’t do was any research on how one best goes about raising bilingual kids. Instead, we jumped right in as we both knew, knew in our hearts and minds, that there was no way we couldn’t or wouldn’t do it. And what made the most sense to us back then (still does now) was for The Husband to speak English with our kids while I was going to speak German with them. OPOL in a nutshell, really, although we didn’t know it. To us, it just seemed to be the most natural way in our situation in that we’d both get to speak our first language to our kid(s).

And sure enough, once Punk 1 was born we quickly fell into a pattern of speaking to her in mainly English (The Husband) and mainly German (me). This, of course, is not pure OPOL, but we never thought twice about The Husband singing German songs to her or copying my German and asking her to have her diaper changed by saying, “Du stinkst! Komm, Windel wechseln!” I also sometimes spoke English with her, and without worrying about it, e.g. at the doctor’s office for a check-up or when one of our monolingual English relatives was around.

It was a wonderful time for us, really. We admired our cute little baby and grew into being parents, and the cute little baby Punk 1 started demonstrating she understood both English and German. When she started to speak, she had words in both of her languages, leading The Husband and I to marvel just how awesome it all was. Her comprehension of German quickly surpassed that of The Husband, something that amused us to no end, especially since it all happened so naturally and seemingly without effort on her part, whereas he had been trying to pick up more German and found it to be quite difficult. She didn’t seem to be bothered by me speaking English to her on occasion or The Husband singing her a German lullaby. We had not yet encountered the OPOL police and didn’t know any better – so we did what felt natural.

Our wake-up call came a couple of years in when we noticed – with horror!!! – that Punk 1’s German was falling behind her English to the point of her not always being able to understand me anymore. With that, our bilingual honeymoon was over.

Initially, I worried and fretted about it for a while, trying different things to get us back to raising a kid that was actually going to understand and speak German, but clearly, it was time to do some research. I read everything I could find on childhood bilingualism, looked at the different strategies, and finally found out about OPOL. What it is and how it works, advantages and downsides, the whole thing. It turned out that we were on the right track, but needed to make some changes if we expected her, and also Punk 2 who had arrived in the meantime, to ever become proficient in not only understanding, but also speaking (and reading and writing) German.

And so The Husband and I talked it over, agreed we were willing to start trying a little harder – and proceeded. We were no longer blissfully unaware and no longer entirely un-worried about the whole thing, but were going to keep going, of course. Our sense of calm left us for at least a little bit, but we went about diving into OPOL more deeply and started to create, for lack of a better word, a more enriched German environment.

Punk 2 was still a baby at the time, so outside of speaking to him in German as much as possible, he was still off the hook, though he of course benefitted from all the extras. Punk 1, on the other hand, came to be expected to actually respond in German. We knew the research was not entirely supportive of this, but found that nothing else we did actually got her over the hump. For example, she turned 3 when we were on vacation in Germany (this was planned before we became a little more hardcore about OPOL) and simply refused to speak any German there at all, even while she was playing with her monolingual German cousins. So yes, we did switch her into German and made it clear that her English-only habit was not going to work anymore, but we did this very slowly and in a playful manner. Some of the games that came out of that time she still likes to play today, so in spite of researchers cautioning against this, it seemed to have been the right thing for her. I also paid a lot more attention to how much English I was actually speaking with her (much more than when we started out, probably because it was easier to keep The Husband in the loop and because it comes much more natural when your budding bilingual child, your conversational partner, answers you in English.all.the.time), and made a conscious effort to keep this to a minimum. I started seeking out other German-speakers more, especially those who also had little kids, and we made an effort to meet up with them. And we continued to do what we had been doing all along – surrounding both kids with German books and CDs, reading, speaking and playing with them in German, encouraging them to use German, going to German cultural events as we came across them, and keeping in touch with friends and relatives in Germany.

And this did the trick for us. It helped – a whole lot actually – and now both kids understand and speak German. We pay much more attention to how their German is progressing, but we are not usually freaked out or worried about it. Admittedly, we don’t have the same sense of innocence about it anymore and make an effort to make/keep German meaningful for them – but we still do not stick to 100% English (The Husband) and German (me). That just doesn’t feel natural or right for us at all times, and I also really love it when The Husband speaks German to the kids. I don’t necessarily love speaking English to them, but I still do at times – at family gatherings when we are in conversation together with monolingual English speakers, at the doctor’s office, during a parent-teacher interview, or when one of our neighbours is chatting us up. I don’t worry about it (though I obsess about it a fair bit), but am much more conscious of how easy it is to slip into English and really make an effort not to. And I am pretty hardcore about not letting the kids get away with all-English responses either, unless I have just spoken to them in English. And I am also strict about not letting them code-switch with me – not because I think there’s anything wrong with it (I do it all the time myself with other German-speakers, just not around the kids), but because they tend to move into an English-only mode pretty quickly if I don’t put my foot down.

