Comments on: First Words http://www.whatMsg.com/2008/06/09/first-words/ Raising my children bilingually Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:44:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Stephanie http://www.whatMsg.com/2008/06/09/first-words/#comment-18 Stephanie Tue, 10 Jun 2008 02:04:48 +0000 http://www.whatMsg.com/2008/06/09/first-words/#comment-18 Interesting topic. My husband is partially bi-lingual. He speaks 90% fluently in Mandarin Chinese but can't read or write in Chinese. He's the first child. His Chinese accent is much more authentic than his younger sister's. She also speaks less Chinese. Both his parents speak and read Mandarin fluently. Like your children my husband and his sister grew up in a mostly English speaking world. Their parents did send them to Chinese school weekends (similar to what a lot of Jewish parents send their kids to). I agree with your assessment that with the first child it's easier to keep the non-English language out of the house. But when the second child comes along and the first knows that English seems to be the preferred language of the outside world it corrupts the language skills of the non-English language. The younger sibling has no real incentive to learn the other language because his/her older sibling can translate for them. I applaud your effort to stick with teaching two languages. My husband has yet to teach our toddler any Chinese. Pity, because the way the world is headed Chinese could be a really useful language to know in the business world. Interesting topic. My husband is partially bi-lingual. He speaks 90% fluently in Mandarin Chinese but can’t read or write in Chinese. He’s the first child. His Chinese accent is much more authentic than his younger sister’s. She also speaks less Chinese. Both his parents speak and read Mandarin fluently. Like your children my husband and his sister grew up in a mostly English speaking world. Their parents did send them to Chinese school weekends (similar to what a lot of Jewish parents send their kids to).

I agree with your assessment that with the first child it’s easier to keep the non-English language out of the house. But when the second child comes along and the first knows that English seems to be the preferred language of the outside world it corrupts the language skills of the non-English language. The younger sibling has no real incentive to learn the other language because his/her older sibling can translate for them.

I applaud your effort to stick with teaching two languages. My husband has yet to teach our toddler any Chinese. Pity, because the way the world is headed Chinese could be a really useful language to know in the business world.

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