What to do at home??? advice please

[helenhismadwife]

Hi
We are moving to France next week (should really be packing not reading forums!!!!) we have two dd's one age two and a bit and the other one is a year, the two year old is due to start nursery in January we have decided to send her to a french nursery as we really feel that as we are intending to live there permanently we want the girls to be fluent. We are unsure what to do at home though, as dd will be speaking french at school where they will speak it 'properly' do we speak english or try to talk french. My french is not at all good dh is much better. We just dont want to confuse her.
Also worried that she will feel a bit left out because she cant speak the language when she first starts school/nursery, although I have noticed that when she goes to toddlers here they just tend to play not chat.
Hope we are doing the right thing, any advice, tips anything at all will be appreciated

Helen

Stick to English at home. Starting to speak to them in a language they don't understand yet would be too confusing. Plus it's their only chance to become really bilingual.
Don't worry about the nursery, your dd will pick it up in no time and will be chatting with her French friends before you realise it. They learn very fast at that age. I really wouldn't worry and let things happen naturally.
Good luck with your move

yeah keep English at home and they will grow up totally bilingual, at that age they will pick up the French in no time. I had some friends who moved to France aged 14 and around 7 I think, by the end of the year the 14yo was top of her new class in French! At such a young age yours will be fine!

I am sure she will overtake me very quickly, I have been told that its easier for children to pick up the language, than it is for adults, I know I am struggling to learn french

Thank you so much for your advice

Helen

English at home.
One person,one language.

(If it makes you feel better,my family have gone through this with variation on English,Welsh,French and Korean. Am also a speech and lang. therapist.
Iam in remote Turkey,speaking Welsh to my kids.)

i was born in holland and my mother is irish, lived there til i was 5 then moved to germany. we always spoke english at home and the countries language outside the home, even though my mother wasn't great at either language it worked.... was trilingual at the age of 7 (and had some indonesian too thanks to my childminder!)