Non-English Playgroups in Hertfordshire

[nickshanks]

I am interested in sending my daughters (one aged 24 months, one newborn) to a non-English-language playgroup. I live in Hatfield and wouldn't have a problem getting to St Albans, Welwyn or Potters Bar.

Of particular interest would be a playgroup in one of the following languages, in roughly descending order of preference:

Hungarian
Welsh
Scottish Gaelic
Cornish
Latin
French
German
Russian
Japanese
Chinese

But others would be considered too. I am already aware of the Little Linguists group in north herts, who teach Spanish for half an hour per week, but I'd like something more substantial than that, and organised between like-minded parents, with a couple of parents who can already speak the target language.

So if anyone reading this is raising bilingual children in Herts and knows of, or would be interested in organising a regular playgroup with other parents and children, or wants to put forward their name and interested languages, please put your names and info below. I should be able to find playgroup leaders and organise something even if none of us here are bilingual.

Wow thats a fairly random list of languages

I would be surprised if there are any groups for kids in welsh, Gaelic or Cornish outside of the area where the language is spoken - very surprised but am willing to be proven wrong.

I am intrigued as to your reasons! Mine are being educated in Welsh in Wales. I am learning but still fairly incompetent

My mother and grandmother speak fluent Hungarian, but I am not fluent. Sadly I live 100 miles away from them, and they spend almost no time with my children.

I learnt conversational German after having lived and worked there for over a year recently (six months ago), and that is most fresh in my mind.

I learnt French and Latin at school (ten years ago), but not to reasonable a level of fluency. If I found those nearby, it would give me an excuse to brush up on either of them, other than reading their respective wikipedias or Le Monde and listening to internet radio.

The minority UK languages, and other "interesting" more global languages have become a hobby of mine, and I have had a go at learning all of them from self-education books/CDs/DVDs etc. at one time or another. Like the above, locating any of these would give me a reason to concentrate on one of them. Yurtgirl: there is a welsh playgroup in London that I know of, www.llundain.freeserve.co.uk/pre-school.html

Despite all the above, I consider myself monolingual.

I am also interested in linguistics and can read/write IPA (but don't keep a diary in it )

Califrau: I suspect I am one of these language tourists, but I haven't heard the term before. Is it supposed to be derogatory?
Also, i didn't realise there was a distinction between FL and L. Learning playgroups, for children so young, they'll just be hearing the sounds of the language and learning a few simple words, no?

So, as I am not sufficiently confident in my fluency with any of them, what would you recommend?

The following link is for a French playgroup in St. Albans. www.ptizamis.com/ As it is aimed at French speaking families it may not be very useful. Good luck. A

Another thing to add to Califrau's comments - I take my baby daughter to a Francophone playgroup. She is being brought up bilingually but, apart from me, her only other contact with French is via the TV, stereo, books etc. The French playgroup proves to her (and sometimes to me!) that this "other" language is not just a fun game that her dad has invented - adults really use it to speak to each other about real things. If the adults start speaking English amongst themselves for any reason, that advantage is lost, so we try hard not to let that happen - for that hour-and-a-half, even the English-speaking parents (most of these kids are bilingual, remember, which is why we're speaking French in London in the first place!) make a real effort to keep it in French to protect that advantage. I can't speak for anyone else, but I know i would resent what Califrau calls "language tourists" for that reason. It's not even about fluency - it's about the image of the language as a first choice for communication, not as a hobby.

For me personally, languages other than German are a hobby (German I need for work). I wish I had been brought up bilingually, but wasn't. Now I feel I have the opportunity to do that with my own children and don't want to miss the chance. For my child, they can

I don't want to be perceived as gatecrashing expat communities, what I am offering (assuming I cannot find it extant, which looks likely) is to set up and run a playgroup with a hired supervisor for whatever language I can find enough interest for. I saw in another thread that there were two people looking for a russian playgroup. I was hoping to collect 20 or so comments such as "I want Welsh. I live in Watford and have two children."

Also, it would be for a lot more than 30 minutes a week. I think a child needs to spend at least 33% of his/her time immersed in a language to pick it up. I make that about 22 hours per week for my daughter.

That way I wouldn't feel like I was imposing myself on an existing community, whilst still gaining the benefits I seek.

I think you should be prepared to have your hands bitten off if you can make that work ...

You've also hit the nail on the head re the "expat" groups - those children ARE immersed and that one day a week is for them to interact with their peers etc in the language - to "be" a child IN the language rather than learn it.

I guess you'll get most takers for languages like French, Spanish etc because it will mainly attract other keen non-immersion households rather than wandering native speakers.

Good luck with it - I know lots of people who'll now be very jealous of Hertfordshire!

Sorry, but what purpose will it serve even if your child does pick up some language? Where else will she use it? If you have no connection to the language yourself, I don't see how/why on earth you expect your daughter to miraculously become fluent in another language. Are you going to send her to school in that language?

Amyboo

Do you view secondary languages in the same way?

Frankly, I think Johnny Foreigner should just learn English and have done with it.

Nickshanks - if you start a German speaking playgroup, I would be interested..... my little ones are 18 months and 3 years old and we speak a small amount of german at home. About 12 words, to be accurate. I live in Harpenden.

I just noticed I never finished this sentence:
"For my child, they can"
I'm not sure what I was going to put there, so just pretend I didn't write that

To amyboo:
I do have a connection to Hungarian as previously mentioned, and for French, German and Latin they'll have to do those at school anyway, so starting them early will make their school lives easier (they can concentrate on other subjects and not have to spend much time with the ones they already know).

Any of the other languages would, at a minimum, give them the perceived learning benefits of bilingualism that are frequently documented in research, as well as expanding their future job opportunities. England and lowland Scotland have massive shortages of workers in positions that require multilingual abilities due to our xenophobic culture. These jobs cover all sectors from agriculture (farm hands are often from eastern europe) to banking (a fully globalised activity) and pretty much everything in between. Even someone working on Tesco's customer service desk could benefit from speaking more than one language.

Swedes:
Just so as you know, it would be an informal gathering of friends, likely in someone's front room, and possibly alternating/rotating through the group so that travel costs are evenly distributed. I have no childcare credentials although my partner does. If a teacher needed to be hired, we'd all chip in to cover that cost. If the parents know enough of the language anyway, it would be free.
Does that seem fair/logical?

Hi nickshanks,
can't believe I read this now - over a year since you posted it! How did you get on with your quest? Did you find someone to set up a German-speaking group? I completely understand where you are coming from. I understand the point made about some groups only accepting native speakers. But I am sure that there are plenty other groups that are open to people that just have an interest in that language. No need to be native!

I speak fluent German. If you are still looking for someone to run groups with, I would be interested!

hope it's not to late
S

Hello!

I am looking for a russian playgroup in Herts, preferably in St. Albans. Or if there mums who want to speak russian with their children we will be happy to meet.

Hi
I´m a German but speak english to my son.
Why don´t you speak german to your child,especially as you speak it anyway at work.Instead of russian,chinese or french.You have to speak the language at home or as often as poss.Otherwise like russian or chineese the´ll loose it at some point or just know a few words and thats it.I learned 5 years russian but know only a few words.
Even if you speak German at home it will be tough.It´s not easy and there are times you like to stop.I suppose you can read german aswell as speak so start with children songs etc. You have to learn with your child.I had no idea what a bib or a dummy is ,before I had a child.In case you do russian it would be best to learn it.At some point it will ask you what this or this means in russian.what about reading and writing in that language. I have a friend,she can speak italian but not write it and is upset about it.
What about an Au Pair?