It's all been very quiet on the language development front since I last posted. In fact, I would go as far as to say Poppette has seemingly stopped using the word 'Ouais' (yeah) for now and the only word she is using at the moment is 'ta'. I have read that it is quite common in the early language development of children that they stop and start with the words they use.
Although she is not currently saying much (although she does chatter away in her own little Poppette langauge quite merrily), she understands and reacts to more and more every day, showing us that she is soaking up the language around her.
By way of an aside, I have found what promises to be a useful website called 0-5.com http://www.0-5ans.com/menu_Accueil.html - it has a wealth of interesting games, recipes, nursery ryhme words and much, much more in French for the 0-5 age group.
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Monday, 24 October 2011
Poppette's Language Development
Now we have moved into the exciting phase of Poppette starting to speak and try out more and more sounds, I have decided to create a log to help me keep a clear picture of her language development. If you are interested, you can access this log by clicking on the tab marked ''Poppette" at the top of the page.
Three days ago mum and I were sat playing with Poppette. She had been playing with her bilingual games cube. Suddenly, it chimed out 'au revoir', which it does whenever you don't press any of its buttons for a while. I immediately repeated the words. Then, to our total astonishment, so did Poppette!!!! I kid you not. Now, I don't actually think at this stage that she knows the word or the context in which to use it. I think she was definately just mimicking the sounds. For that reason, it doesn't make it onto our language development log just yet. But still, what a fabulous, fabulous achievement for my little one year old girl.
A French-speaking, English friend came to stay last week. She was amazed to see Poppette's response to me speaking to her in French. She commented that Poppette clearly understands a lot and responds accordingly. Like me, I think the fact that it is French that Poppette is responding to is what amazed my friend and that had the same interactions occured in English it would have almost gone by unnoticed.
It was great for me to have some honest third party thoughts on the situation.
A few examples of what Poppette understands are :-
'Tu veux manger?' (Do you want something to eat?) - to which Poppette will either say 'Ouais' (yeah) and point to her highchair, or simply shake her head to communicate 'no'.
Tu veux boire? (Do you want something to drink) - again Poppette will either say 'Ouais' or shake her head.
Va chercher Doudou! (Go get Doudou) - and off she goes :-)
Passe-moi tes cubes! (Pass me your building blocks) - which she does one by one until they are all back in the bag.
Viens! (Come on/ Come here) - whether she obliges or not definately depends on her mood :-)
Stop! Ditto ;-)
Non!
Three days ago mum and I were sat playing with Poppette. She had been playing with her bilingual games cube. Suddenly, it chimed out 'au revoir', which it does whenever you don't press any of its buttons for a while. I immediately repeated the words. Then, to our total astonishment, so did Poppette!!!! I kid you not. Now, I don't actually think at this stage that she knows the word or the context in which to use it. I think she was definately just mimicking the sounds. For that reason, it doesn't make it onto our language development log just yet. But still, what a fabulous, fabulous achievement for my little one year old girl.
A French-speaking, English friend came to stay last week. She was amazed to see Poppette's response to me speaking to her in French. She commented that Poppette clearly understands a lot and responds accordingly. Like me, I think the fact that it is French that Poppette is responding to is what amazed my friend and that had the same interactions occured in English it would have almost gone by unnoticed.
It was great for me to have some honest third party thoughts on the situation.
A few examples of what Poppette understands are :-
'Tu veux manger?' (Do you want something to eat?) - to which Poppette will either say 'Ouais' (yeah) and point to her highchair, or simply shake her head to communicate 'no'.
Tu veux boire? (Do you want something to drink) - again Poppette will either say 'Ouais' or shake her head.
Va chercher Doudou! (Go get Doudou) - and off she goes :-)
Passe-moi tes cubes! (Pass me your building blocks) - which she does one by one until they are all back in the bag.
Viens! (Come on/ Come here) - whether she obliges or not definately depends on her mood :-)
Stop! Ditto ;-)
Non!
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
French Saturday Club
A couple of weekends ago, Papa and I took Poppette to a French Saturday club that we had found in a neighbouring city. We had been wanting to go along for a goodwhile but had had to wait for La Rentrée (beginning of the new school year).
The club had originally been set up by a group of francophone parents who wanted their children to be able to play and learn in French alongside other French speaking children. It has grown and grown and now offers a playgroup for the babies and younger children and a structured school setting for children aged from 4 upwards. Here children, who are schooled in the English school system during the week, are able to learn to read and write in French.
