How do your kids react to time spent in country of their weaker language?

[BigSister]

My DD was absolutely exhausted for the duration of our holiday in Germany. Slept for hours in the day and more than 12 hours at night. German is very much her weaker language although she improved enormously over the holiday. Is this anyone else´s experience? She is just 2 years old.

Yes, I find the same, with the tiredness probably increased due to the new impressions etc. But I always find their language improving so much, with my two children (2 and 4 years old) actually talking together in that language (in our case, also German). Once back in the English environment (nursery, school etc) the English quickly takes over again (although I try to only talk to them in German).

Wouldn't mind your advice in fact.

My lo is just 20 months old, Ispeak in English with him, my dh in French, but me and my dh speak all the time in french. Whilst ds says a lot of words, most of them are incomprehensible, and all of them are in English. We're going to France for a weeks holiday this week and I was just wondering if I should carry on talking to him in English whilst on holiday, or really try help his french by speaking in French.

I do find it weird that his vocabulary is not as understandable as his friends of the same age, but that he says a lot more words. Only we can understand them though. Also he seems to have more facility in repeating French words than English. Isn't that strange?

Children who grow up multi-lingual are often later than their peers in speaking clearly, but when they do start they often speak in full, grammatical sentences from the begining. Even if they don't speak, or mix up their languages, it is generally clear that they understand perfectly well what is said to them.

Consistency is the most important thing at this age, Evansmommy, so in your position I would continue speaking to your ds in the languages that he is accustomed to hear you each speaking, even if you use other languages with other people in front of him.

Interesting to read your experiences ladies.. Evansmummy, I hope you only speak English to your lo, they say it is very important to consistently only speak your own mother tongue.

My DD who was also a late talker suddenly started talking around 21 months and hasn´t been quiet since! Smg seemed to click and she started speaking very quickly in almost full sentence.. Stuff like "Mummy read book". It´s hard but I think you have to take the long term view with bilingual children and imagine of the benefits when they are relatively grown up. Both languages are typically only of mother tongue by age 10, which seems a long wait!

I would love to hear experiences of bilingual families with older children. Are there any out there?

I do try to only speak in English but do sometimes read books to him in french. Would this be a bad idea then? You've got me worried about it now!

Hi again Evansmummy, from what I´ve read it is very important that the 2 languages are kept completely separate, ie you only communicate with your lo in your mother tongue, particularly when your child is very young. Otherwise the child becomes confused as it is not clear that 2 different language systems are being used. This really does work.

If you and your DH communicate in French then French is likely to be your lo´s stronger language. This is another reason for you to speak English to him/her, in an effort to keep a balance between the 2 languages. Having said that, it is thought that any improvement in one language has the knock-on effect of improving the other! 2 for the price of one!

I recommend you look at "A Parents´and Teachers Guide to Bilingualism" by Colin Baker. It´s got lots of useful information in it.

PS I´m sorry to have worried you, hope my post helps..

Hello evansmummy,
I have a similar problem, I am catalan/spanish and my DH is brittish (scottish). We have two daughters and while we speak english at home, I speak to my LOs in catalan 90% of the times. I have done it since my eldest was born, and even though she understands perfectly catalan, she talks to me in English. She is 5 1/2 now, and she has been near Barcelona spending the summer with my family for 3 weeks. I know she speaks all the time in catalan with my family, but she still speaks in english with me over the phone.
For me the main porpuse of learning catalan so they are able to communicate with my family when we travel there, she has quite a few cousins, so it would be very sad if she couldn't communicate with them. Bigsister is correct saying that you have to try to speak to your LO in your mother tongue as much as possible, and the more you do, the more natural it will be for you.
I have a friend living in Holland, and she didn't speak in catalan to her LO when she was born, she try when she was aroung 3 years old, but by then it didn't come natural to her to speak to her LO in another language that dutch. And now she regrets it as when they travle to my hometown the girl cann't communicate with her cousins.
Good luch and don't despair

I forgot to say, my youngest is just 19 months old, so she doesn't speak any at all yet, but she understands english (as she has an english childminder) and catalan as I speak to her in catalan.