Saturday schools

[Solasum]

Has anyone successfully managed for their child to become fluent in the minority language (dad’s native language, living in UK), without attending Saturday school every week for years and years?

Our DS is year one, and we have manifestly failed on the bilingualism front. He watches TV in the minority language, and since lockdown is attending online classes in the minority language, but is extremely reluctant to speak, meanwhile his vocabulary in English keeps growing so he gets even more frustrated at not having the words in the other one.
While there is a Saturday school he could go to in the autumn, it is an hour’s travel away, and that would pretty much write off the day, plus he is exhausted by the weekend. And selfishly I don’t want to hang around in a car park in an area with nothing for me to do.

Do we have to bite the bullet? The longer term plan is for him to spend a few weeks each summer on his own with minority language grandparents, but at the moment his language is not at the level that would be anything other than miserable for all involved.

It's not uncommon for children in this situation to refuse to speak the second language. It doesn't mean that they're not learning it, just that there's too much for them to process at the moment. His dad should continue to speak hours language, but not make any issue if d ds replies in English.

Oops, hit post by accident!

Growing up bilingual in English plus one oarent's mother tongue, e certainly were more fluent in English at first, but constant exposure at home to our second language meant that we picked it up very quickly when we stayed with our grandparents.

At home we do tend to switch in and out of our languages, even within a sentence, when we come across a word or concept that is easier to express in the opposite language IYSWIM.

@Dilbertian thank you for your thoughts. DS will very occasionally use a minority language word in an English sentence, which is good to hear.

Part of the problem is that he can understand the words when said to him, but can’t find them to speak himself. If his dad is speaking to him and he doesn’t understand, dad then repeats in English. Do you think it is better not to do this? They both get frustrated quickly over lack of comprehension.

Also, we really want DS to have operational fluency in the other language, so he’d have the choice of working there down the line. Is it possible to attain this without more for al study do you think?

I should have said ‘can sometimes understand’. Some days he really seems to understand and then the next he says he doesn’t understand even very basic vocabulary

The only families I know that have succeeding in teaching children to a fluent level are the ones that insisted on only speaking that language at home. Saturday school is good for teaching writing/grammar, in particular if the alphabet is different but it won’t result in fluent speech.

If his dad is speaking to him and he doesn’t understand, dad then repeats in English. Do you think it is better not to do this? They both get frustrated quickly over lack of comprehension.

I don't know. I'm not an expert. Though I've loved this, it was so early that I don't really remember what it felt like.

I think what's essential is that the second language is a permanent presence in his life, and that no stress is associated with it. So dad should always talk to ds in his language, regardless of how ds replies. If ds gets stuck then dad should either explain in his own language or give the word in English and then continue in his own language, without making any issue of it.

"Lived this"

Do you speak the language?

Do you have illustrated children's books in the language?

I taught in a school where over 90% of the children were of Indian and Pakistani heritage and were bi-lingual. Many of them were cared for by grandparents who didn't speak English, so started nursery with no English, though by the time they arrived in Y6 their English was very good, but often lacked the nuances of native speakers.

I can speak the language, though I make mistakes. When I do DP says the correct version, I repeat, no stress, and we move on.

We do have books in the language, and go through phases of reading them.

I guess we can try being more consistent about only speaking in the minority language when we are all together.

My concern about Saturday school is that while one big plus would be getting to know other children with the minority language, in fact they would all speak to each other in English in playtimes etc, so wouldn’t really achieve much apart from him resenting losing his weekend and having to do more school.

IME with my dc you are right about the language school. Unless you live near enough for the families to become friends and socialise together outside the school it won't really increase his exposure. What it gave my dc was an understanding of the (non-Latin) alphabet, which they categorically refused to learn from me. They can read very haltingly, but with poor understanding. Unfortunately they do not hear my mother tongue around them very much. That is what is lacking in making it a functional language for them.

That said, they have all done well/are doing well in languages at school, so any investment in additional language skills pays off IMO.

I must say I do notice a difference in language skills due to regular Saturday school attendance. It just adds another dimension in terms of language immersion to the children's life. But I do agree that you also need to consistently keep up the language at home. Also, visiting the minority language country regularly has a big impact on language skills.