Maman, en français, c'est La Reine des Neiges

“Maman, en français c'est la reine des neiges” [Mama, in French its the snow queen i.e. the name of the Frozen movie in French] proclaimed Poppette yesterday afternoon as she sat around a table with her young English friends singing 'Do you want to build a snowman' and generally getting giddy about the Disney Frozen movie.

Just a few words but so very telling.

Being totally honest and laying my cards on the table, I am at a stage where I am extremely grateful for these small reminders that my children can and do speak French this being despite me and my best efforts to sabbotage the whole thing. Seriously. Over the past two years I have been far from consistent. I take full responsibility as little by little more and more English conversations have sneaked into our life. Partly because of being so busy, partly due to tiredness and laziness and perhaps also a lack of conviction. I remember a chat I had a few months ago with Belgian Maman (those of you who have been following our adventure for a while will recall that Belgian Maman is native French speaker who speaks only English with her two little ones) during which she pointed out the problem I was having was that having allowed a little English to creep in now and again, over time this had snowballed and it had become to feel the norm. I should really be more aware of this as I do tend to have an all or nothing personality. Routine and consistency are key for me.

It seems to be fairly widely acknowledged within the bilingual community that bilingual life can be tiring and takes real commitment even when using ones native language. Going the non-native route is likely to be a little trickier now and again because it’s not just the commitment and consistency that you have to battle with, it’s the lack of words at certain times. I think that, because of this, I have perhaps slipped into letting myself off the hook a little. I’ve used it as an excuse to “cut myself some slack” when, in reality all I have been doing is allowing myself to wander further and further away from my goal.

Crazy.

I implore you not to do the same.

It is not too late for us to recover from this. I know this simply because my children have proved that even though I dropped the ball, they picked it up and ran with it for me.

There are millions of little moments that remind me that they can and do speak French and that they are proud to do so. Such as when they comment on a French story I have just read to them, or when they drop obscure French words into conversation that I may have only used with them once or twice previously, or when we are in the car and they play who knows the most French words, or when one of them proclaims, "Mama, I know how to speak French but X doesn't" or when they are watching French TV and repeat whatever they have just heard even though I would have sworn blind that they weren’t listening. There are so many of these little moments that wouldn’t arise had we not had this dream of a bilingual household.

There are other occasions, however, when there is some resistance. Poppette, for example now refuses to join in with her weekly French class at pre-school. This doesn’t worry me as I think that it’s a boredom issue (chatting about colours and animals and foods etc. each week) although I had hoped she would enjoy the group interaction and signing. She has also started to pretend not to understand something when she clearly does. I’m not sure what makes her do this. She asks questions like “What is cinq [five]?”. I don’t give in to it as I know she knows but it’s a reminder to me that I can’t get away with the lack of consistency in my approach to their language acquisition forever.

Already I know that had I been as consistent over the past two years as I had been over the first two years, then our current language environment would be different. That’s part of the reason for me stepping up to the keyboard today. To share the reality of where our non-native adventure is at the moment and also to set my stall out about where that adventure will lead us next.

In this vein, I came across a great book recently called “The One Thing” by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan. The premise of the book is that you should choose the one thing in life (or in each area of life) that is of most importance to you and that every decision or choice you make is based on whether or not it brings you closer to that goal. All of a sudden you can begin to see how a myriad of small choices you are making daily serve no real purpose and in no way lead you where you want to be heading. It’s all about being more intentional.

In fact, there’s a great short story that Poppette loves right now that really grabbed my attention recently. It begins “Je suis une petite graine plantee dans la terre….” [I’m a little seed planted in the ground...”]. As I acted the story out with her, doing the actions to represent this tiny seed, uncoiling, growing and stretching towards the sun, I realised that this language that I am sharing with my children is like that little seed. If I water and nurture it, it will most likely become la plus belle fleur du monde [the most beautiful flower in the world] and if I neglect it, deprioritise it and use our majority language instead… that poor little grain is likely to wither and die.

What a shame that would be after four and a half years of effort from our little family.

