Reply to Bilingual - children refusing to learn the language.

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[quote=Anonymous]OP, I was a kid where my parents spoke a second language at home but I lost it.  It's common, it goes like this: the kids speak and understand it just fine before they go to school.  Once they enter school, they start wanting to speak English more (it's what they speak all day at school, it's easier to keep using it than switch back at home, sometimes it seems "uncool" to speak that language).  So you end up in a situation where you speak the second language to them and they reply in English.

They will have perfect understanding, but eventually will lose the ability to speak even if they wanted to.  The brain is very weird: if I thought to myself, I want to say "there is a red car and a blue car on the street in front of me" in my parents' language, I cannot think of the words or how to say it.  My mind just draws a blank.  But if someone said that to me in that language, I know what was said.  Must be something about brain pathways.

I regret not keeping up with that language; your kids probably will too as adults but it's hard for kids to understand.  Maybe take them to travel in a country where they speak that language or try making it a game where you have to keep conversation going and first one to switch to english loses?[/quote]

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