How to raise a bilingual child

[rdearman]

What about declaring a French (or whatever day) the first time the kid refused to respond, and then no answer would mean no (cooked) food, no television, no transport and and a totally unresponsive parent? Treat the kid as it treats you.

There is a story about me that my older sister loved to tell. I don't remember much about it, but I remember all the times she used to tell it. When I was about 7 years old my mother made beetroot (beets for Americans) for dinner. I didn't like the look of it (slimy red) and didn't want it. My mother insisted I eat it, so I tried it and spat it out, declared it tasted horrible, and I wasn't going to eat it. My mother said I wasn't going to leave the dinner table until I ate all the beetroot. I sat at that table for almost 8 hours. About midnight after I'd fallen asleep at the table my father picked me up and carried me to bed. I did not eat the beetroot, and almost 50 years later I have still not eaten a beetroot, and I'm not going to eat a slimy nasty f*&^ing beetroot, ever.

It could be akin to giving in to a child who wants some candy/lollies in a shop one day and whined incessantly to get their way, and so the parents made a fatal, perhaps unconscious mistake or quick fix and gave in.

I think it is more akin to forcing a child to eat food they hate rather than asking for things they like. Which I why my advice to this woman was to try and find ways to make French fun, like making it a secret language he could talk to his mother in that his friends didn't know.

[DaveAgain]

I think it is more akin to forcing a child to eat food they hate rather than asking for things they like. Which I why my advice to this woman was to try and find ways to make French fun, like making it a secret language he could talk to his mother in that his friends didn't know.

The Omniglot website linked to by Jinx suggests introducing situations where people outside the home speak the target language too, after-school clubs, churches, babysitters etc.

https://omniglot.com/language/articles/ ... lkids5.htm

Making the target language part of your environment is something that often gets suggested in other threads as a learning aid.

[IronMike]

If I were you, I'd do OPOL. You have a native speaker spouse, take advantage of that. You be the English speaker.

Jealous!

[PeterMollenburg]

It could be akin to giving in to a child who wants some candy/lollies in a shop one day and whined incessantly to get their way, and so the parents made a fatal, perhaps unconscious mistake or quick fix and gave in.

I think it is more akin to forcing a child to eat food they hate rather than asking for things they like. Which I why my advice to this woman was to try and find ways to make French fun, like making it a secret language he could talk to his mother in that his friends didn't know.

Did you eat beetroot with your grandmother, 'cause this kid has, because that's possibly all she eats and he survived.

I don't like beetroot much myself, but I do speak from experience. My experience isn't everyones' nor is it proof of the virtues of beetroot or how things must be done. Still, if French is beetroot, my kids eat it regularly nowadays because of clear boundaries put in place and we have lots of fun with the language (outside French bootcamp algebra drills, backwards rare verb conjugation competitions and 12th century poetry).

In all seriousness however, different languages are different vehicles of communication requiring use and development like a form of mental exercise that requires frequent practise and training - if you don't use it, you lose it. Walking through the valley is easy, but taking the route over the mountain 50% of the time strengthens one's muscles snd opens up new horizons. Kids might initially reject the mountain path because its easier to walk through the valley, but with time muscles strengthen and both paths can eventually be appreciated by the child. My daughter would hate losing French now, and she rejected it at one point too. Do we advise our kids to stop doing mathematics because they don't like it?

Beetroot is just beetroot, really. And I agree, fun in/with the language goes a long way as it does in English too. You don't 'study' languages with your kids (I love a good language course but I never teach my kids grammar), you use the language for communication and discovery or fun (via books, TV, audiobooks, podcasts, music, bilingual classes etc).

We language learners know that if you can do the hard yards and make it past the beginner stages and eventually use the language for fun and entertainment it starts to take care of itself as we enjoy the books, series, conversations and so on.

[Le Baron]

As an aside to the aside, I grew beetroot in the garden last year. They were very sweet and delicious. I hated beetroot at school because it was tasteless and cold, but mine were fresh and very flavoursome. I'm a convert.

[rdearman]

As an aside to the aside, I grew beetroot in the garden last year. They were very sweet and delicious. I hated beetroot at school because it was tasteless and cold, but mine were fresh and very flavoursome. I'm a convert.

[Le Baron]

It should probably be purple vomit. Okay though, I want you to be comfortable so I'll never mention beetroot again.

[lysi]

This video is very interesting. I have nothing else to add other than the fact that Prof. Arguelles has his children do scriptorium on the French bible every day, which is probably the most Arguelles thing ever.