Are any of you the product of bilingual education?

[anna7602]

If so, share the details- what languages, in what country, did you have exposure to the second language outside of school, are you glad you did it and any other thoughts?

I am starting to stress about DD's post-Parisian life. Ideally, she would get into the bilingual Spanish-English public school program 10 blocks from our home in NY, but it's tough. It's basically a lottery, so it doesn't really matter if you're bilingual already or live closer to the school or anything I naively thought would give us an advantage. If she doesn't get into it, there are a couple of other bilingual public programs further away from home, but again, it's a lottery, nothing is guaranteed, and you're basically left waiting until the last minute (after the point at which you would have to accept a spot at another public K or lose it forever).

I just started looking at the Lycee Francais in NY, but it's pricey. So outrageously pricey, but the notification process is sooner than public school (so if we didn't get in, we wouldn't be giving up a perfectly good seat in a non-bilingual program) AND they DO give priority to kids who have gone to school in French before and/or lived in France AND because of our effed-up school year relocation, DH could negotiate with his workplace to subsidize part of the first year (Kindergarten) of DD's education there.

So much to consider...

[dulcemariamar]

So you guys really are moving back??

I have lots of friends that are completely bilingual because one parent spoke to them in one language and the other parent spoke to them in the other language. They didn't have to go to a bilingual school. It was enough being exposed to it at home.

However, if you want to introduce a third language I can see how it will be necessary. Perhaps, you can get a native "babysitter" who can come to your house a couple times a week to play with your DD if you cant afford a private bilingual school.

[anna7602]

We are definitely moving back before DD starts Kindergarten in the fall of 2013. It's unclear right now whether we'd go back in January, as originally agreed by DH's workplace, or later in the year. Because of European workplace regulations, they can't keep DH here for too long (and I don't know all the specifics of the laws, so I can't even begin to explain).

I am probably focusing on the school thing because it's easier to "control" than whether DH's contract gets extended or not and than some other aspects of our lives here. At the end of the day, I know DD will be fine no matter what we do school-wise since we've embraced the whole "world is her classroom" concept, have never hesitated to travel with her, have exposed her to several languages and generally will make the most of whatever education opportunities she has.

Nonetheless, I feel like I should do my due-diligence and research the different possibilities available to us. I'm also going to reach out to the Alliance Francais in NY to figure out what programs they have for kids DD's age and what they would recommend to keep up her language skills when we get back.

[Waffles]

I am but my parents probably broke all the rules in that regard...

So, my experience:
French-speaking mother, English speaking father, living in French speaking country, going to French speaking school. Father insisted I master one language before introducing the other but had a bit of a fail on that as my parents spoke English between them and I basically learned most of it like that before they had a chance to stick me in English speaking activity groups (which I then hated with a passion & refused going back to).

They also didn't stick to the one parent one language thing and my mother would often end up speaking to me in English & to him in French. Confused the hell out of any visitors, especially as I would answer everyone in French.

Yeah, so that method is probably not best but it worked for me :-)

Funnily enough we're going to be in the exact same situation with H and plan to go for the one parent one language thing except that we speak English between us, so that'll be reinforced at home I guess. School will be in French.

[anna7602]

Jun 26, 2012 7:45:10 GMT -5 Waffles said:

They also didn't stick to the one parent one language thing and my mother would often end up speaking to me in English & to him in French. Confused the hell out of any visitors, especially as I would answer everyone in French.

We already do one-parent-one-language, actually. I speak to DD in Spanish and DH speaks to her in English and between the two of us, we used to primarily speak English, but tried to switch to more Spanish once DD was around.

But none of that helps us with French. My French is pretty good, but DH's is non-existent. And while DD will sometimes say things to me like, "regard!" or "c'est quoi, ca?" to me without thinking about it, I think she would be really thrown off if I suddenly started speaking to her in French all the time.

I'm rambling. Clearly my head is totally cluttered right now and having just spent two days straight with a sick DD isn't helping me gain any clarity/perspective!

[elenetxu]

Have you looked into any Spanish embassy or Cervantes Institute options?
If you haven't already looked, maybe poking around on the Consejeria de Educacion in the US's website could help you find something: www.educacion.gob.es/eeuu/

[ktkl09]

Anna, have you considered a French speaking au pair when you get back to NY? I'm not sure what you're living situation is like and if you'd have the room or if you can afford it (but its really not that expensive...). She would always speak French to your DD, it would help her keep up with French.

[blushing]

I do, but that is because I come from a country that has 11 official languages. I can speak English and Afrikaans, so can DH and almost all my friends that grew up in SA. My Ouma (grandmother) was Afrikaans, and she used to look after me until she died when I was about 4. My mom and dad spoke English mostly. In school all my subjects were in English, except for Afrikaans. In primary school I did Afrikaans as a second language, but when I got to high school they realised that I was actually pretty good at it so I did Afrikaans as a first language, so I did 2 first languages and no second language.

[Deleted]

I'm not and still became fluent in 3 languages by the time I reached the end of middle school. I basically taught myself English by watching Disney movies, british TV, reading books and translating songs, to the amazement of my parents. My foreign language teachers were very good but by no means was my school an international one.
My point is that if you're not able to send your DD to an international school there's no need to fear. There's certainly a variety of ways that you can keep one or more languages present in your child's life, all the more so given that she's already familiar with them at her age.

[mouseinlux]

DH went through the Lux school system. They start out in Lux and learn German then they switch and have class in German and learn French then they can have some classes in French and can learn English.
DH was exposed to a bit or French and German out of school but at home it was Lux.
DH now works in all his languages (it helps to live here) and we speak English at home. The only language that he doesn't sound like a native in is English and that was his lat one.
He's lucky to have these languages and he's gone so far partially because of them.

[tktravels]

I'm not, but DH is.

His parents moved to the US from Bangladesh the year he was born, so he grew up speaking Bangla in the house and then learning and using English from TV, kids in the neighborhood and school. He learned the basics of reading and writing Bangla from his parents, but he is at a 3rd grade level or so because he never really stayed with it academically.

We're hoping to raise our kids with as many languages as we can handle.. which'll probably be three: English, Bangla & Spanish.. although we haven't figured out the specifics of the 3rd language inputs yet. Seeing as s/he isn't even born yet though, I think we've got time

[clickerish]

I am. But I don't actually think it's absolutely necessary if you're proactive about your daughter's education. Nor do I think being multi-lingual is the most important aspect of education. Odd coming from someone who is multi-lingual perhaps.

My first years of schooling were in Dutch, then switched to French, then to English. At home I spoke to my father in Dutch until my grandparents died, then, we switched to English since we were living in French speaking countries. Then we switched to French since people were speaking English. There was also a period in there were I went to an African school, but even though I was fluent, my parents decided such a tiny population did not need to be maintained in our home linguistically. That one I haven't spoken in years.

Honestly, it was chaotic. My child will learn two at home, and a third at school most likely depending on where we live, but I want it to be less painful and not process that leads to resistance and anguish as was my case.