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To “force” DD to only speak to me in French

101 replies

Wantobeareader · 15/02/2024 20:39

I am French and DH is British, we live in the UK and my DD was born here.
I only ever speak to her in French and have done so since she was born but I mainly speak Emglush with DH as he isn’t very fluent.
She only ever replies to me in English but she has recently started to say quite a few French words in English sentences, which is great.
I have never pushed her to reply to me in French as I was concerned this would make her refuse the language and associate with a duty iuswim. Should I start doing that instead?
DD is 3.5 yo.

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tuitui · 19/03/2024 23:53

Keep speak French to her no matter what she replies, this is the only way.

My DH only speaks French to our kids and I only speak Mandarin to them. Between us we speak English, and obviously we dont have a strong 2nd language environment like families which both parents speak one foreign language. English became our kids 1st language as soon as they started school.

However, we just continue to speak our own languages to them. I dont care if there are other people around because there is no other way I could teach them if I dont even speak to them.

Even though they reply in English, their understanding is very good. If we spend holidays in our own countries with grandparents, they pick up both languages quite quickly.

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