Recently in a FS Blog Round up the topic was on learning the language. I had asked one of my FS contacts this same question several months ago and want to share her reply. Not just to be helpful for someone who is going through the same search as I, but also so I have a place to refer back to what I learned.
My question for her:
My question for her:
I've been thinking about learning languages at each post. I know from your blog that your husband spoke Spanish prior to the FS. So I assume that you probably didn't get to go through the training programs in DC to learn Spanish. How much were you able to learn while living in South America?
I have kind a similar situation. My husband is fluent in Spanish. It's actually his native language. I would hope that if this all works out for us that our first post would be somewhere that speaks Spanish. I want desperately to learn Spanish as well as my two daughters. My in-laws speak little English so it would be great to converse with them and have my girls be bilingual. I figure that since my husband is fluent he wouldn't need the language training and I wouldn't have the chance to go through any programs either. What kinds of options did you have to learn Spanish other than Rosetta Stone (that is what most people seem to mention on their blogs)?
Did your boys pick up Spanish pretty easy? What are you doing to keep them from losing it?
Her Reply:
I did not speak any Spanish before we went to our first post. But, just before we left I took a class at night through a university in DC. Then, when we arrived, I had a private tutor and then later I was in a class with one other student. Also, we had a live-in maid so that helped with my Spanish. It was hard because I had a baby and didn't socialize much with other locals, but having the tutor was the best thing we ever did. The Embassy offered language classes for spouses, but for only a couple of hours a week...and that's just not enough. My Spanish is pretty good. I have a reasonably large vocabulary and I can usually understand what is being said and/or get my point across. My subjunctive usage is pretty poor and I don't always conjugate properly in the past tense, but I feel very comfortable conversing in Spanish.
The kids are another story. They are only 4 and 2 and have spent their entire lives, except for the last 4 months, in Spanish speaking countries. We had them in Spanish preschool and now my oldest goes to a bilingual school and my youngest has a babysitter who only speaks Spanish. We also try to speak Spanish at home as much as we can and we have them watch television in Spanish and read stories in Spanish. You have to be vigilant though, because it is so easy just to revert to English. We do know lots of FS families who have bilingual kids and kids who speak nothing but English. It is clearly a choice for those families. We choose bilingualism, but that is not common. And, if you want them to learn, they will. Their minds are so agile, it is amazing to watch them go from one language to two right before your very eyes. Having said that, we will be in China in 1.5 years, so we'll see what happens then. Our plan is to send the kids to Chinese schools and for my husband to speak Spanish exclusively to them and for them to get English from me and the other Americans we will interact with. I want them to keep their Spanish, but I also know that Chinese is more important for them to have in the long run. I'll let you know how it goes in a couple of years.
The kids are another story. They are only 4 and 2 and have spent their entire lives, except for the last 4 months, in Spanish speaking countries. We had them in Spanish preschool and now my oldest goes to a bilingual school and my youngest has a babysitter who only speaks Spanish. We also try to speak Spanish at home as much as we can and we have them watch television in Spanish and read stories in Spanish. You have to be vigilant though, because it is so easy just to revert to English. We do know lots of FS families who have bilingual kids and kids who speak nothing but English. It is clearly a choice for those families. We choose bilingualism, but that is not common. And, if you want them to learn, they will. Their minds are so agile, it is amazing to watch them go from one language to two right before your very eyes. Having said that, we will be in China in 1.5 years, so we'll see what happens then. Our plan is to send the kids to Chinese schools and for my husband to speak Spanish exclusively to them and for them to get English from me and the other Americans we will interact with. I want them to keep their Spanish, but I also know that Chinese is more important for them to have in the long run. I'll let you know how it goes in a couple of years.
No comments:
Post a Comment