Is this crazy talk?

[anna7602]

I'm posting here primarily because we have folks with multi-lingual experience.

DH and I both speak Portuguese, in addition to our other languages. DD has seemed kind of fascinated by the language from a young age, hearing it from a variety of places, and has lately said she wants to "falar portugues." She is still not very strong in French at all, even after 5 months of school, but I'm waiting for that random day when she wakes up and surprises me by speaking in long, fluent sentences. (She did this in English after starting preschool in the U.S.)

I just found a place that offers Portuguese classes to kids in the summer in Paris. This is one of the FEW activities I've found in this city that still go on in the summer. Most places shut down in July & August.

Am I crazy for considering enrolling DD? Should I be focusing on her mastering French while we live here and save the Portuguese for some other point in the future?

[Deleted]

I don't see why not... It's better to get started early on with languages, rather than later. Plus if she expressed a desire to learn Portuguese I would let her, she will benefit from it all her life, even if she doesn't become 100% fluent immediately.

[clogged]

How old is she?

[crimsonandclover]

Why not? If she's interested, go for it.

[anna7602]

Jun 4, 2012 6:50:48 GMT -5 clogged said:

How old is she?

Just turned 4. She's fluent in Spanish and English, if that matters. Those are the 2 languages we speak at home.

[azure]

If it's something she would enjoy, then I say go for it!

I know what you mean about finding summer activities, everything here closes for July and August! Your post reminds me that I need to go to the mairie to enroll M into a summer day camp.

[anna7602]

Jun 4, 2012 8:00:46 GMT -5 azure said:

If it's something she would enjoy, then I say go for it!

I know what you mean about finding summer activities, everything here closes for July and August! Your post reminds me that I need to go to the mairie to enroll M into a summer day camp.

Good luck! I tried going last month and the mairie told me summer camp enrollment doesn't begin until June 15th, at the earliest. I can't plan my workload with only 2 weeks' notice, so I had to make the decision then to do as much as I could in June and move other things back to September.

[azure]

Jun 4, 2012 8:06:00 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

Jun 4, 2012 8:00:46 GMT -5 azure said:

If it's something she would enjoy, then I say go for it!

I know what you mean about finding summer activities, everything here closes for July and August! Your post reminds me that I need to go to the mairie to enroll M into a summer day camp.

Good luck! I tried going last month and the mairie told me summer camp enrollment doesn't begin until June 15th, at the earliest. I can't plan my workload with only 2 weeks' notice, so I had to make the decision then to do as much as I could in June and move other things back to September.

Humm, I'll have to drop by tomorrow to check when the enrollment date is. I know I can get him into his old creche for the month of July for two half days a week. But I really need something more. When does your DD finish school? M finishes on the 6th of July.

[anna7602]

Jun 4, 2012 8:10:24 GMT -5 azure said:

Jun 4, 2012 8:06:00 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

Good luck! I tried going last month and the mairie told me summer camp enrollment doesn't begin until June 15th, at the earliest. I can't plan my workload with only 2 weeks' notice, so I had to make the decision then to do as much as I could in June and move other things back to September.

Humm, I'll have to drop by tomorrow to check when the enrollment date is. I know I can get him into his old creche for the month of July for two half days a week. But I really need something more. When does your DD finish school? M finishes on the 6th of July.

June 29th.

[anna7602]

SIGH! I called the Portuguese class place and they didn't have enough interest to offer classes in the summer for the littlest ones. So this will have to wait until September.

[potatopie]

as long as she has one (in this case two) languages at a proficient level, she should be able to learn however many languages she can. It may not stick, of course, but who cares?

[clickerish]

Meh, a kid can always learn another with sufficient interest. It sounds like a great opportunity even if it waits until September. Even if it's not something she wants to continue with, if she ever takes classes in the future, a lot will come back, so it won't be a waste of anything on your part.

I love Portuguese!

[elenetxu]

Jun 4, 2012 6:16:06 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

Am I crazy for considering enrolling DD? Should I be focusing on her mastering French while we live here and save the Portuguese for some other point in the future?

Start her as soon as possible. I am constantly amazed by my little ones. A bunch of kids in the region are enrolled in English and Basque. In my experience, they somehow manage to keep it all straight!