Belfégor et l'orage and other (free) online story books

Goodness, it's been a long time since I sat down and tapped away here on my beloved blog and I have so many stories bustling around in my head dying to get out that today's post really should be about an altogether different subject.

It should be about the progress we're making on our bilingual adventure. It should be about the quirky, cute little sayings both Little Man and Poppette keep me endlessly entertained with. It should be about the bumps in the road that never seem to go away but still aren't big enough for me to throw in the towel.

So...that post will come and it will come soon. But for now, I want to leave you with a link to a set of super cute stories that you can listen to whilst looking at the pages of the book on your laptop, smartphone or tablet. My favourite is Belfégor et l'orage - the story of a little dragon who can no longer breathe fire...

Click here to access that story and twelve others.

Bonne lecture

Non-Native Treasure Trove: Everything there is to know about the summer

I've just ordered a new book and am super excited!

It's called Tout sur l'été and, if I'm totally honest, it's more of a purchase for me than it is for les enfants!

In a bid to keep up with Poppette's knowledge thirsty mind and French language needs, I'm trying everything I can to increase my own vocabulary so I don't get caught on the hop quite so often.

This book sounds like the perfect antidote to that all too common brain freeze.



It looks at pretty much everything you can think of that relates to the summer season split into three sections :- animal life, nature and daily life.

It explains scientific stuff (using a little character called Loupiote who shares his knowledge comic strip style) e.g. Why is the weather warm in summer? What causes thunder storms? Why do stars shine in the night sky? Why is it important to protect bees?

It also covers topics such flowers, insects, fruits and vegetables, all from the angle of what happens to them in the summer months. What's it like up a mountain in the summer months? Or by the sea? Why do cows produce more milk in summer?

There are also poems, rhymes, recipes and activities for the children to get involved in to help with their discovery.

A serious gem of a find.

The icing on the cake is that this book forms a part of a series. Yep... guess who'll be coughing up for a copy of Tout sur l'automne and Tout sur le printemps when the seasons begin to change!

I'll let you know whether it lives up to the hype and to my expectations when it arrives!

Now all I have to do is find time to read it. Oh Lordy.

UPDATE : 2nd May 2013

My book arrived a couple of days ago and I'm not disappointed! It's everything I had hoped for.

Here's a few photos of what you can expect to find inside:

All Aboard the Language Rollercoaster

Raising bilingual children can be a real rollercoaster. I've heard countless stories of children refusing to speak their minority language for a whole host of reasons, not least because they just 'prefer' the majority language.

Sometimes things seem to be going so well that I feel like I'm flying...On the days where my language skills feel on point, when Little Man (11 months) shows me that he understands what I'm saying when I speak to him in French and when Poppette (28.5 months) chatters away with me in French, singing impromptu French nursery rhymes and repeating lines from her favourite French cartoons.

On other days, that same rollercoaster has me down in the doldrums... self critiquing my every spoken word and my accent and questioning the very reason we pursue this bilingual goal for our family.

Now that Poppette expresses her own opinions and desires more and more, this creates another language rollercoaster.....the big dip last week came one evening when she point blank refused to let me read to her in French - "Pas français, Maman. Anglais! Non! Anglais!".... I capitulated and then spent the next few days panicking that this was the beginning of some slippery slope which would culminate, somewhere down the line, in Poppette refusing to speak French.

Looking back with a more objective mind, perhaps it was just another case of her expressing her individuality and right to make a choice just like she does everyday when she refuses to eat whatever was her favoutire food the day before or to wear what was, until that point, her favourite t-shirt.

Who knows!

Since then we've been on an extraordinary up ! So much so that I've been having to pinch myself every now and again.

Poppette has been really upping her French with me to the point of about 95% of all our communications. She even comes bounding in from English speaking nursery and switches immediately into speaking to me in French.

The morning after her insistence upon an English story, Poppette was watching Jake et les Pirates du Pays Imaginaire (Jake and the Neverland Pirates) and exclaimed "Oh Oh Maman, Crochet a piqué le coquillage d'Issey" [Oh oh Mummy, Captain Hook has pinched Issey's shell"].... I breathed a sigh of relief that it may not all be over just yet and gave her a big old hug.

