Raising Multilingual Children Carnival - April 2013

I'm really excited to see that the first ever Raising Multilingual Children Carnival is out!

The original Blogging on Bilingualism Carnival has come to an end as its organiser Letizia Quaranta is so busy with other commitments. Thank you Letizia, it's been an amazing journey.

I want to say a huge thank you to Annabelle of the Piri Piri Lexicon for setting up this new carnival so that we can each get our monthly fix! It takes a huge amount of work and commitment to organise and administer something like this and so many of us get so much benefit out if it.

This first carnival is being hosted over at Multilingual Mama....it focuses on 'lessons learned' and it's absolutely packed with great posts from our wonderful multilingual blogging community.

Enjoy!

It's Carnival Time Again

It's that time again.... September's "issue" of the Blogging Carnival on Bilingualism is out.

Head on over to All Done Monkey and take a look.

The August Blogging Carnival on Bilingualism is out - Yippee

This month's carnival is being hosted by Lina over at Best 4 Future - Bringing Up Baby Bilingual and there are so many entries this month!!!

If you fancy a good old read, click here.

Another reason to introduce more than one language from birth

The beauty of speaking two (or more) languages, when chatting with another person able to speak them too, is that it allows you to mix the languages up and, in doing so, have an altogether more precise conversation.

In general, languages tend to be like a Venn diagram - they overlap in the middle but have distinct differences around the edges. Words that can express a feeling or concept in one language may simply not exist in the other.

Poppette is already beginning to use this to her advantage. As I have mentioned before, Poppette always answers questions that I ask her in French with "Yes" or "No" in English. She does, however, regularly use the French word "Si".

Now, for those of you who do not speak French, the word "Si" means "Yes" but is only used in answer to a negative question e.g.:

Me: (In French) "Oh, so you don't want a piece of cake then?"
Poppette: "Si" (Yes, I do).

The use of "Si" serves to stress that she is contradicting my statement. It's as though she is saying "Yes I bloomin do want a piece of cake" to my suggestion that she might not. This concept doesn't exist for us English speakers. We have to add extra words to our simple "Yes" to get the point across.

Having only one word for "Yes" in English, it can be a real task for English speakers to take on board the existence of "Si" and, ultimately, to begin to understand when and how to use it and do so freely.

The fact that Poppette has just picked up the word and uses it 100% correctly is another big tick in the box for the benefits of the simultaneous learning of languages from birth. Poppette has no preconceived ideas about language......so, of course, it is not in the slightest bit odd to her that there is more than one way to say "Yes" when speaking in French.

Do you have any other examples of how words can be borrowed from one language and dropped into conversation in another in order to make conversation more precise and to exploit subtle nuances between languages?

July Blogging Carnival on Bilingualism

Hoorah..the July Carnival is here.....As always there are loads of great entries, some from bloggers I haven't had the pleasure to read before.

This month's carnival is being hosted by Tamara at non-native bilingualism and you can check it out by clicking HERE.

Non-native Bilingualism - My Top Five Tips

Recently, I was asked to share my top tips for those considering non-native bilingualism by the author of an upcoming ebook relating to multilingualism.

This got me thinking what a great blog post that could make and what a wonderful way for me to give a few tips to others whilst thanking those that have done the same for me.

When I first even considered the prospect of speaking French with my children, I did a lot of research (for those of you that know me... this will come as no surprise....oooh how I love research).

I would definitely credit a couple of really kind and helpful people for giving me the courage to get started. Papa of Papa et Piaf, Sarah of Bringing up Baby Bilingual, Corey Heller of Multilingual Living fame..... each of these people, despite never having met me, took the time and effort to respond to my queries, writing helpful encouraging personal emails to me and that is something I will be forever grateful for.

Once I got started, I came accross more and more people out there with shared goals and visions, people who had already begun wandering the same or a similar path, that were only too happy to provide advice, encouragement and personal stories. One person in particular - (Tamara... it's time for you to stand up and be counted - and I do apologise for making you blush since you are, indeed, hosting this month's carnival for which I am penning this very post) - got me through the extreme wobbles that epitomised the first 6 months or so of our journey.

Since then, I have "met" many many more wonderful, inspiring people.

So, onto my tips. I would say that for me, the following things have been invaluable:-

1 Build a support circle of like minded people.

My blog has helped hugely here. Through it I have connected with so many people I otherwise wouldn't had the fortune to connect with.

Also, I have found that utilising resources such as the forum on the Mulitilingual Living website has really helped to find like minded people.

I have also made real efforts to grow my circle of friends to include more french speakers or people interested in language.

2 Avoid people and situations that stunt your language use - at least when you first start out.

If there are situations or certain people that zap your confidence to speak your second language, then my advice is stay clear of them until you no longer feel that way. Seriously, I just always remind myself of the bigger picture and our ultimate goal of having bilingual children and think why should I let naysayers (or my reaction to them) jeopordise that?

