How to overcome challenges talking to your children in a foreign language

Tips Advice to Raise a Child in Non Native Foreign Language
Raising children is not an easy task. It is stimulating, exciting, thrilling... one of the greatest experiences that we can have, but definitely: not simple. Sometimes we dont know if what we are doing is right or wrong and the future scare us a bit. However, we improve day by day and we try to do our best to bring up our offspring safely, healthily and affectionately.

The parents that want to speak in English or in any other language to their children since they are little, without being native in that language, add new challenges. While bringing up nonnative bilingual children, parents may go through different periods that can be anticipated.

There are periods of doubts, questions, fears, tiredness, embarrassment, shyness, insecurity and situations where we wonder if all the effort is worth it. But there are also exciting moments full of self-satisfaction, joy and enthusiasm, where we have lots of energy; where we recapitulate and see what we have done so far; where we remember all the reasons why we are doing this; and where we feel self-confident to continue doing what we think is something great for our children.

Not all families raise their children identically. Each one makes their own parenting choices depending on things such as: family members speaking the target language, number of siblings, majority and minority languages spoken in the area, languages learnt at school, kind of school, age of the children, time of exposure to the language, diversity of language input or our fluency in the language.

Each family is going to have their own feelings and experiences. However, as we are dealing with parenting and languages, there are some things that we can have in mind to make this journey easier and let good feelings flow while we raise our children lovingly as any other family, with the exception of the language that we use.

Here you can find some practical advice to overcome some challenges that may appear when we start speaking in a nonnative language to our children:

Learn specific vocabulary for babies and children

The more we are familiarized with this kind of vocabulary and structures, the more self-confident and natural we will feel when talking to our children. Myself, I tend to make lots of mistakes with prepositions, for example: fall down/over/off; sit up/down; stay in/on.... Im working on that and on verbs too, as there are lots of verbs that are commonly used with babies that I didnt know in English, such as: crawl, swaddle, snuggle, whine, drool...

Keep on improving your English and your pronunciation

We may not sound as a native person, but we can have a great pronunciation, be fluent and learn new words and new expressions every day. If your child is a baby, you need the specific vocabulary that is used with them, but your little child will get older: read, listen to music, watch TV, watch these Youtube channels of American families and see how they talk to their children... you know exactly what I am talking about, you have already done it to speak the way you do it today. Well, keep on doing it. In my opinion, we dont need to speak a language perfectly to raise a bilingual child, but of course, the better we speak, the fewer mistakes our children will make at the beginning and the more self-confident we will feel.

The slower, the better

To start, talk slowly to your child. This will help you to pronounce better and it will give your child time to hear every sound and spot the differences between each syllable and each word. It is going to be great for you as you will pronounce each word perfectly and even have the time to reflect on what you are going to say. Besides, it is going to be great for your child, as he will learn the language gradually. You will have time to speak faster in the future. Your child will understand you perfectly and you will have improved a lot. But at the beginning, there is no need to rush. You dont have to show anyone that you can speak fast and perfectly. You just need to focus on your child. Even parents that talk to their children in their mother tongue speak to them slowly and peacefully.

Dont be too hard on yourself

Dont correct yourself all the time. You might make mistakes while you speak, but stop thinking about it constantly. After saying something, dont start thinking if you have said it right or wrong, if there was a better way to say it, or if you should have used another word. If you do this too much, you will let your fears take control of your daily communication with your child. And the aim is to be confident, fluent and natural. If you stress for every single thing that you say, you are going to loose your self confidence. Let me tell you one thing to make it easier: your child is not an examiner, he worships you!
It is true that, as we are not native, we have to reflect on the language quite often, but the moment to do it is not when we are interacting with our children. A better time could be when we are relaxed sitting on the couch, learning vocabulary for babies, new expressions and new grammatical structures.

Leave no room for negativity

Dont overthink too much about your difficulties and things that you struggle with. Stop thinking about all the things that overwhelm you. Nobody said that raising a bilingual child being nonnative would be a piece of cake. Just remember, that after some time, results will come up: your child is going to become fluent in different languages. There are many people who have already done it, and it works very well. So dont get too worried if today things dont flow easily, they will eventually get better. Focus on the things that you have already achieved and remember the reasons why you are doing it. Relish every single moment raising your children and dont let negative feelings be part of it.

Dont be impatient

Results will come up but it takes a while. We already know that some children start speaking when they are a year and a half, some do when they are two, and some of them do it when they are older. Our children may remain silent (or at least in the second language) until they are three or four! Who knows... it depends on a lot of things that we cant control. After all this experience of raising a bilingual child, I am sure we will all become much more patient than we used to be.

Explain to your family what you are doing

Let them know what you are doing and what you expect from this experience. They may need to ask you some questions and tell you their opinion. They need to understand what you are doing, so they can explain it to other people whenever they need it. Tell them that they have to act naturally: they use their mother tongue and you use another one, it is perfectly fine. Tell them that there are many ways to raise a child and help them to become bilingual and this is what you have chosen. You can tell them examples of other people that have already done the same thing whose children are now older and speak different languages perfectly. And something very important: dont forget being consistent on what you are going to do when they are around.