I was really quite amazed this weekend when Poppette, who was really quite ill with a sickness bug, still maintained her French with me. I would have expected her to perhaps slip into English.... possibly because that's what I wanted to do in the first instance. In fact, when she first became ill, I actually spoke to her for a few moments in English, just to satisfy myself that I knew what was going on and that she was ok. I don't think I need have bothered. She is quite capable of telling me (and often in full sentences these days) what's going on.

Another indication that Poppette really does understand the fact that she is surrounded by two languages came this weekend when I was reading Mireille l'Abeille (Thanks for the recommendation Tallulah) to her. She pointed at the words on the page, looked up at Papa and said (in English) "It's French look! Papa can't read it" :D





I have resolved to try and be less reactive to these ups and downs and to remember that everything is a phase and that just as it's not helpful to let the downs dent my confidence nor is it a great idea to let the highs make me complacent because as sure as eggs is eggs there will be more tests around the corner!

Non-Native Treasure Trove: La Vie de Mon Doudou

Poppette loves her doudou.

For her second birthday (a few months ago now but I’ve only just got around to writing this post) Papa and I thought it would be a great idea to buy her a book in which Doudou was the star attraction.

Step forward La Vie de Mon Doudou - a brilliant French website that creates books in French where either your child or their doudou are the main protagonist.

In the interests of total honesty, I definitely think that Papa and I rate the whole idea far higher than Poppette herself. She seemed a little sceptical about the fact that it really was her Doudou. We picked the jungle theme which shows Doudou frolicking with various jungle animals in their natural habitat. Poppette must, and quite rightly too, have wondered how on earth Doudou could have made such a trip when he is never away from her side.

It's not the cheapest of gifts....and I did find myself wondering if I couldn't have created something of similar quality myself with Photoshop and a little patience!!! Still, it’s definitely worth thinking about as a gift if you want something highly personalised and original and your Photoshop skills are as lacking as mine.

Books Books Books

As I have mentioned before, Poppette is a real book lover.

She has a pile on the table by her night chair, ready for her bedtime stories.

She sleeps with her favourites lined up in bed with her (usually around nine or ten at a time).

She has two bookshelves in our dining room crammed with books and never puts the wrong book back on the wrong shelf (she must get this from Papa.....one look at his CD collection and you would understand what I'm talking about).

So... I thought I would start to share the different books that are proving a hit in our house. I know that, in the beginning, before Poppette started to express a preference for books, we spent fortunes on books that, in hindsight, were not worth the money. Hopefully, by sharing those that have been a big hit, I can help save you some pennies and some time :D

The book that Poppette has been asking for time after time for well over a month now is one that was given to us by a very kind Multilingual Maman who's children had outgrown the book in question. I would never have thought to buy this for Poppette or Little Man yet as it is proper story book with far more words than pictures (although the illustrations are lovely) and I hadn't realised that a toddler of Poppette's age could concentrate long enough to listen to that type of story. I was, of course, wrong :D

So I present to you Babar et Le Père Noël.



Babar has become a firm favourite of Poppette's ever since she was given the DVD, Le Roi Babar, as a gift by the same Multilingual Maman I mentioned above. The book tells the story of how Babar, upon hearing of his children's disappointment at not having received a response to a letter they have written to Father Christmas, decides to try and track him down and ask him if he will come and deliver Christmas presents to the young elephants living in Le Pays des Éléphants.

Poppette practically knows this story off by heart. A few days ago I overheard her telling herself the beginning of the story as she flicked through the first few pages....She actually said "Petit singe Zéphir dit [à] Arthur, Pom, Flore et Alexandre" (Zéphir, the little monkey, said [to] Arthur, Pom, Flore and Alexandre).... which is practically the first line of the book word for word... then she went on saying relevant words to tell the story as illustrated by the pictures on the following pages.

I don't think I will ever cease to be amazed hearing my children speak French. It's just so amazing and I am so proud of them.