We are not exactly OPOL poster children and likely never will be, but we are no longer as relaxed about it as we once were. Instead, we make a conscious effort to make German fun and useful to the kids, and for now that seems to be enough to have gotten them so used to OPOL that they have laughed at The Husband for speaking German, and admonished and scolded me for not speaking it.

So yes, we are an OPOL family, of sorts, and can’t imagine it any other way. At least not right now.

***** This post is part of the Blogging Carnival on Bilingualism, this time hosted by Cartside at Mummy Do That!

Almost Six Years

noreply@blogger.com (smashedpea) — Fri, 13 May 2011 19:26:00 +0000

It's hard to believe, but in a couple of weeks Punk 1 will turn 6. A month after that Punk 2 will be 4. While they will always be my little babies (and they already resent it when I call them that), it means we've been at this bilingualism thing for almost 6 years now. Over 6 years if you count me talking to Punk 1, in German, before she was even born.

We made the decision to raise our kids to be bilingually lightly, inasmuch as you can even call it a decision. Because in all honesty, it was more like we just knew this is what we were going to do, 'no ifs, ands or buts' about it, and also no research or worries about it. Instead, we jumped right in.

And although that was not the smartest thing to do and I have had to catch up on that part later, I love how far we've come.

I love that our kids can speak English with everyone around them and then phone Oma and speak to her in German without batting an eye. It amazes me that they are so used to what language to speak with whom that even in the middle of the night when they startle awake for some reason or other, they explain things in German when I check on them and in English when The Husband does. I am proud that Punk 1 asks for corrections when she knows she’s said something in German that doesn’t quite sound right, and I adore Punk 2 being so enthusiastic about his German, right now anyway, that he’s teaching his little babies German and sometimes puts them to bed in German. It makes me happy that they are excited about any future (and as of yet still unplanned trips) to Germany, or ask to see their little German-speaking friends. And I think it's great when, rare as it is, a German word invades conversations they have in English.

These days, I also worry about their bilingualism and whether or not they are getting enough German to be able to develop the level of fluency we would like them to have. I worry whether one day they will just give up speaking German in favour of English. And I obsess about OPOL and what it does to our family dynamics and communication patterns, given that The Husband doesn’t actually speak German.

But all in all, at six years in I love this bilingual path we're on.

The Husband always assumed and encouraged me to speak German with the kids, and was all for it for practical reasons. He wanted our kids to be able to communicate with their German relatives, to have an easier time getting around in Germany when we visit, and to hopefully take advantage of the more or less free post-secondary education available in Germany.

I wanted all of the above as well, making this a very easy decision - in some ways. In others, is was more complicated. It was easy, because I knew in my heart that I was going to speak German to any child of mine, and at the same time more complicated because I had been living in an English-speaking world for many years and no longer used German in my day-to-day live. It was rusty, to say the least, and I was no longer sure it was all that important to me (outside of communicating with friends and family, of course!). Yet when we started talking seriously about having kids, I knew I would – had to, really – speak with them in German.

And that felt weird. It was an emotional or maybe even instinctive response, one that I didn't expect.

But I worked it all out and when we actually had kids, we just did it. We became an OPOL family without knowing this is what it was, and now make the extra effort it requires. And every day we hear evidence that it's working and that the kids are picking up German. Sometimes it’s one of them saying something that is gramatically complicated. Sometimes it’s one of them using a new word, or making up a song. Or it is one of them teaching The Husband how to say a word properly. It can also be one of them noticing a mistake they commonly make or a word they don't understand and asking about it. And sometimes it’s one of them getting over complaining about speaking German, at least for a while, and just using it without commenting that they really don't like speaking it.

And best of all, it’s both of them having fun and telling me they love me - auf Deutsch.

Our Lucky Break

noreply@blogger.com (smashedpea) — Tue, 03 May 2011 15:58:00 +0000

Everything German is chugging along nicely – the kids are entirely capable and generally willing to speak it, Punk 1 has basic literacy skills (though lagging behind English a bit), and we continue to make an effort for German to have a role in their day-to-day lives (books, DVDs, CDs, play dates, talking to relatives in Germany, etc.).

However, as usual I’ve been worrying because they are still getting much more English than any other language, and we postponed the Germany trip we were thinking of taking this summer to (hopefully) next year. So, I have been wondering about it all. But then our summer plans were coming together and because of a camp/daycare shortage, the grandparents will be more involved with childcare this year than they have ever been before.

