Fun fact: South Africa has 11 official languages.
I spent 24 years of my life in South Africa. I left, able to speak a shameful two out of the eleven languages. Now, I'll be honest, languages were never my thing. I loved Maths, Science, Biology. I loved books- classic English books. I took no pleasure in attempting to speak my second language, happier to listen to and write it. But as time has gone by, I have lost my ability to speak the second language (due to a mix of lack of practice and a general lack of motivation) although I do still understand it. However, in the years that have since passed, I have picked up French, and improved my comprehension of Dutch and German. It has not been an easy road, but I'm quite confident in my spoken French now (after many years).
About a year into my stay in France, through a language exchange group, I met C, a French-Austrian born on the other side of the world. Due to his accent and the ease with which he spoke, I assumed he was English (he was not). The first time I heard C speaking to his family on the phone, I was blown away. He switched from German, to French, to English seemingly effortlessly, depending on who he was talking to. I couldn't believe it. I was so jealous. And then I found out that he spoke Spanish too. I was intrigued as to how how he had managed to achieve such an impressive feat. The answer to which was "My parents never gave up".
C's father is Austrian and speaks to him in German. His mother is French and speaks to him in French. They sent C to an international school where he received instruction in English and therefore speaks English with his brother. The language around the dinner table is German (or English if I am there) - and that is how it is, no "if"s,"but"s or "maybe"s. It apparently got really tough (C is quite a stubborn man), but they persevered and it paid off in heaps.
So in raising our little Bean, we will be following their model. C has spoken to Bean in German since before he was born, I speak to him in English, he attends a French Creche for 40 hours a week, and our table language is English. We know that it's going to be tough. We know he might take a little longer to speak than his peers and his cousins. But we also know that it's an opportunity that not every child has, and we're not going to waste it!
I spent 24 years of my life in South Africa. I left, able to speak a shameful two out of the eleven languages. Now, I'll be honest, languages were never my thing. I loved Maths, Science, Biology. I loved books- classic English books. I took no pleasure in attempting to speak my second language, happier to listen to and write it. But as time has gone by, I have lost my ability to speak the second language (due to a mix of lack of practice and a general lack of motivation) although I do still understand it. However, in the years that have since passed, I have picked up French, and improved my comprehension of Dutch and German. It has not been an easy road, but I'm quite confident in my spoken French now (after many years).
About a year into my stay in France, through a language exchange group, I met C, a French-Austrian born on the other side of the world. Due to his accent and the ease with which he spoke, I assumed he was English (he was not). The first time I heard C speaking to his family on the phone, I was blown away. He switched from German, to French, to English seemingly effortlessly, depending on who he was talking to. I couldn't believe it. I was so jealous. And then I found out that he spoke Spanish too. I was intrigued as to how how he had managed to achieve such an impressive feat. The answer to which was "My parents never gave up".
C's father is Austrian and speaks to him in German. His mother is French and speaks to him in French. They sent C to an international school where he received instruction in English and therefore speaks English with his brother. The language around the dinner table is German (or English if I am there) - and that is how it is, no "if"s,"but"s or "maybe"s. It apparently got really tough (C is quite a stubborn man), but they persevered and it paid off in heaps.
So in raising our little Bean, we will be following their model. C has spoken to Bean in German since before he was born, I speak to him in English, he attends a French Creche for 40 hours a week, and our table language is English. We know that it's going to be tough. We know he might take a little longer to speak than his peers and his cousins. But we also know that it's an opportunity that not every child has, and we're not going to waste it!