Book Review : Be Bilingual

Just over a week ago,  I mentioned (here) that I had read a manuscript for a fantastic eBook on multilingualism. Well, I'm pleased to say that this book is now out on general release.

Seriously, I have said it before and I shall say it again - this is the one book I have found to be most useful out of all those I have read so far on the topic of bi/multilingualism.

The book takes a fresh approach to the subject matter by providing a summary of what the experts in the field have to say and then asking actual bilingual and multilingual families to talk about their actual experience on the ground. 

The real gem for me is the second part of the book which has tonnes of suggested resources and tried and tested ideas to help bi/multilingualism flourish in your family. The author herself is trilingual and has two bilingual daughters, so she has a wealth of personal experience to draw upon.

You can read a free excerpt of the book here or buy a copy for download on Amazon (by clicking here) currently at the seriously low price of £3.82. Also, if you click on the 'Look Inside' icon on the book cover on Amazon, you'll be able to see the chapter list which will give you a good idea of the scope of the book. Chapter 5 covers raising bilingual children in a non-native language :D

Non-Native Treasure Trove : L'oeil d'ailleurs

Poppette loves books.

Papa and I love books.

Little Man is surrounded by books and I hope to foster in him a similar passion for them too.

So... when I stumbled upon the wonderful blog l'oeil d'ailleurs, I literally jumped for joy :D

This little gem does an almost daily review of a wonderful array of children's books (including picture books, word books, classic fables and much much more) for children between the ages of 2 and 10.

I have found some amazing titles for Poppette and Little Man here. The next on my list is 'P'tit Biscuit ou l'histoire du bonhomme de pain d'épices qui ne voulut pas finir en miettes' [Little Biscuit or the story of the gingerbread man who didn't want to end up as crumbs]. You can read the L'oeil d'ailleurs review here.

Non-Native Treasure Trove : Il était une histoire

Il était une histore is a fantastic free resource overflowing with French stories, songs and nursery rhymes for children between the ages of 3 and 10.

It already boasts a catalogue of around 100 stories and a new story is added to the site every Friday.

An element that particularly appeals to me is the 'Documentaires' section which teaches children about different countries, the weather, various customs and much more.

To top it off, not only are the stories available to read, you can also opt to listen to them in MP3 format. Some even have a 'karaoke' option which allows children to read along.

A large part of the site is open for access to anyone. There's also a bonus section containing colouring pages, puzzles and printables if you register to the site.

For more information about how the site works, click here to see la visite guidée.

For those of you looking for English language activities to do with your children, you will also find an 'Anglais' section containing English stories and rhymes etc click here if you're interested.

Guest Post for Ma Puce : Bilingualism and My Family

When an email dropped into my inbox recently from Luci McQuitty, the brains behind Ma Puce, asking me to do a guest post, I jumped at the chance.

Ma Puce is an online resource aimed at helping parents teach their 0 - 6 year old children French. It started out as Luci's way to focus her efforts on teaching her own daughter French and grew from there. It's a great place for non-native parents to get advice, resource ideas and honest product reviews and I hope that, by sharing my family's story, I can help Luci in her bid to help others find the confidence to take the plunge and speak French to their own children.

Head over to Ma Puce (by clicking here) to read my post about bilingualism and my family.

In the post, you will also find a link to a giveaway of Be Bilingual, a great new eguide on bilingualism which is due to be published shortly. 

The book is written by Annika  Bourgogne, a trilingual mother of two girls who is, like me, extremely passionate about bi/multilingualism. I recently read Annika's manuscript and it takes the top spot on the list of books that I have read on bilingualism (and i've read a few!!!). It summarises what the experts are saying and what actual bilingual families are saying and is packed full of tried and tested tips and resource ideas. You can read an excerpt of the book by clicking here.

And the winner is......

ME!!!!!

Yes, you heard correctly and, believe me, I am as suprised as you are. Little old me that never wins a thing (well, apart from the toothbrush and toothpaste kit I vaguely remember winning courtesy of Colgate when I was a child).

I am a fan of Barefoot Books In France on Facebook and entered a competiton one day without even a slight flicker of a thought that I might win. So when Nicole (the host) contacted me to say I was the lucky winner of 25 Euros worth of Barefoot's books (of my choice), I was gobsmacked.

