Comments on: Rear Bilingual Children http://www.voom.net/rearing-bilingual-children Custom Software Development Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:47:37 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Heather http://www.voom.net/rearing-bilingual-children/comment-page-1#comment-23600 Heather Tue, 27 Apr 2010 15:07:27 +0000 http://www.voom.net/?p=925#comment-23600 Hi, This was very helpful to read. I live in Quebec and speak English to my daughter and my husband speaks French. We just took an eight-month trip around the states, so she spoke English and learned to read well. Now we are back and she is in French school and they want to keep her back because she doesn't know how to spell that many French words. I agree that it's a lot of work, but it's worth it. Every summer we travel to Vancouver to visit my parents and friends. It may be holding her back now, but I just hope it won't hurt her self-esteem to do grade 2 again. Luckily she is the youngest in the class, so she'll still be with kids her age. Hi, This was very helpful to read. I live in Quebec and speak English to my daughter and my husband speaks French. We just took an eight-month trip around the states, so she spoke English and learned to read well. Now we are back and she is in French school and they want to keep her back because she doesn’t know how to spell that many French words. I agree that it’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it. Every summer we travel to Vancouver to visit my parents and friends. It may be holding her back now, but I just hope it won’t hurt her self-esteem to do grade 2 again. Luckily she is the youngest in the class, so she’ll still be with kids her age.

]]> By: Liang Pai http://www.voom.net/rearing-bilingual-children/comment-page-1#comment-20184 Liang Pai Fri, 02 Oct 2009 04:32:55 +0000 http://www.voom.net/?p=925#comment-20184 Thanks John, got to thank my parents for that one!! Without their foreknowledge and the respect of my family roots I would probably not enjoy what I have today living here in Taiwan and abroad and feeling totally comfortable in both environments!! Thanks John, got to thank my parents for that one!! Without their foreknowledge and the respect of my family roots I would probably not enjoy what I have today living here in Taiwan and abroad and feeling totally comfortable in both environments!!

]]> By: John McGehee http://www.voom.net/rearing-bilingual-children/comment-page-1#comment-19980 John McGehee Thu, 24 Sep 2009 06:47:21 +0000 http://www.voom.net/?p=925#comment-19980 Johannes, Thank you for reading. I wrote this post for couples like you and your wife, because you really have to start before your child is born. Anita, Thank you for your insight. You did an amazing thing. I hope I expressed in the article that although speaking the language in the home is not an absolute requirement, it just helps a great deal. It appears that you were able to replace German in the home with full time German school. Anita and Johannes, Since I know you both personally (so much for the world wide web cyberspace thing, eh?) let me know if you would like me to introduce you. Johannes,
Thank you for reading. I wrote this post for couples like you and your wife, because you really have to start before your child is born.

Anita,
Thank you for your insight. You did an amazing thing. I hope I expressed in the article that although speaking the language in the home is not an absolute requirement, it just helps a great deal. It appears that you were able to replace German in the home with full time German school.

Anita and Johannes,
Since I know you both personally (so much for the world wide web cyberspace thing, eh?) let me know if you would like me to introduce you.

]]> By: Anita http://www.voom.net/rearing-bilingual-children/comment-page-1#comment-19943 Anita Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:31:31 +0000 http://www.voom.net/?p=925#comment-19943 Congratulations to John and Miki; it takes real discipline. We raised a bi-lingual daughter with the help of the German-American International School in Menlo Park. It is an independent private school (unlike the one in Mtn. View) that teaches both languages (teachers are certificated from Germany or Switzerland) and has a broader mix of kids (some from ex-pats on temporary assignment, some from bi-cultural families, some from immigrant families, some "American" families that treasure a bi-lingual and more international education). Neither my husband nor I are fluent in German (although I learned some in school), but we wanted our child to have the benefit of bi-lingual ability. We spoke English at home, but she started at the school at age 3 and stayed through 7th grade. One key was READING to her from early on, using children's books from Germany, and then having her continue to read and write in German (using a private tutor who worked with a group of similar kids) after she changed to US schools for 8th grade. She bypassed my German skills by 2nd grade. She is fluent and has about 90% of the reading/speaking/writing skills of a native (according to her teachers). Many of the kids at the school in Menlo Park are from expat families, and our daughter began visiting friends "at their homes" in Germany during the summer, beginning at age 8. When she goes to Germany, no one knows she is an American. She is now a junior at Carnegie Mellon U (in electrical engineering). Johannes, contact me if you want more details about the school in Menlo Park. Anita Congratulations to John and Miki; it takes real discipline. We raised a bi-lingual daughter with the help of the German-American International School in Menlo Park. It is an independent private school (unlike the one in Mtn. View) that teaches both languages (teachers are certificated from Germany or Switzerland) and has a broader mix of kids (some from ex-pats on temporary assignment, some from bi-cultural families, some from immigrant families, some “American” families that treasure a bi-lingual and more international education).
Neither my husband nor I are fluent in German (although I learned some in school), but we wanted our child to have the benefit of bi-lingual ability. We spoke English at home, but she started at the school at age 3 and stayed through 7th grade. One key was READING to her from early on, using children’s books from Germany, and then having her continue to read and write in German (using a private tutor who worked with a group of similar kids) after she changed to US schools for 8th grade. She bypassed my German skills by 2nd grade. She is fluent and has about 90% of the reading/speaking/writing skills of a native (according to her teachers). Many of the kids at the school in Menlo Park are from expat families, and our daughter began visiting friends “at their homes” in Germany during the summer, beginning at age 8. When she goes to Germany, no one knows she is an American. She is now a junior at Carnegie Mellon U (in electrical engineering). Johannes, contact me if you want more details about the school in Menlo Park.
Anita

]]> By: Johannes http://www.voom.net/rearing-bilingual-children/comment-page-1#comment-19905 Johannes Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:22:25 +0000 http://www.voom.net/?p=925#comment-19905 Hi John, Nice post - glad I found your blog. This is really interesting stuff, my wife and I both speak German (but don't have kids yet). We have been wondering for a while how to best approach the bilinguall issue and you have some excellent points. For German, there is a school run by the German government in Mountain View, which we are looking at. But that might be too much German and not enough english. Hi John,

Nice post – glad I found your blog. This is really interesting stuff, my wife and I both speak German (but don’t have kids yet). We have been wondering for a while how to best approach the bilinguall issue and you have some excellent points. For German, there is a school run by the German government in Mountain View, which we are looking at. But that might be too much German and not enough english.

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