Feel good about yourself

Dont be discouraged if you meet other people doing what you do or something similar and they speak better than yourself. Or if their children go to a specific school that yours dont. Or if their children can already do something that yours cant. Each family is different. What you have chosen is what suits your family, it is the right thing for you. You have spent hours and hours thinking about it. Its your choice. It is what you are able to do. It is the best that you have. Feel proud of it. Be happy for the other ones, but above all, be happy with what you do. Feel proud of yourself and your family. You are all exceptional and unique.

Have a normal life

Do normal things, go to the park, go on excursions, provide your child with great moments, with great friends.... Being bilingual is not the only thing that you want for your child. You also want him to be a good person, to be sociable, to be sportive, to enjoy life.... And the great thing is that you may be able to combine sports with language, summer camps with language... In your country or abroad you might find interesting activities that dont focus on language directly, although they use it to communicate and learn or practise other things. We want whole children: skillful, charming, loving, and hopefully, bilingual or multilingual too.

Share your experience with others

Last but not least, talk about your achievements and difficulties with other families. There is a great online community of parents raising bilingual children, and some of us are doing it even though we are not native. Contact us through our blogs or on facebook. We can help each other in the bad moments and we can celebrate the great things all together too.

Fuente: este post proviene de Lanonativa, donde puedes consultar el contenido original.
¿Vulnera este post tus derechos? Pincha aquí.
Creado:
¿Qué te ha parecido esta idea?

Esta idea proviene de:

Y estas son sus últimas ideas publicadas:

Recomendamos

Relacionado

bilingual experience family feelings ...

This Christmas we have been traveling around the North and East of Switzerland. How beautiful everything was! And how cold! One of the days we visited Zurich and we used the opportunity to meet some Swiss friends who live there. We had a great time. It always feels good to spend some time chatting with people with whom you share things. In addition, we introduced our son to them, as they didnt kno ...

bilingual experience community of bilingual parents other blogs ...

Are you trying to find information about nonnative bilingual parenting? Do you want to talk to your baby or child in English and you want to search for other ones experience and advice? There are many books, websites and research about bilingual children raised by bilingual couples, but there is not so much about non native people. Parents that have learnt a language as a foreign one that have dec ...

Spanglish Life

How many times have you heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? It’s true, not only does it help you stay focused throughout the day but it also helps in accomplishing those New Years resolutions we make every year about losing a few pounds. Now more than ever I need to make sure I eat a complete and balanced breakfast that will fill me up and keep me going, as my little ...

Uncategorized #MomentoNESCAFE cafe ...

In today’s day and age, it’s so easy to get distracted away from those that matter most to us. We all seem to think that with all the technology we have we’re closer… but have you noticed that when you sit whether at the dinner table or living room with family members, while some may hold a conversation most are looking down to their phones? I get it, we all want to know wh ...

Spanglish Life #MomentoNESCAFE Breakfast ...

Every morning when I wake up the first thing I think about is my cafecito, that little cup of Joe we all need to pick us up and get our day off to a great start. From getting the kids ready and off to school to braving the traffic into work, a cafecito is all I need to make my day special. I usually heat up my water and pop open my NESCAFÉ Clásico, the aroma I get as I’m preparing my daily c ...

Local Madrinas Movies ...

With the upcoming release of My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 on March 25, we started thinking about family, traditions and wedding! Weddings are always fun and sentimental, but nonetheless a PARTY!! Just like the Portokalos family, we Hispanics like to get down when it comes to weddings or any family celebration and one tradition we have is madrinas and padrinos. To celebrate the release of My Big Fat ...

Recetas/Recipes

Can you believe 2016 is almost over?! How time has flown by, now we are preparing for the end of the year festivities. Do you have everything ready for the last holiday of the year? If not, then hurry on over to Big Lots and take advantage of the amazing discounts offered on products that we are sure to need during the holidays. Let’s celebrate what’s left of 2016 and give 2017 a big welcom ...

Recetas/Recipes

We are in full swing of the holiday season, and many Hispanic moms like myself know that. We are whipping up family favorite recipes that have been a tradition in our homes for many years. And while most may be warming up with a cup of hot chocolate, in many Hispanic homes we are having a cup of Rompope. Rompope is the Mexican version of Egg Nog, just as delicious. I will be sharing an easy recipe ...

bilingual experience experience feelings ...

The first few times I thought about having children and speaking to them in English, I had the main ideas clear and very few doubts. It seemed to me that it made sense, that it was interesting and that, just as I talk to my students or to other people in English, I would do it with my son. All the questions and doubts came when I started. I had my son in my arms and I was going to start speaking t ...

Around Town Niños/Kids Spanglish Life ...

We’ve all been through hard times at one point or another, but it is especially hard if you are or have children. I am very excited to be once again participating in the Hunger Is campaign at Randalls here in Houston, which runs from September 1st- 30th. I was mind blown last year after finding out that 1 in 5 children here in the USA live in homes without adequate food. On top of that, 10 m ...