Also, I remember just how self conscious I used to be speaking French to my English daughter in England in public. Don't let that stop you. Don't let your own insecurities deprive you and derail you. It is a fair assumption that the very people you think might be laughing at your language ability are actually rather impressed or at least intruiged - and the majority probably don' speak your second language fluently enough to hear any mistakes you might be making anyway.

3 Build your resources.

There are so many great resources out there - things to suit everyones taste and language learning/ language consumption preferences.

There's lots of free stuff online plus of course there are millions of books, DVDs, CDs and bilingual toys etc.

As a non-native, my experience has been that I am often learning niche language alongside my children or just ahead of them and so resources that they enjoy using have often first been devoured by me.

4 Practice practice practice.

At first my language use felt a little artificial. Now, due to having spoken french everyday for upwards of the past 17 months, it has become second nature and I would go as far as saying it feels artificial if I have to speak english with my daughter as I am not used to doing so.

Also, take any opportunity you have to listen to or speak your second language wth others.

5 Remember that language is only one part of your relationship with your children.

It is very easy to get caught up in the whole bilingual enterprise to a degree that you no longer see the wood for the trees. It's good to sit back and take stock now and again. A fun and loving relationship has to come first. If you are lucky enough to be able to throw an extra language into that then great.

If you are interested in looking a little deeper into how things work in our home from a bilingual perspective, you can pop over to Gato et Canard (gatoandcanard.blogspot.co.uk) and read a recent interview I did with its host Annabelle - "Multilingualism in my family (Nichola's Story)".

February's Blogging Carnival on Bilingualism - Yippee

Honestly, I am such a language geek.... I A L W A Y S get excited in the run up to the Carnival.... and today February's edition has been published.

This month it is being hosted by Jen over at Perogies & Gyoza and you can read the entries by clicking here.

Pop over and have a good old read.

January's Carnival

It's that time again... the Blogging Carnival on Bilingualism is being hosted by Cordelia over at Multilingual Mama this month.

Thanks Cordelia.

You can access the entries via this link. What a great selection of posts.

I get excited each month in the run up to every new Carnival - I find it so inspiring that so many of us come together to share and support each other in this way.

Happy reading.

It's Carnival Time Again..... July Bilingual Blogging Carnival

Maria over at Busy as a Bee in Paris has hosted this month's Bilingual Blogging Carnival. Head over and have a look.

Trying to keep one step ahead on the non-native path

I am oh so conscious that I just haven't had the time to sit down and write for far too long now. Sometimes life gets in the way and other priorities raise their head. That said, there is barely a day goes by when my brain doesn't whiz around ruminating upon some element of this bilingual life we have chosen. So... as it's Bilingual Carnival time again, I have been spurred on to get back on my blogging horse.

Over the past few weeks I have been grappling with the worry that my language skills may not keep up with the ever evolving needs of Poppette. Of course, I know that it's a moving feast and as time goes by I will, with the right effort and determination, pick up more and more appropriate vocabulary and turns of phrase. But really.... that commitment seems huge... especially in the dark hours of the early morning when I should be sleeping but my brain won't allow it! It's the seemingly little things that monolingual and native-speaking parents won't ever need to give a second thought to that create such potential minefields for a non-native ... such as making Halloween masks, baking cupcakes, making friendship bracelets....

At this stage... all I can do is panic! My common sense tells me that I just need to buy some French crafting and activity books and look out for DVD's in the same vein as Disney's Art Attack (but en français) and learn from them. It's a daunting prospect though... trying to keep one step ahead at all times.

I know that attending the French Saturday school we have found will really help; or at least I hope so. This is a place where Poppette can play with other children in French and I can mix with French and Francophone mums... both of us absorbing more and more language. School is now out for summer though and I await September term with real anticipation.

I read an interesting letter on the pages of InCultureParent Magazine yesterday which reinforced the validity of my concerns. The non-native (OPOL) Maman in question had written for advice as to whether she should give up speaking Spanish to her 3 year old son as it is becoming exhausting. She makes a really solid point in that, although she is fluent in Spanish, with the best will in the world it is still her second language and her level when compared with a highly educated native speaking Spaniard is ‘rudimentary’; the result being that her son is nowhere near as eloquent in Spanish as he is in English. The expert's response was reassuring, namely: - 'Bravo for how far you have come on your own so far' and 'Now it's time to get some help!'

If any one has any experience or advice about how (or how not) to proceed, or any resource suggestions, then please do either leave me a comment or email me at non.native.adventure@gmail.com

Blogging Carnival on Bilingualism

April's Blogging Carnival is now out.

This is the first time I have contributed an article and I am really excited to have done so.

As always, there are loads of interesting stories and perspectives to muse over. If you're interested, click here.

Stations de Radio FM Françaises

I have found a great website with links to loads of French radio stations which you can listen to over the Internet.

Click here to see the list.

I have had Skyrock blaring out for a few days now... it takes me right back to the days when I was living the other side of the channel and that was my radio station of choice.

Also.. the March issue of the Bilingual Blogging Carnival has been released. There are some great articles as always. For those of you who are not familiar with the Carnival, I can recommend it wholeheartedly. It is full of inspirational stories and tips from bilingual and multilingual families the world over.