This weekend initially presented itself as a potential tipping point on this fledgling journey. The direction of travel – monolingualism!
I had woken on Saturday morning feeling truly overwhelmed and under resourced to continue. At this point, I decided to Google my blog, so that I could read my entry from earlier in the week, in the hope that it would raise my positivity. I didn’t find my blog, but serendipity led me elsewhere….. to the blog of Tamara Staton where she relates her ongoing endeavour to raise her two year old daughter Kaya to be bilingual English/German. Tamara speaks German (her second language) to Kaya.
On her post of 23rd January 2010, Tamara talks of her struggles and crises of confidence when Kaya was just over a year old. The content hit me like a brick – that entry could have been written word for word by me yesterday – I would have only had to change the names.
A whole year later and Tamara and Kaya are still going strong on their bilingual adventure and Kaya is speaking both English and German in pleasing amounts.
Tamara and Kaya’s story buoyed me incredibly. The cherry on the cake came along this evening in the guise of three comments to my post of 16th February. I am really happy to be able to say I feel incredibly supported – firstly by those friends and family who know about our bilingual endeavour (I will admit that, whilst I am still finding my feet, I have been slow to share the fact of my speaking French to Poppette with many people) and, secondly, by the kind words of Sarah, Tamara and Tongue Tales. To know that there is a whole community of bilinguals out there, who are happy to spur both me and each other on, is just a fabulous feeling.
My dearest little French-speakin' mama(n),
ReplyDeleteOnce again, I get shivers down my whole body as I read your writing. And as I write this, as well. The idea that we--as bilingual parents, as mothers, as women--are connected, and even more powerfully, that we can FEEL the connection and find not only solace but inspiration in it's embrace...it's amazing, truly amazing. I am truly excited by the continued possibilities that lie before us, in ALL of the roles that we play.
I remember SO clearly when I was in your position, only in regards to the age of Poppette. I, like you, yearned to find support of others in the same boat, was reading books like crazy to find support in my moments of madness, and was ecstatic when I, too, found other bloggers sharing their journeys. Granted, I waited a bit longer to start our blog, but I SO applaud you for diving in now, when the fears are raging and the doubts are immeasurable. Putting yourself out there allows the rest of us to lean on you, too, and for our community to be that much stronger and more impactful!
We are out here, this MASSIVE community of parents and people who believe, who KNOW, as you do, that our children WILL benefit from the 'sacrifice' we make in this endeavor. Lean on us, share with us, share with me...I look so forward to riding this train together, through the tunnels, through the sunshine and atop the most amazing snow-covered peaks of multilingual life.
Thank you for sharing the serendipity of your story. I love it. I agree, and find continued inspiration in your willingness to share of yourself and your adventure.
Viel Glueck und Viel Spass!
[Good luck and much fun]
I look forward to reading more, to learning your name, and even to seeing some photos one of these days!
Tamara
Portland, OR
p.s. In our honor, I created a new section on my blog entitled: Non-native Bilingual Blogs. Check it out when you get a chance, and let me know if I've missed any that you know of!
Tamara
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your inspiring comments and kind words.I am touched that you feel a connection and happy that we stand to build a great mutual support system! I am currently trying to catch up on your blog from the very beginning and read it at every spare moment - lucky that technology now allows us to get online on our cells - so convenient!
I truly feel that I am walking in your footsteps. I feel safer there than I have for a good while!
You mentioned wanting to see some pics of Poppette and I. For the moment I plan to keep my blog anonymous in the hope that I will use it to its full potential in terms of it being a cathartic bolt hole. Do you have an email address I can send a personal pic to? If so, email me at non.native.adventure@gmail.com
BTW you asked whether I knew of any other non-native blogs to add to your new blog list. The first blog I ever came accross when I started to research non-native bilingualism was 'Papa et Piaf' - great blog and 'Papa' is a great guy with a lot of insight. He hasn't updated for a while but did mention to me the other day that he is hoping to do so soon.
'Speaking to my daughter in spanish' is also another good one - although this hasnt been updated for about a year.
Links to both are on my Blog list on my home page.
:-)
Looking forward to many more great chats.
Bonne Maman