Dutch babies in North Herts

[75pcTwents]

We're living in Hitchin in North Herts, with a 4 month old DD. Dad is Dutch, while Mum is English mother tongue, with some understanding but not fluent spoken Dutch. We're trying OPOL, although am being very realistic as majority language will be English - some passive understanding of Dutch as she grows older is all we really expect.
We'd be keen to be in touch with any other families in the area who are part or wholely Dutch speaking, to up DD's language exposure - any advice from those with older kids would be very welcome as well !

Hi there! not in the area, but I speak Dutch (Flemish) with my DD as well! She will be 3 soon! We've moved from Belgium to UK last year, since then her English has improved massively. She understands everything in Dutch but speaks a mixture. I do need to remind her to speak Dutch back to me!

hello, I don't see any reason why your daughter won't be fluent in Dutch as well as English.

We're living in NL and have a friend here whose mother is English and father Dutch - speaking to him you wouldn't really be able to tell if he were "dutch" or "english". The only tiny problem with his english is that he uses words that his mum used in the 70s/80s if that makes sense.

Hi. We have two kids, and dad also Dutch. They are 1 and 5, with OPOL used since they were born. 1yr old only just talking but using Dutch and English words depending on context. 5yr old can now use whole Dutch sentences and does so more and more often in the last year. Things we've done to boost her Dutch:
Spent time with another Dutch speaking family (we're in North East - hope you find someone - maybe try Dutch ex-pats page on facebook?)
Dutch dvds/story cds/songs. DD still has a Dutch story cd every night at bedtime.
Time spent alone with Papa when possible.
Visits from Dutch family plus holidays in the Netherlands.
Skype to family in Holland too.
I think you have to make an effort to use Dutch stories/tv etc so it becomes part of their cultural heritage. Be patient with it and persist with the OPOL thing as it takes a long time to reap rewards.
Good luck!

Thanks very much to all for the advice ! - much appreciated. We're aware that "papa - time" is limited on weekdays but hopefully can make sure she has plenty of Dutch speaking time at weekends. It's good to hear that it has worked for others.

Hi! I am pregnant and Dutch. My partner is an English speaking German (only lived in Germany for 12 years), but spend his youth in South America.

I will speak (and later teach grammar etc) to our future baby. While dad (hopefully) will speak Spanish or German to it. Together we speak English. Oke, it will be an English child, but if you speak Dutch on a regular basis.... I don't see any problems.

I found a Dutch baby/toddler group in my area! Maybe tehre is one in you area too?!

I'm quite interested in this because I am trying to get my Dutch husband to teach our 18 month old twins Dutch. I am English (and can't speak Dutch) and we live on the other side of the world.

I understand some of his reluctance as he left Holland when they were 10, so he says that his Dutch is at the level of a 10 year old (although he coped extremely well when we visited there a couple of years ago.

However, I keep trying to persuade him by telling him how useful it would be for the girls and that it's one of my biggest annoyances, that I can't speak another language to any decent level and I want them to have that skill without having to 'learn it".

He says that he doesn't want to because it's wrong if I can't speak it too. I've said that I'm sure that I would be able to pick some of it up. When I said to his mother (with whom I REALLY struggle) that I would like it if she and her husband would speak Dutch to the girls, she looked at me with bemusement and asked whatever for? Her other grandchildren don't speak it, so why should these two? I bit back the retort that I wanted to make, that what I don't give two hoots about what their parents have decided, it's my children that I am bothered about. She thinks that it's pointless and that it won't be of any benefit to them at all. In my opinion, it's a stupid stupid point of view.

This posting hijack is really to ask if anyone has any tips for helping me to persuade them - well, I think that she's a loss but I really can't give up on my husband doing it yet.

Please help!

We are raising our twins in three different languages. I speak Dutch to them, my wife speaks German to them and my wife and I speak in English. Initially, we were not sure how it would work - other than in theory. However, the twins are now coming up to 3 years old and their vocabulary increases by the day ... in ALL three languages!!
We have recently moved to Berkshire and I am still looking for a language specific toddler group - both for the twins as well as myself. I found one in Woking so far but that is a bit of a drive from where we live :( If anyone knows (or has heard) about a group in the Reading area, that would be much appreciated.
As to the husband who does not want to speak Dutch to the children ... I have a friend who will be in a similar situation. They are due in Sept and he has not used his Dutch language skills much for a long long time. However, if you can still speak it, I believe it is worth doing. The kids will not mind when your spelling is not correct (they can not read yet) but they WILL pick up on the sounds of the language.