For those of you that do not yet know about Barefoot Books, it was the brain child of "two mothers who wanted their children to have books that would feed the imagination, while instilling a respect for diversity and a love of the planet." Today, they "are a world-wide community of writers, artists, storytellers, musicians, and others who are committed to providing timeless stories and captivating art that can help children become happy, engaged members of a global society." They have a wonderful selection of beautifully told stories with fabulous illustrations.

The icing on the cake, for me, was the fact that Barefoot carry a small number of French (and Spanish) bilingual books and I was able to pick four fabulous English/ French books that Poppette and Little Man will love.

I chose :-

Bear in Sunshine/ L'ours au soleil
Bear in a Square/ L'ours dans un carré
Bear at home/ L'ours à la maison
Bear in town/ L'ours dans la ville

These books are really simple. They have one short sentence per page which will help with vocab building around the theme of the book. The gorgeous illustrations then provide a great base for open ended discussion ... so far Poppette and I have been reading 'Bear in Sunshine' as I am, little by little, teaching her about the weather.

Whilst on the topic of weather.... Poppette astounded me when she woke up this morning .. as Papa carried her into the lounge, she pointed to the window and said (for the first time ever) 'pleut' i.e. il pleut (it's raining) and boy was it... the UK is practically submerged under water right now :D

La Passion du Papier.... My New Guilty Pleasure

As if I needed another excuse to spend money on building my bilingual resource mountain!!!

Just over a week or so ago, I stumbled upon La Passion du Papier and there's been no turning back. They stock bilingual books in several language pairs and also some great wall friezes.... I particularly like the weather frieze.

Originally, I had steered away from bilingual texts for reasons I can no longer recall. However, having received my first shipment, I can honestly say that it's a fantastic way to allow for both Maman and Papa to read comfortably to Poppette without the need for on the hoof translation one way or the other.

Now I'm just counting down the days until our weather wall frieze arrives. Poppette really seems to love learning about the weather and can already point out the sun and the snow so i'm looking forward to adding to this knowledge with such a beautifully illustrated tool.

Bilingualism Should Equal Fun and Frolics and Not Stress and Hassle

Multilingual Living ran a great article a couple of weeks ago setting out 10 things you should NEVER say to your bilingual child. Corey Heller, the author, is a real inspiration and I have lost count of the times that one of her pearls of wisdoms has given me renewed motivation or food for thought along this multilingual path.

It's a good thing for us all to remember that bilingualism is a fabulous thing but only if it does not come at the expense of relationships and harmony within ones family unit.

To this end (keeping things light and fun) our home at the moment is filled with music and stories. Poppette is really loving listening to music right now and always points at the stereo insistently whenever it isn't on. We have been stocking up on fabulous music CD's, story CD's and books. Some of the most recent and highly recommended ones are:-

50 Histoires à lire en turbulette a great set of stories and rhymes for young children with gorgeous illustrations.

Contemimes a CD with music and short songs for young children. The music here is really lively and so so different from any other CD we own. Very original and a wealth of great vocab for young ones to learn whilst having fun. This CD comes with a book with the song lyrics in and suggested hand mimes to do along to the songs.

Coco et les bulles de savon a short story book with illustrations accompanied by a CD with a spoken version of the story set to music and real sounds (such as the bath running at the appropriate point in the story). Coco is a cheeky little monkey who gets himself into all sorts of scrapes. There is a whole series of Coco CD/book combos available and we will definitely be increasing our collection.

If anyone has any suggestions of other fun books or CD's do let me know.

Ooh that reminds me - Maria over at Busy as a bee in Paris posted a link to another blog (The Inspiration Thief)  which also took me to another blog (Oopsey Daisy) with a great idea for Christmas Book Advent Calendars. It’s a little late for me to sort for this year but it will be at the top of my 'To Do List' for next Christmas. The idea is that you get 24 Christmas themed books (or maybe mix it up with an activity or a project) and wrap them up for your little one(s) to open each day until Christmas... the opportunities this would open up for having fun in the minority language seem limitless.... Joyeux Noël everyone.

