Asking for advice....Having a baby soon.

[Shiobhan 235]

So, my sons wife is PR, her parents both live in MA, about 50 yrs ago they move from PR, she has 2 sisters, and she tells me she

felt pushed into adulthood translating for both parents, at the bank, doctor, teachers, directions etc. Her parents had a small network

of friends some were like them , yes they read & write Spanish, to this day they speak no English, my son has picked up the language

my G/daughter & G/son speaks fluent Spanish because DIL tells them everything twice, shes a stay home mom, now the kids have reached ages

12 & 14 they cannot write Spanish bur neither could my DIL, the world we live in I encourage them to learn to write it also, as more avenues will

be opened to them. I say start speaking to them in Spanish now it will not hurt.

My G/friend marry a Nigerian years ago, he still do not tell her how to say yes or no in his language, but the one son they have he sopke to in his language

the boy is now 24 yrs and speak his language too.

[888888 2]

Hi everybody!

I'm pregnant and due in 3 weeks. I had planned to speak only English to our baby and teach our child my native tongue later on when he gets older. The reason being that I'm so used to speaking English all the time and I don't really want to speak in my native tongue all the time. Also, my husband speaks only English so he would not understand when I talk to our child. Anyway, my Mom is giving me a hard time about this (she doesn't speak English). She thinks our child should speak to me in my native tongue and speak English to my husband and that I should start right away when the baby's born. I understand it's a good idea to teach your kids to be bilingual, but as a parent you would have to be very motivated doing that. And honestly I don't feel motivated speaking only my native tongue to our child. I was planning to teach my native tongue later on though (give lessons to our child). Anyway, I know that if I don't teach our child my native tongue right away, my Mom is going to be highly offended and hurt(which I don't want either). How would you deal with a situation like this? Any advice?

Soon to be hubby speaks at least 5 languages fluently . I speak English and some Spanish. We will teach the baby French (future hubbie's first language) and English at the same time. I will be learning French also . I say do both languages at the same time unless the child can not "handle it."

[Brit Abroad 166]

A baby starts life with no understanding of any language. They absorb it because they are surrounded by it. This is a perfect opportunity to teach your husband at the same time as your baby learns; that way they can develop together. Learning a language is repetition. Speak, reinforce, repeat. If your baby learns two words for the same item from both parents, all the better.

Yes, English is a necessary language living in the US but your native language is your child's heritage. The sooner he starts learning it, the happier your non-English speaking family will be.

It could also be a good time for your mother to start learning basic English. That way everyone learns together.

[emberiza 0]

Thank you everybody for your replies . They helped me to make a decision what I'm going to do (my husband wants me to decide on the matter)...

[Laveau 67]

My father is Mexican and my mother was American. My father did not speak Spanish to me. I feel he deprived me if a very important skill. I ended up taking years of Spanish in school but never came close to speaking fluently. My advice would be to not deprive your children of being bilingual. It's invaluable. Speak only in your native language.

[Mithra 1,185]

My husband and I have a 15.5 month old daughter. I speak to her in English, my husband speaks mostly Arabic to her. Because she's surrounded by mostly English speakers, she's only speaking English right now. Her vocabulary isn't very large yet so we'll see about how much Arabic she picks up later on. My older kids learned only English until they were about 7-8 yrs old. Their dad is a native Arabic speaker but he would only speak English to them. They learned Arabic when they spent several months in their father's native country. They are now fluent in both Arabic and English.

[adiiann 163]

I talked to my 1 month old daughter in Tagalog and Kinary-a (another language in the Philippines (provincial) once in awhile and even gave her a Kinaray-a nickname. I want her to learn more language as I think it would be beneficial for her when she visits Philippines.

[visajourney99 2]

I highly recommend speaking to your baby in your foreign tongue. I worked as an au pair in Europe. The parents only spoke to their children in their language because they did not want their children to get their heavy accents when they spoke English. Their au pair worked with the children 30 hours/week (from birth) and now their children speak perfect English in an American accent. I highly recommend speaking to your child from the beginning in your foreign tonue!

[EminTX 131]

Is nobody using DVD's and downloads of cartoons and shows for kids from their own countries? My husband and I have looked at Mcgyver videos, Star Trek, Friends, Sponge Bob, Bugs Bunny, and countless other things on YouTube in Spanish. I know these are available in other languages, too. When you visit back home, grab up some stuff for the kids to watch and have it available. If it is not there, they certainly can't use them. Ditto for books. Look for a theatre that caters to your language in your city or area. There is one single Spanish themed cinema in Houston--it is almost an hour's drive away. We go at least once a month and probably will a lot more when our mini-me is big enough to enjoy the cartoons that are dubbed and not subtitled. We have a Roku with a busload of options in various languages and during the afternoons when cleaning, my husband likes to put on radio stations from his own country (it seems to be the radio version of Jerry Springer, sometimes!) on the laptop and have that in the background. It is incomprehensible to me with the high percentage of slang, but little by little it is making more sense to me.

For almost every language that is spoken by an entire population, there is plenty to reinforce it available if you just look a little and make using those resources a habit. It's really no different then how I am learning my second language.

[888888 2]

Is nobody using DVD's and downloads of cartoons and shows for kids from their own countries? My husband and I have looked at Mcgyver videos, Star Trek, Friends, Sponge Bob, Bugs Bunny, and countless other things on YouTube in Spanish. I know these are available in other languages, too. When you visit back home, grab up some stuff for the kids to watch and have it available. If it is not there, they certainly can't use them. Ditto for books. Look for a theatre that caters to your language in your city or area. There is one single Spanish themed cinema in Houston--it is almost an hour's drive away. We go at least once a month and probably will a lot more when our mini-me is big enough to enjoy the cartoons that are dubbed and not subtitled. We have a Roku with a busload of options in various languages and during the afternoons when cleaning, my husband likes to put on radio stations from his own country (it seems to be the radio version of Jerry Springer, sometimes!) on the laptop and have that in the background. It is incomprehensible to me with the high percentage of slang, but little by little it is making more sense to me.

For almost every language that is spoken by an entire population, there is plenty to reinforce it available if you just look a little and make using those resources a habit. It's really no different then how I am learning my second language.

Funny , we (the baby and I ) were watching SESAME STREET in French the other day on Youtube. Hey, gotta start somewhere.

[MIDUVIL 34]

Funny , we (the baby and I ) were watching SESAME STREET in French the other day on Youtube. Hey, gotta start somewhere.

Can you give me a link please, I found some but for 2-3 minutes.

[888888 2]

Can you give me a link please, I found some but for 2-3 minutes.

Type in Sesame Street French and I also did French Cartoons For Children

As I mentioned in my post, Daddy speaks more than 5 languages - but French is his "first" so I am going with this first. We are taking baby steps = in more ways than one !

Edited February 25, 2013 by Onelove1234

[MIDUVIL 34]

thank you

[CHarvey80 72]

As the USC, and is it were the husband, I see it as my responsibility to learn my wife's native language so that I can make sure that our children are not only raised knowing their mothers native language but so that all of us, me included, can communicate proficiently with my wife's immediate and extended family. Day one is when the lessons start.

If you are the USC and don't already speak your spouse's, fiance's, native language then you need to get a move on. You are doing a HUGE disservice to you children limiting them to not only communicating to the American side of the family but just by not teaching them the language that is right there in the family.

COME ON!!!!

Just saying!

[Ippsy Pippsy 31]

I always wish that my parents had learned another language in the home so they could have passed it to me. But they weren't spoken to in it so didn't learn it. Everybody took it in school later, nobody is fluent. Don't wait.

Any kids we have are at least getting some cartoons in my SO's language.