Single parent raising bilingual child
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Anonymous
| I'm a single parent to 13mo twins. I'm fluent in French and work in a French speaking nursery that my children will attend 2 mornings per week from 18 months. I'm speaking English with them right now and I would like to start with French before the end of the summer. I've read the theory and think that my best bet would be the 'minority language at home' approach, where I would be speaking exclusively French with them, but I'm wondering if anyone else has done it as a single parent? |
Anonymous
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Don’t overthink it. They will learn English everywhere. Speak the minority language.
My friends did this (as a couple) with their children. He spoke French, she spoke Korean. They learned English is day to day life, and in school. They are now trilingual, and the oldest one is fairly fluent in ASL. |
Anonymous
| I don't think this makes sense. Where will your DC learn English? |
Anonymous
School |
Anonymous
She said her children will be attending a French speaking school. |
Anonymous
Yes, there is NO exposure to English, anywhere  not at Starbucks, at daycare, at the grocery store.... the horrors!
I guess it would blow your mind to know that in some areas of the world (like Belgium), there are multiple official languages. They learn German, Dutch, French and (gasp) the unofficial language.. English! OP is right to at least teach her children different sounds now. There is some evidence that it makes learning other languages easier. |
Anonymous
She wrote that they will be attending a French speaking nursery school. Unless they continue onto a French speaking elementary, eventually they will learn English. |
Anonymous
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OP, is their other parent NO WHERE in the picture? No chance of any type of visitation/custody?
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Anonymous
| My mother, a single parent, spoke only German to me at home. I picked up English easily just going to storytime at our library and play dates. I also attended a German immersion school. |
Anonymous
Life. |
Anonymous
Np. There was no reason to use sarcasm to the pp. Not everyone is exposed to the idra of bilingual children. |
Anonymous
+1 OP, make the switch now. Within four years (kindergarten) their world might be almost exclusively in English. It's shocking how quickly and easily kids make that transition, so don't worry about that part. |
Anonymous
| New Poster here. I am tri-lingual. I am also a single mom. I speak to my daughter in Portuguese and French. She has had Brazilian and French au pairs to help strengthen those languages. She learns English "out in the world." |
Anonymous
Similar: my bestie (a single mom) went to graduate school in France and took her 5-year old daughter along (duh). She enrolled her daughter in public Kindergarten and within 5 months the daughter was not only fluent in French but preferred it to English (her brain had "made the switch.") Kids learn incredibly fast. |
Anonymous
| Sounds like a great plan, OP. My child is at the French school—many families speak a language other than English at home. They pick up English everywhere by virtue of living in the U.S. |