to not teach my DS any English

[DewinDoeth]

Ok, moved from another thread as it seems to have got people going!

DS is two and speaks quite a lot, but only in Welsh.

I live in a Welsh-speaking community, I'm a native speaker and Welsh is my first language (in fact I'm a lecturer in Welsh lang&lit), my entire family are Welsh. DS attends a Welsh medium nursery 2 days a week, and is cared for by my mother 2 days a week. And me the other days! None of the carers speak English with him.
My DH has learnt Welsh to near-fluency, and only speaks Welsh with DS: it gives DH a chance to improve (slowly, with an nonjudgmental speaker ) and has given him a massive confidence boost when it comes to it.
I am not teaching DS any English at all, and I never speak English with him. DS will learn English quite naturally, mainly from the television, or from hearing it around when there are people who don't speak Welsh. It's how it was with me and my English is of a very high standard (no doubt there will be grammatical errors in this post now - but I have an Oxbridge PhD so it can't be all bad).

PILs are not Welsh, live 250 miles away, and have expressed sadness that 'they can't communicate with him'.
They learnt to say hello and thank you in Nepalese when they went on holiday, but despite knowing me for 10 years and my family for 6, they have never learnt any words of Welsh at all, not please or thank you, and say it's pointless because it's a dead language, and it's not an useful language.

Nothing wrong with immersding him in welsh. But I think you are depriving him of being truly bilingual. A sadly missed opportunity. And being biligual should also makr it easier for him to learn other languages too.

Bottom line though is that it's a bit cruel not to teach him the basics so that he can build a relationship with his grandparents.(perhaps limit talking english to one particular place e.g. supermarket)

Imagine in 20 years he has a child and moves to quebec but refuses to speak a single word of english (or welsh) to his own child. Just imagine your dil telling you you need to learn french if you want to tell your grandchild that you lovr them

I have not read the whole thread but can I just state that children that young do not learn a language simply by being plonked in front of a TV or radio, CD or DVD.

We really looked into this because I'd like my dc to learn Mandarin but the only way they will learn that is by interacting in Mandarin with another human being.

I think YABU and I feel sorry for your PIL. Research shows that it is best for children if each parent speaks his/her native language. DH and I do exactly that and though my 20mths old speaks less of my language than my DH's, she talks in sentences and understands every word.

Xpost with potpourri. Exactly my thinking.

Give your little boy the chance to learn more about his heritage and build a relationship with his granparents. You are being crueland your OP sounds as if you enjoy making it hard for them.

Hobnobs you drama llama! lol @ you telling me to "fuck off". I'm afraid I do have an excellent grasp of "your culture". I have to sit through enough of fucking Ffermio and the like and yes I do understand it but that doesnt make it any less boring.

Problem is people get carried away-a bit like you in fact. You leap on the defensive and start flag waving where there really is no need i.e assuming I told the OP that her bilingual children were damned.

BTW Hel/Skihorse I was at Aber the same time as youz. You would have seen me in the Bay or the Cwps .

[lurks in Rummers]

Ah the Cwps got pissed there once and snogged someone called Ianto...........

kitty, I take it you live in China then, where Mandarin is the majority language?

Because that is the paralell you are drawing between your situation and the OP's.

The OP wants to teach her child minority language. English in not only the majority language in the UK, it is the no1 international language. YOu can't get away from it.
WHen you want to teach a minority language especially a threatened one like Welsh, you have to completely focus on that one language if you want the child to be fluent. English is absolutely everywhere in the UK; The child will learn it. And it can be phased in later if the OP wants to boost his reading.

This is a non-issue. Only people who are English (and are probably bringing their nationalism to the table) or who have no first-hand knowledge about raising a bi-lingual child to fluency in both language, are saying the the OP is being unreasonable. So to you English.

The in-laws are by the by, and are just handy for people to use as an excuse.

I live in Japan and have always spoke only English to my daughter in the home. DH is Japanese and I expect him to speak mostly English to my children when I'm around.(They speak Japanese when alone together, and I sometimes speak Welsh when alone with DC) It's an English-only zone, like the Welsh-only zone in the OP's case.

