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newmum 
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 Topic: Bi/Multilingual homes
Posted: 24 June 2005 at 5:01pm |
Hi! I would be interested how many of you are out there that are raising their child/ren in more than one language and how that is working out!?
My husband and I speak German at home but English is my first language so we would like to have our children speak both. My husband is actually Polish (grew up in Germany which is why he speaks German) so we would like our children to know a little of this language also!  Might be a bit too ambitious!! 
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Maya
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Posted: 24 June 2005 at 6:01pm |
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I speak English and Maori to Maya at home, her dad is Maori and I think it is an important part of her culture. I don't consider myself 'fluent' in Maori, but I did study Te Reo at uni so I have a reasonable level. I would also like her to go to classes when she is older, but I don't think I am comfortable with total immersion (kura kaupapa/kohanga reo) coz the grammar structures of Te Reo are so different to English that I don't want to confuse her.
She seems to understand that there are two different words for each thing, and which words are which language, and I've read tht this is the best age for teaching children languauges as the connections in the brain are developing really quickly so they pick things up much more quickly.
I definitely think speaking more than one language is a huge bonus (I also speak French) even moreso if the language is part of the child's cultural heritage.
My two cents worth...
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 Maya Grace (28/02/03)
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lizzle
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Posted: 24 June 2005 at 11:58pm |
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Hi. We live in japan and our son attends a day-care centre where they only speak Japanese. I speak well-enough although my husband speaks "Pub-japanese" only. So Jake watches cartoons in Japanese and only has it spoken to him at daycare. I'm not speaking at home at the moment as I want him to pick up Enlgish too, but when we get back to NZ, I might start speaking, or get a Japanese speaker to come and play with him. We have some videos too.
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nikkitheknitter
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Posted: 25 June 2005 at 8:32am |
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There is a little boy at creche who is being raised speaking Spanish and Maori at home and English at creche. I haven't heard him speak Maori as I only see his Spanish mother, but if he speaks other languages as well as he speaks Spanish then he should be pretty well fluent!!!
He's a little less confident speaking English at the moment, but given that he is only 2 I am sure he'll pick it up soon enough.
I'd love to be able to teach Hannah french, but due to my lack of ability to remember anything I have forgotten most of the language!!! Starting doing a french degree at uni but dropped it as languages are mighty time consuming! I'd love to move over there in a couple of years, and then I'm going to make a more concerted effort to teach Hannah french
Edited by nikkiwhyte
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daikini
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Posted: 25 June 2005 at 8:54am |
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I only speak English, but I know a (excuse the pun) handful of NZ sign language - specifically the alphabet and a few other basic words. I've taught the alphabet to Kiya, and I'll teach it to Josiah. We sign as we sing, like actions. I'd love to learn enough sign language to be fairly fluent one day. Kiya can now "fingerspell" her name, and most other words if you tell her the letters.
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Becca, mum of 2 girls & 3 boys
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newmum
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Posted: 25 June 2005 at 3:33pm |
Great! What a variety! I think it is important to start as early as possible. I have heard that it is much easier for the kids to pick it up then as opposed to later. I worked at a school in Germany where everything was taught in English. A lot of the young kids (2 yo and above) that started in the nursery couldn't speak a word of English and a few weeks into it had already learnt so much! It is amazing!! Kids are sooo clever! 
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melz
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Posted: 25 June 2005 at 5:05pm |
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We have a lot of people telling us to teach Angie a second language as a way to extend her without her getting too far ahead for when she starts school (she is reading at a 7yr old level already).
We have thought about it, especially since she picked up a few words in Spanish from Dora but I think it is too hard to keep going considering I don't speak anything apart from a tiny bit of Japanese.
We have some playcentre families that are bi-lingual and they generally do one language at home and English when out and about. We had some Korean girls who were completely fluent in both Korean and English and it was great. They used to teach us nursery rhymes in Korean!
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Roksana
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Posted: 27 June 2005 at 10:34am |
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I was born in Russia and my Mum is Ukrainian...I know both Russian and Ukrainian. My Father is from Bangladesh (we lived there for 12 years) so I know fluent Bengali. My husband is Indian so he speaks Hindi and I speak it fluently. And of course I speak English.
My Gran (father's Mum) will look after the baby while I am at work so I have a feeling that Bengali would be some thing that the baby will pick up from her. We speak Hindi at home so baby will learn that. My mum said she will try and teach the baby Russian as well...but I don’t know if I want to confuse the child?!!
I will start baby on alphabet/reading (in English) at home but will not emphasize too much on English, as I know kids pick it up quickly at school. Mind you, Hubby and I speak in English at home too....
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nikkitheknitter
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Posted: 27 June 2005 at 6:29pm |
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I think babies/young kids cope really well with languages, so I don't think that you have too much to worry about overloading. You will probably raise a genius with all the extra stimulation!
I'm very impressed with the amount of languages in your family, I'd love to be able to speak that many (or anything more than english really)
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Roksana
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Posted: 28 June 2005 at 9:12am |
I don’t know about genius Nikki...but I might have a very talkative child!!!
I am looking forward to it!!!
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nikkitheknitter
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Posted: 28 June 2005 at 10:12am |
they'll be a genius anyway... every mother gets the 'my-child-is-a-genius' syndrome 
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Maya
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Posted: 28 June 2005 at 2:10pm |
But my child IS a genius
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Maya Grace (28/02/03)
(02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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Roksana
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Posted: 28 June 2005 at 2:25pm |
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Bi/Multilingual homes