George Saunders just landed on my doorstep.....

George Saunders is arguably the most well known non-native bilingual parent of them all. His book "Bilingual Children: From Birth to Teens" is held in the highest of esteem and has become somewhat of a bible for many people who are considering or who have already begun bilingual parenting.

Born in Australia, both George Saunders ("GS") and his wife speak English as their first language. GS also speaks German (and French) and, due to his great interest in language, linguistics and bilingualism, decided to raise his three Australian born children to be bilingual (English/ German). His book chronicles the process and contains a wealth of information and advice.

I have hunted high and low for this book. It is out of print and sells for a king's ransom. I thought all my Christmases had come at once when the local librarian found a copy on the library catalogue... only to see his crest fallen face moments later when he realised it had been nicked six years ago.

Oh well... King's ransom or not... I just have to read this book.

It arrived this morning. I can see me not getting much sleep this week as I try to cram all 258 pages in during Poppette's downtime.

Today's Buzz

Continuing the theme of talking French to Poppette as much as humanly possible and in the interests of keeping things fresh and fun for the both of us, I am always on the look out for new ways to amuse. Today's inspiration came from a great little book called 365 activités avec mon bébé - in the guise of activity 244 "Marielle L'abeille".....(Marielle the bee).

We already had a head start in that Poppette has a small bee with a very similar name - Poppette's bee is named Mireille after the character in her book by Antoon Krings - Mireille L'abeille. She also has a beloved little bear whom I have affectionally named Nounours (Teddybear). So, out came the two cute little soft toys and I set about learning the little story set out at activity 244 by heart...

Connais-tu Mireille?
Elle est jaune et noir
Elle aime le soleil, les fleurs et le miel.
Un jour sur sa route, elle croise un gros ours
Qui veut lui voler son beau pot doré.
Hors de ma vue, compère Ours!
Si tu voles mon déjeuner,
Je serai obligée de te piquer le nez!

(Translation:-

Do you know Mireille?
She is yellow and black
She loves the sunshine, flowers and honey.
One day when she is out and about she bumps into a big bear
who wants to steal her golden pot.
Out of my way, Dear Bear!
If you steal my lunch,
I will have to sting you on the nose!)

What a gorgeous little story.

Bees aside, the other buzz of the day - Poppette made two more sounds! Almost a month to the day that she first said "Dada", this morning she added "mamama" and "nanana" to her repertoire. Although I am aware that these are just sounds and not actual words that Poppette is linking to people as yet, I would be fibbing if I said I didn't feel a tingle of excitement down my spine when she said "mamama" and I know that when Nanny hears her say "nanana" she will be hard pressed not to feel the same...

Au Dodo Poppette

Despite always thinking that we would be one of those families that didn't pay too much attention to routines, now that Poppette is almost seven months old (boy how time flies), we have come around to the realisation that we could all do with a little more sleep in this house and that perhaps a routine might just be the way forward!

Common wisdom has it that babies thrive on routine and that the constant repetition of actions in the same order each night before bed might just make a baby catch on to the fact that they are supposed to go to sleep at the end....

Apparently, until the routine is etched into your baby's head, you should also make sure you read them the same story each night. For this part of our routine we have a great book which I can't recommend enough. It's called Au Dodo Les Animaux [C'mon animals it's time for bed ] and is a soft cloth book with a furry cover. The book is entirely in black and white and has pages which crinkle and little flaps on each page for your baby to lift up.

The story basically takes you through a young child's bedtime routine with each animal doing a particular activity e.g. getting undressed, putting on pyjamas, brushing their teeth, having a glass of water, having a story etc Each page has a short sentence on it which rhymes e.g. "Petit éléphant se brosse bien les dents" [Little elephant gives his teeth a good clean].

Poppette really seems to enjoy this story (or at least crinkling and chewing the pages) which ends with all the animals in one big bed and the line "Au dodo les animaux" and of course we always add "Au dodo Poppette".

She seems to be catching on - touch wood.