Despite this, and even though we've spoken purely English in the house since she was born, Japanese is my daughter's strongest language.

My MIL has only ever shown support for the fact that I am raising her grandchildren bi-lingually because she is educated enough to realise that becoming completely bi-linguage is a huge advantage for children in so many ways.
MY in-laws take great pleasure in "teaching" my daughter the Japanese I cannot teach her. IN a sense my MIL can feel like she's actively participating in raising my child (she's the kind of person who likes that).

I have a friend here in Japan, a BRitish woman, whose in-laws won't allow her to make her home an English-only zone, because of the same reasons everyone's giving here. Guess what? THe children are teenagers now and can't speak English

OP, really, bi-lingualism is such a big advantage for children. People who oppose you raising your child completely bi-lingually do not have your best interests at heart IMO

Sakura - read my threads. Not about Nationalism. That's a low blow

It is a bit about nationalism-OP obviously feels that being Welsh is superior to being Enlish! However her DS is half and half so he can have the best of both, if allowed.

sorry-English

I have never knowingly snogged a Ianto in Aber. (In fact, the only Ianto I've ever known was my great uncle.) Was it in Rummers, helyg?

Ah Rummers... The Bay... The Cops... The Glen... The Castle...

I married a ex-bar man from one of these places ... (it's not Ianto though)

Such memories (or lack of them) - certainly a need for another thread!!!

I don't think I snogged an Ianto - but who can say for sure? I snogged multiple Rhys', a Tegid - oh bloody billions of boys. Snogged the face off far too many on the beach, K2's, Pier Pressure, The Cambrian, etc., etc. Only went to Rummers a few times - just didn't get on with the place. The Glen - eep - do you remember the guy who owned that place who killed himself crashing his car? He was a "funny fish" wasn't he? Sometimes I got on really well with him - other times we'd shout and scream at each other. Never much cared for the Glen though - too many "hockey" people!

Worst night in K2 (formerly known as Porkys ) was the night my dad and his mates walked in. x 1000

I would love my DS to have a second language, but not practical for us.
My instincts would be to teach or speak both languages. I can't see the harm and it might be helpful in the event of the child being lost or needing to communicate with a exclusively English speaker.
I think comparing two languages actually helps promote language learning, it's interesting to be able to analyse them side by side and provides a frame of reference.
Is there any particular reason you are leaning towards teaching one language exclusively, when you and your DH are both bilingual?

Greengrass owned the Glen

I went there A LOT in my first year (live in Plyn (don't judge me!!!)

The Bay was my main hang out and the Bear (for pizza!)

Sakura it is quite surprising that they children can't speak any English if the mother speaks English to them on a daily basis.
Is it because the children find it difficult to speak in English, through lack of practice, and the mother uses Japanese to make things easier for them?
It's always going to be difficult when there aren't many opportunities to use a language, after all language exists for communication and it is difficult to maintain without use.
I would have thought the OP's child would have ample opportunity to speak both languages with no need to develop an enclave for one of the languages.

Howard Greenhouse used to own the Glen, he died when he crashed his car and it overturned in a ditch with water in it.

They lived round the corner from me and his 2 youngest children were very young, it was very sad

His eldest son later died from the effects of drugs and alcohol, basically his organs gave up.

A very sad business as they were a lovely family.

I married the Ianto that I snogged's mate... very long story.

How long have you been x-raying drunk students lostinwales?

I used to spend a lot of time in Rummers when I was young but I can't get too drunk in there these days as my DC's headmaster plays in a band in there and I am a respectable member of the community you know

Oh yes - Greenhouse not Greengrass - he as a character in Heartbeat wasn't he

LOL.

I would feel far too old to go into Rummers now. I have vague memories of stealing one of their Chianti bottles - or maybe it was just a wine glass; it was a long time ago and my memories are hazy (not drink-related at all, of course). The Glen was the other place where we used to end up; I hadn't heard about the owner though - very sad. Haven't been out properly in Aber for years - a glass of wine with a meal out is usually the most I can manage nowadays.

Me too Linzer - though i'm out for a meal tonight and I think I'll go made and have two glassess

It's just over ten years since I left Aber - disturbs me that I can now say it's been a decade!!