I am so happy to have found the school. My only regret is that it is not closer to home. With a drive of anywhere between an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half each way dependent upon traffic, it is quite commitment. That said, it is well worth it.
So... first impressions. Well, Papa and I were impressed. The playgroup kicked off with all the parents taking it in turns to introduce themselves and their child(ren). I have to say, I had been nervous for the whole drive over and sitting there waiting for my turn to speak up I could feel the butterflies in my tummy. My French friend who we had gone along with (her son is one month younger than Poppette), gave me a wink to help quell my nerves. Some of the parents seemed a little surprised that both Papa and I were English and had taken on such a gargantuan task as to bring up our baby bilingual, but there was none of the negativity I had feared. All of the other families had at least one French native as a part of the parental mix.
Talking to some of the parents, it was really clear that even for a native speaker, there can still be many bumps in the road when trying to raise your child to speak a minority language in a majority language country.
After the introductions we sang loads of Comptines (nursery rhymes). I surprised myself by knowing far more of the words than I would have previously given myself credit for. It seems that the never ending stream of CD's and books are paying off...
Following the nursery rhyme session the babies all played together with toys whilst their parents chatted and sipped coffee. The older children all participated in an adult led activity - making masks. It looked great fun.
Before attending the playgroup, the question Papa and I had been asking ourselves was just how much Poppette would get out of it attending at her current age. Well, I don't think that the benefits of group play and seeing different faces and scenery can be underestimated, but she may not get any real language benefit for a few months yet.
Poppette herself voted with her feet.... or more accurately, her eyelids which were firmly shut as soon as the nursery rhymes had finished and remained so for the next hour and a half until the playgroup session ended...
Hilarious.
That said, I really enjoyed the opportunity to spend time in an environment where both children and adults were chattering away in French and am really pleased to say that I was fully accepted into the fold. It really does seem that my fears that people think we are odd for speaking French to our English daughter is more of a figment of my imagination than a reality and that actually people think that it’s really something quite admirable.
The club had originally been set up by a group of francophone parents who wanted their children to be able to play and learn in French alongside other French speaking children. It has grown and grown and now offers a playgroup for the babies and younger children and a structured school setting for children aged from 4 upwards. Here children, who are schooled in the English school system during the week, are able to learn to read and write in French.
I am so happy to have found the school. My only regret is that it is not closer to home. With a drive of anywhere between an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half each way dependent upon traffic, it is quite commitment. That said, it is well worth it.
So... first impressions. Well, Papa and I were impressed. The playgroup kicked off with all the parents taking it in turns to introduce themselves and their child(ren). I have to say, I had been nervous for the whole drive over and sitting there waiting for my turn to speak up I could feel the butterflies in my tummy. My French friend who we had gone along with (her son is one month younger than Poppette), gave me a wink to help quell my nerves. Some of the parents seemed a little surprised that both Papa and I were English and had taken on such a gargantuan task as to bring up our baby bilingual, but there was none of the negativity I had feared. All of the other families had at least one French native as a part of the parental mix.
Talking to some of the parents, it was really clear that even for a native speaker, there can still be many bumps in the road when trying to raise your child to speak a minority language in a majority language country.
After the introductions we sang loads of Comptines (nursery rhymes). I surprised myself by knowing far more of the words than I would have previously given myself credit for. It seems that the never ending stream of CD's and books are paying off...
Following the nursery rhyme session the babies all played together with toys whilst their parents chatted and sipped coffee. The older children all participated in an adult led activity - making masks. It looked great fun.
Before attending the playgroup, the question Papa and I had been asking ourselves was just how much Poppette would get out of it attending at her current age. Well, I don't think that the benefits of group play and seeing different faces and scenery can be underestimated, but she may not get any real language benefit for a few months yet.
Poppette herself voted with her feet.... or more accurately, her eyelids which were firmly shut as soon as the nursery rhymes had finished and remained so for the next hour and a half until the playgroup session ended...
Hilarious.
That said, I really enjoyed the opportunity to spend time in an environment where both children and adults were chattering away in French and am really pleased to say that I was fully accepted into the fold. It really does seem that my fears that people think we are odd for speaking French to our English daughter is more of a figment of my imagination than a reality and that actually people think that it’s really something quite admirable.
Thursday, 29 September 2011
It's Carnival Time Again
The September edition of the Blogging Carnival on Bilingualism is being hosted by Jan at Babelkid. Head on over and check it out.
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Is there such a thing as the perfect balance?
I can't help but wonder whether there really is such a thing as the perfect balance where bilingualism or multilingualism is concerned. I'm not just talking about a balance in ability but also in passion, commitment and even confidence.