While this means the kids, or at least Punk 1 as Punk 2 is a bit undecided still at this point, will be spending another week of all English at the in-laws – this time hopefully without any fretting over it on my part since it went so well when we tried it earlier this year - it also means, and this is the exciting part, that Oma’s annual visit really is Oma’s summer job this time around as she’ll be babysitting Punk 1 for two whole weeks at our place (and sticking around a little longer to relax and just visit after).

But yes, two whole weeks of German immersion!

And it really will be German all day long as Oma doesn’t know a lot of English, giving Punk 1 more German-only than she has ever had! They both get a day here or there when I take them out for the day, and sometimes more when The Husband travels for work and abandons us all for a few days – but they have never had two full work weeks, with only a little English thrown in mornings and nights.

I’m excited!

As are they. They had a wonderful time with Oma last year and are both looking forward to her visit, with Punk 1 being quite happy that Oma is going to babysit her. And me, I have my hopes up that she will get into German more (and hopefully stop saying and thinking that she doesn’t like speaking it); increase her vocabulary; get more confident and at ease using the language; maybe get over some of her more glaring grammatical mistakes; and mainly just have fun in German. I’m hoping she will have such a good time with Oma that she won’t even notice she’s speaking only German all day long!

Things are a little more complicated with Punk 2, however. I’d love for him to also stay home from daycare and ~~learn German~~ spend time with Oma, and no doubt that’s what he wants, but the thing is that he’s rather wild and a little much for Oma to handle. We’re not sure how things are going to play out, but right now we’re thinking that he’ll get to stay home some days and then go to daycare the other days to give Oma a break. Compared to last year, he’s a little older and more mature, he doesn’t run away quite as often anymore and is a little more likely to at least stop running when he gets to a road, but since Oma can’t run after him anymore, things are still a little dicey.

The other thing is that the kids are still pretty determined to speak English to each other, regardless of who is around, so it is somewhat likely that they’d play by themselves for hours and speak English to each other, only depending on Oma to keep them fed and hydrated, and to break up the occasional fight. It might not be much German immersion with the two of them together, after all.

But for now we’re all excited and I’m gearing up to order some more German books and resources that Oma will bring. Some of those I will keep in my closet and get out throughout the year to stock up our supply of German things, but what I really want for this summer are some of those school preparation workbooks Punk 1 loves anyway, so that Oma can maybe work on some literacy skills with her as well. Oma is a very good and patient tutor, so it’d be good if we could get them into something fun that also involves reading and writing. Like playing school, for example, something that Punk 1 does all the time anyway – in English. If she could have her usual imaginary classroom just with Oma as a real student, I don’t see why she couldn’t be reading German rather than English books to her students and lecture them on the finer points of German rather than English spelling. Or they could write postcards to the German cousins, anything that makes it fun, so that Punk 1’s German literacy skills have a chance to catch up with her English. And without her noticing that she's actually working on something.

I want them all to have fun most of all – but I also want us to take advantage of the immersion aspect, and get all the benefits that come from having a (mainly) monolingual German speaker around.

And, as if this is not enough German for us all, we are also getting at least one other visit from Germany this summer, and possibly a second one! The first one, coming up in a couple of weeks already, is not going to be more than maybe a brunch and an afternoon lazing about the backyard or something with my aunt and uncle who are stopping over on their way to Vancouver. But the second and so far unconfirmed visit might be coming from my friend and her family, including a daughter who is only six months older than Punk 1. Having these kids around, my friend has three altogether, would be so awesome for our kids! Especially so for the girls who are so close in age! Plus, I haven’t seen my friend since the girls were babies, and it’d be so great to finally catch up again, in person. But I’m trying to stay calm about it for now, just in case it doesn’t work out after all as my friend is not in the habit of making the most organized travel plans and hasn’t told us any details yet anyway.

But there’s lots of German in store for us this summer for sure, and I can’t wait to see how it goes!

Bilingualism Carnival

noreply@blogger.com (smashedpea) — Mon, 02 May 2011 19:15:00 +0000

Go check it out! Now!

The Blogging Carnival on Bilingualism has been published over at Multilingual Mania. It is full of awesome contributions from all over, and this time seems to have a lot of new blogs participating.

Before you go, check out my own contribution on whether there's any point in sending my almost 6-year old to German Saturday School or to wait a little while longer. And come back tomorrow for a post on our German plans for the summer!

**Thanks Melanie, for pulling it together this time around!

And you, if you'd like to keep up to date with future carnivals, host one, or submit a post, why not join our mailing list? You can also access past editions of the Carnival over here, on my newly revamped (though still a work in progress) Resources Page.