Introducing a new language when neither dh or i is fluent in it...

[Aster]

I brought home some picture books en francais from the library to try out with boo. It's been a loooooooong time since i've used my french and i'm pretty rusty. My pronunciation is all off, and i'm stumbling over some of the words, but it's getting better and i'm starting to remember what most of the words mean. I used to be much better than i am now--i lived in Montreal for a while and at one point in time i could carry on a decent conversation in french, thought in french sometimes and even had a few dreams. DH doesnt speak french at all.

Anyways, do you think that if my french grammar and pronunciations arent very good now that i'd be doing boo a disservice by trying to include it as an occasional second language?

[Ravin]

I'd say if you relearn it along with teaching it to your child, it won't be doing a disservice. Perhaps getting some tapes--video or audio--in addition to the books would benefit both of you, so you can hear and work on your pronunciation and grammar.

Pronunciation is one of the big reasons to start young with a foreign language. If I ever actually get around to Spanish again, I'll be able to pronounce it because while I've forgotten most of what I learned grammar and vocabulary-wise, the pathways were laid young (in my case starting in first grade) to be able to pronouce it correctly. My high school Spanish teacher had a terrible accent despite her fluency. She made up for it by making the native speakers--and me--get up and read aloud so everyone could hear better pronounciation. You can use recordings for the same purpose.

[nappyhair]

A blessing!

You are doing your child a great service, not a disservice! What a blessing it is to have the opportunity to be introduced to, if not learn fluently more than one language! American Sign Language, for example, is a language (not 'baby signs') and while many of us are not even close to knowing it fluently, we still see the benefits of teaching our children signs.

My son is 10 months old and will grow up at least bilingual with English and Swahili because that is what we speak at home. He also has Spanish/English boardbooks because, although my own Spanish is extremely limited, I want to introduce him to Spanish.

I am also teaching my son signs. I would love for him to be able to communicate using ASL one day. The more languages one knows, the easier it is to learn more languages. Children are incredible when it comes to learning languages. Studies show that it is much easier for them to learn languages before the age of 12, I believe, so again, I think introducing your child to French is a blessing, no matter how limited your own French is. You will learn a lot just from teaching. There are many, many guides: books, videos, cd's and cassettes to help you. I wish you the best of luck!

peace,
nappyhair

[Aster]

I hadnt even thought of using tapes or videos. I bet we even get some decent kids shows on tv.

Thanx for the encouragement mama's.

ps, we used a few signs when ds was younger, and they were GREAT!! It definitely made life a lot easier.

[bethwl]

You could also look into getting TV5. It's a French-language tv channel that pulls programming from all French-speaking countries (though it is mostly from France). It is available either through satellite (Dish Network) and I guess in some areas digital cable. We have it through Dish. To get only TV5 is about $11 a month (after the inital set-up costs). They have children's programming on the weekday mornings, but really if you're watching it and the kids are hearing it as they grow up that will help them, too. Especially with pronounciation. My husband and I are hoping this will be a good tool in helping our soon-to-be-born daughter learn French. I am not quite fluent, but have a good command of the language and good pronounciation; DH has taken French for the past year. I am going to try reading children's books to her, watching TV5, and getting tapes and videos/DVDs. Maybe when she's older, too, I'll send her to classes/camps at the Alliance Francaise. We also have a French K-12 private school here, but that's probably cost-prohibitive. Anyway, I just wanted to mention TV5 and say I'm glad to hear of other people who want to introduce a language even when it is neither parent's native language. By the way, for more info on TV5, go to www.tv5.org.

Beth

[Teensy]

I am trying to help my sons be better able to learn a foreign lanuage than I was. My pronounciation is so awful, I don't attempt to read to them. My ideal would be to hire a mother's helper who speaks Spanish to play with them for a few hours every week, but I haven't gotten around to arranging this yet.

Here are the resources I use:

DVDs of movies - most have at least one foreign language selection, many have two. So if my DS wants to watch Toy Story, I let him watch it only in Spanish.

Plaza Sesamo - check your ETV/PBS station to see if it shows this version of Sesame Street in Spanish. Our local station shows it on Sunday mornings at 6:30, so we Tivo it to watch later.

Library - our's has children's books on tape in several languages, along with tapes of children's songs in foreign languages.

Jump Start Spanish - this is the only computer game we own. DS enjoys playing with it.

Warning, do not ask your friends who travel to foreign countries to purchase videotapes for you. The American and European VCRs are on different systems so you won't be able to watch children's tapes purchased in France or Germany on your American machine. I found this out the hard way. Cassette tapes are ok.

Alas, I have yet to hear my DS attempt to speak a single word of any non-English language. I am hoping that my attempts at least keep the "wires" in his brain open to learning the language later.

[Aster]

Thanks for the feedback, Teensy and bethwl...tons of great ideas!!

We're lucky enough to live in Canada where we do have 2 official languages, so french immersion is available thru the public school system. We definitely want Boo to be in french immersion.

[bethwl]

Since you're in Canada, you're set! French immersion in the public school will be great. That will start in kindergarten, I'm assuming, and even kids who have not learned any of a language will do fine starting off in kindergarten. So any seeds you plant now with books and videos, etc. will only be a help.

DH and I would love to go live in France for a bit, but it may be financially difficult and hard to set careers aside. We're hoping we might be able to do it for at least six months sometime in the next few years.

[merpk]

Important point is for you to brush up as you expose your children to it, and to use whatever they're learning. You don't have to be fluent or say anything they haven't already heard, just reinforce.

Our children are learning Hebrew, and while my Hebrew is middling, DH's is awful, but as long as we keep on top of whatever is in the Rehov Sumsum (Israel's Sesame Street) or tape or book, whatever, so we can throw it in with the dinner conversation ... every little bit helps.

Helps us, too, our vocabulary is expanding daily ...