As a mother who has chosen to speak French only (ok...ok.. I'm not going to paint myself as the saint that I clearly am not.... so I will rephrase that ..) - As a mother who has chosen to speak French as consistently as possible to my daughter, I naturally have a vested interest in her French language development. Recently, I have been over the moon to watch her responding to more and more words and phrases. She now actually comes to me when I say "Viens!" (Come here!). It's amazing to watch a child's development and to witness the wonders of the human brain. How a brain comes to process and understand the spoken word is mind boggling whatever language is in play. However, I can't help being that little bit more excited about the fact that my 11 month old English daughter is more than capable of responding to a command/ request spoken to her in French.
So... when I went to collect Poppette from nursery last week, I couldn't help feeling a little bit protective towards her French language skills when the nursery nurse told me that she had been saying 'Ta' all day long, on each occasion that someone had passed something to her. I was surprised as 'Ta' is not a word that Papa or I ever use - clearly Poppette has learnt this word from her time in nursery. Argh... she has only been there a month and already they are filling her head with English... help...
Seriously, I am now starting to realise that I am going to have to talk, talk and talk some more at every given opportunity if French is to be given even a fighting chance. Five days a week in nursery are clearly going to lead to English immersion. Where's the balance in that :-(
As a mother who has chosen to speak French only (ok...ok.. I'm not going to paint myself as the saint that I clearly am not.... so I will rephrase that ..) - As a mother who has chosen to speak French as consistently as possible to my daughter, I naturally have a vested interest in her French language development. Recently, I have been over the moon to watch her responding to more and more words and phrases. She now actually comes to me when I say "Viens!" (Come here!). It's amazing to watch a child's development and to witness the wonders of the human brain. How a brain comes to process and understand the spoken word is mind boggling whatever language is in play. However, I can't help being that little bit more excited about the fact that my 11 month old English daughter is more than capable of responding to a command/ request spoken to her in French.
So... when I went to collect Poppette from nursery last week, I couldn't help feeling a little bit protective towards her French language skills when the nursery nurse told me that she had been saying 'Ta' all day long, on each occasion that someone had passed something to her. I was surprised as 'Ta' is not a word that Papa or I ever use - clearly Poppette has learnt this word from her time in nursery. Argh... she has only been there a month and already they are filling her head with English... help...
Seriously, I am now starting to realise that I am going to have to talk, talk and talk some more at every given opportunity if French is to be given even a fighting chance. Five days a week in nursery are clearly going to lead to English immersion. Where's the balance in that :-(
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
Il est où, Doudou? (Where's Doudou?)
I am so excited to sit down and write this post.
Poppette understands French!!!!
I have no idea why I am so suprised - afterall, I have been speaking French to her since she was around 3 months old (so for the past 8 months of her life). Still, it was such a shock when I first realised.
Without doubt she understands the following:
"Il est où, Doudou" - (where's Doudou (her little lamb comforter)) - when I ask her this question, she looks all over until she can see him then crawls over to wherever he happens to be and grabs him. So now we often play a game where I show here Doudou, then put him in a box or behind a toy or something, then I ask where he is and she sets of to retrieve him. Brilliant!!!
"Elle est où, la lumière" - (where's the light) - when I ask her this she looks straight up to the light fitting in whichever room we happen to be in and holds her hand up towards it.
I'm also pretty sure she understands "encore" (more) and "fini" (finished).
Actually, in my more excitable moments I sometimes wonder if I might have just heard her say "ouais" (yeah) but then I am not sure that this is really possible at the tender age of 11 months....
Poppette understands French!!!!
I have no idea why I am so suprised - afterall, I have been speaking French to her since she was around 3 months old (so for the past 8 months of her life). Still, it was such a shock when I first realised.
Without doubt she understands the following:
"Il est où, Doudou" - (where's Doudou (her little lamb comforter)) - when I ask her this question, she looks all over until she can see him then crawls over to wherever he happens to be and grabs him. So now we often play a game where I show here Doudou, then put him in a box or behind a toy or something, then I ask where he is and she sets of to retrieve him. Brilliant!!!
"Elle est où, la lumière" - (where's the light) - when I ask her this she looks straight up to the light fitting in whichever room we happen to be in and holds her hand up towards it.
I'm also pretty sure she understands "encore" (more) and "fini" (finished).
Actually, in my more excitable moments I sometimes wonder if I might have just heard her say "ouais" (yeah) but then I am not sure that this is really possible at the tender age of 11 months....
Thursday, 28 July 2011
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.
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