Raising a multilingual child in Japan

[Yankunov]

I'd like to hear some opinions on raising a multilingual child in Japan. My partner and I are planning to have a baby in the next few years, perhaps by next year or so.

I do understand that there are no specific rules as in "you must do this or that" as every family has different values, perspectives, goals etc in life. But aside from the links https://forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1347&p=10855&hilit=raising+a+multilingual+child#p10762 or even on here (old HTLAL) http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=39886&PN=0&TPN=1, I'd like to hear some successful stories from other language enthusiasts.

To make things more clear and specific, a little bit about our background: I was raised as a bilingual child and Japanese is one of my mother tongues. I speak Japanese fluently since young and I've been living in Japan for one year and a half as well. That said, I haven't encountered any linguistic-related problems so far, despite being raised abroad. On the other hand, my partner is Chinese and a native speaker of Mandarin and she is fluent in Shanghainese as well.

So, basically I thought about talking to my future kid exclusively in one language, and my partner in Mandarin. The child will learn Japanese with friends, child-care, school, extra-curricular activities etc. I'm not worried about Japanese, but rather on how to make him learn Mandarin and possibly English. Since my partner is Chinese and has Chinese friends or acquaintances, I think he will pick up by speaking in Chinese to them and their kids as well. I suppose I can send him to visit her family during his summer and/or winter school holidays.

How about the other language? Would English be a good choice? Should I stick to Japanese or even perhaps the other native language? For personal reasons, I don't want to use the other native language as I don't feel connected or positive about it, its culture and so on. Not to say that when it comes to education, it will be hard to find native resources for children as well.

What are the cons of raising him in English, despite not being a native speaker?

Some people I talked to, they commented on the fact that they won't have a native-like accent. Well, that is not a problem at all for me. Many Japanese parents nowadays, as far as I've seen in big cities, at least, they send their children to language schools to learn English since young. Some or many learn English not from native speakers, but from Japanese people who speak poorly or poorer than me. Generally speaking, I think my English accent is widely understood by many people. I'm never mistaken as Japanese when speaking English.

I do understand that the higher level (CEFR), the better. However, which is the lowest level (CEFR) you would speak to your child?

Well, I still have time to reach a higher level. I was in between C1-C2 (CEFR) before, but I believe I'm around B2 nowadays. That means that I should keep improving and maintaining my English skills.

I thought about sending the kid to an international school in Japan. I haven't checked some details, but some might say that it is overpriced. If my partner agrees, then, I will have less worries. But if not, by sending to a common Japanese school, I will have to be creative and find fun ways to don't make him stress about it. Nowadays there are many resources for cartoons, songs, books and so on. There are those options of learning English in some centers, but I will check those native speakers who work with children in Japan.

[Ani]

I can't answer every question you've raised, but I might be able to touch on a few. I'm a mother of 5 and I'm currently speaking to my youngest two boys (3 and 10 months) in a language that is not my native.

I read through your post twice and I wasn't quite sure which languages are your native -- Japanese and Korean? And you and your partner speak which language together? The first challenge with each parent speaking a different language with the child is that eventually families talk together and whichever language your and your partner speak will have a majority feel inside the home. It is very likely your child will prefer that language at the outset.

Another thing to keep in mind is that every child is different. It is so cliche but so true. Even with the best plan, not every child will be best served by being raised multilingual. Depending on your vision, that is large workload increase academically for the child in the grade school years. Even very bright kids might not be disposed to it. If you are not going for full academic level balance between the languages it will be important to decide which is the priority and which elements can be dropped if necessary.

I would be very hesitant not to teach a child the community language before kindergarten and expect the school to do it. It is not always as easy as we adults think it will be for children to cope and catch up. It is a marked academic and social disadvantage. We can't even begin to guess how your hypothetical child will feel about that situation but it's something to keep in mind.

Now finally speaking a non-native language and what CEFR level you should be! Now *if* the other parent were speaking the majority language or the majority language development is well covered somehow, I think the first parent can speak *anything* to a child that doesn't hinder communication between the two. You can speak an A2 level language from birth to age 2. After that your baby will start a language explosion and you will want to be C1, and by age 5, you'll want to be as close to native as you can possibly be and/or looking for outsourced help to close gaps and expand story telling, literary vocabulary etc for the child. If you want to keep a language in academic balance with the others or honestly even maintain it past a certain age, you cannot be the only speaker your child has access to.

If you are trying for trilngual though, I have greater reserves about one of them being a non-native language. There is so much brain formation going on in those tiny heads, I would hate to hinder their future language capacity by not feeding them sufficiently in the first few years. I wouldn't say it is wrong to do but I can guarantee it won't be easy and will come with large sacrifices.

Hope that wasn't too depressing. I hate when people tell me I can't do something and I know with determination, many things are possible.

[Yankunov]

And you and your partner speak which language together?

We mostly speak in Japanese, though I try to speak in Mandarin sometimes, too. The idea is for my partner to speak Mandarin to the child since the beginning. As for me, I'd speak a non-native language I'm about C1 (CEFR).

I'm a bilingual speaker of languages I have zero interest to talk to the child.

The first challenge with each parent speaking a different language with the child is that eventually families talk together and whichever language your and your partner speak will have a majority feel inside the home. It is very likely your child will prefer that language at the outset.

Perhaps, then, the child will prefer Japanese language.

Another thing to keep in mind is that every child is different. It is so cliche but so true. Even with the best plan, not every child will be best served by being raised multilingual. Depending on your vision, that is large workload increase academically for the child in the grade school years. Even very bright kids might not be disposed to it. If you are not going for full academic level balance between the languages it will be important to decide which is the priority and which elements can be dropped if necessary.

I myself had experienced being raised bilingual. I know and still remember the hurdles that I had to overcome. However, seeing so many bilingual children in the place I live, I guess I'd not be much worried as I'd if I were living in other places.

Now finally speaking a non-native language and what CEFR level you should be! Now *if* the other parent were speaking the majority language or the majority language development is well covered somehow, I think the first parent can speak *anything* to a child that doesn't hinder communication between the two.

I'm around C1 (CEFR) in the language I'm planning to speak to the child. Of course, I will find out some balance to cover the gaps. I won't be the only speaker he will have access to; otherwise, as you said, he will grow up with many gaps.

If you are trying for trilngual though, I have greater reserves about one of them being a non-native language. There is so much brain formation going on in those tiny heads, I would hate to hinder their future language capacity by not feeding them sufficiently in the first few years. I wouldn't say it is wrong to do but I can guarantee it won't be easy and will come with large sacrifices.

Well, I agree with you. Everything has a price. Even if one of the sides is a native speaker of Mandarin, the child with have some gaps (i.e reading, for example), as I've seen among many Chinese families who immigrated abroad. They surely speak Chinese fluently, but many of the children or grandchildren cannot read or write. That is a matter of exposure and goals etc. It is something to be talked with my partner.