To raise my youngest DC bilingual

[SpagBogs]

I bought this up with DH, I want to raise my youngest DC bilingual and teach them their mother tongue. My DTD are 5wo so I was thinking I would speak to them in my native language and DH speaks English with them; but DH says they will get a foreign accent and how they're living in England should speak English. Opinions?

Caruthers, the bilingual children in Rochdale probably get the other language from /both/ parents at home and have been learning English at school, or from one or both parents, as a second tongue. What you suggest is different and much less likely to affect their accents.

Caruthers, the bilingual children in Rochdale probably get the other language from /both/ parents at home and have been learning English at school, or from one or both parents, as a second tongue. What you suggest is different and much less likely to affect their accents.

My cousin was born and lives in Spain, she has one English parent, one Portuguese speaking parent and a Swedish step-parent.

She's fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan and has learnt enough Swedish to have conversations...I've no idea about her other languages because I don't speak them, but she speaks English in an English accent.

Do you speak English with a "foriegn accent". If so, you speaking in English to them will cause them to speak it with your accent if you are their main carer at least until they go to school.

If you speak to them in your own language and dh speaks English they will speak English with his accent and your language with your accent. The advantages they will gain are huge.

Our DC is bilingual OP, and I echo what everyone else is saying.

Do you have any kind of foreign accent when speaking English OP? If so, tell your DH they're more likely to get a foreign accent from you speaking English to them with a foreign accent!

Your husband sounds like a proper Little Englander. It's bizarre to hear of anyone thinking if bilingualism as anything other than an enormous boon. Of course you should do this.

My experience is that the predominant 'accent' is drawn from the majority language. We live in Germany and do OPOL - dh German, me English. My dc go to German school/kindergarten. They speak English with a very wide vocabulary and use of complex grammatical structures, but with some grammatical/syntactical interference from German and an accent that has distinct shades of RP but that is definitely coloured by German - while it isn't a German accent in the way we think of it, because my dc have the modelling from me on how to pronounce sounds non-native speakers have specific issues with, the intonation/some of the stress patterns are different. So in that respect your dh need not worry. And as for the 'now they're living in England' comment - yy to Little Englander ^^.

You mention these are your 'youngest' children. So do you have older children, and do they speak your language? I only ask because if they don't, they may feel excluded if you are talking to their siblings and they can't understand!

your DH IBU.

I'm raising 3 bilingual children, in England, DH's mother tongue is the minority language. the kids speak DH's language with an English accent (as does DH a bit after being in the uk most of his life).

It was a no brainer for us. I speak English and DH speaks his language to them. I don't speak DH's language but I now understand it fairly well (at least everything he needs to say to the DCs!) so if the DCs are around DH speaks to me in his language too.

it is hard work but well worth the effort. I cant see it will be anything except an advantage to them as they grow up, plus what a wonderful and concrete link to their heritage as well.

Your DH is wrong. Tell him to do some proper research. I have raised my child bilingual and so have many of my friends. It is quite an effort, but you can do it. All the bilingual children I know in UK, speak English without foreign accents, although sometimes they have a slight accent in the minority language

My DC are bilingual and you couldn't tell from hearing them speak English (we live in England). They sound like DH when they speak his language. We do OPOL. I think it would be odd to expect DH to speak to his own DC in a foreign language rather than his Mother Tongue.

A massive advantage- do it. It is ludicrous to think they will speak English with a foreign accent, it simply doesn't work like that.

Bankholidaybaby Wed 22-Jan-14 03:29:56
"Caruthers, the bilingual children in Rochdale probably get the other language from /both/ parents at home and have been learning English at school, or from one or both parents, as a second tongue."

Either this or the parents are bilingual speakers with Indian English as one of their native languages. Millions of people on the subcontinent are in this position.

Indian English is recognised as a dialect in its own right, rather like American and Australian English. It is also a recognised literary language. You wouldn't say somebody had a foreign accent or spoke English badly because they had an Australian accent.

You wouldn't say somebody had a foreign accent or spoke English badly because they had an Australian accent.

You want to try speaking German with an Austrian accent, you get very little tolerance in Germany, IME.

Well, thats Germany for you. Doesn't really apply in the UK though.

I think to be bilingual is SUCH a gift. It is the one regret I have in my life that I'm not able to speak another language really well and it is the one thing I would love to be able to do for my Dd. Raising your children as bilingual means they grow up understanding the other language and being able to speak it with none of the effort that's required for the rest of us later!

Intolerance does not exist in the UK? OK....

You're giving your children a huge advantage by bringing them up bilingual. It's so easy when they're little, and so hard to learn a second language fluently when they're older.

I think your DH is probably anxious about you sharing a secret language with them that he can't understand, but won't say it out loud.

Your DH is being ridiculous. Any opportunity to be bilingual should not be missed. It's such an advantage.

Australian? Austrian?

Children are remarkably pliant about accents, especially when they are young. They will pick up the majority accent, usually that of their friends. I used to know a girl who started at an international school in her teens and would switch smoothly from Californian type American accent with her friends to broad Yorkshire with her parents - disconcerting but impressive!

That was a bit of a twattish comment from your DH.

You should definitely encourage your DCs to speak both languages right from the start. You might find that they are slightly behind in language development up to the age of about five, but then they should suddenly catch up and even over take children who only have one language (bilingual brains tend to get more exercise, so are in "better shape").

The English can be such snobs about accents!

I think you'd be unreasonable not to speak to them in your native tongue! It's such an advantage to bring them up bilingual. I'm Scottish and my DH is Italian and he has only ever spoken to them in Italian. We live in the UK so they have very English accents when they speak English. Their Italian is slightly tinged with an English accent at the moment but it in no way affects their English as that is what they hear every day at school etc.

Definitely go the bilingual route, but it is is hard work, even speaking to your child in your own language does not guarantee they will speak the language- they need reinforcement, opportunity to use it, communicate with others in it.

In truth, I have seen quite a lot of my friends start down the bilingual path and just fall off it, mainly when the children get to school in England and they realise their parent understands English- so they end up replying to the other language in English.

If you don't want that to happen, then you need to be really determined, put quite a bit of effort in, and provide opportunities and reinforcement to practice. If the other parent isn't committed, this could be an issue.

As for the accent, I think some people might be overstating this- my mum's relative have brought all their children up bilingual with an English mother, but I can assure you they have extremely strong accents that make their English somewhat hard to understand. This is quite common, if you don't live in the second language country, you often don't sound local. But so what- being able to speak a second language, even with an accent, is a great gift and that shouldnt' deter you, and some children are really fluent with little accent, it can depend on the child and the level of immersion.