Is your child having difficulty learning the new language?

As you probably know I grew up bilingually in Africa. We spoke Dutch at home and we spoke English at school and where ever else we went to. I'm really happy that my parents made the effort to raise us in bilingually. You can read more about it in a post I wrote recently Bilingualism and growing up Abroad.

I have just finished reading the book called "Adios Holanda!"by Anita Schmidt. It's all about how she and her husband leave the Netherlands with their three daughters and move to Spain to start a new life there. The book is in Dutch by the way.

I am very interested in the effect of international moves on families and particularly the effect the move has on the children. I enjoy reading books on this topic.

Their eldest daughter Nienke (a real Dutch name) was 5 years old when the family moved to Spain. Here in the Netherlands she went to school, had her own friends, spoke Dutch fluently and had her own "afspraakjes" play dates. After moving she was immersed in the local Spanish school, they had Spanish neighbours and as a family they adjusted to the Spanish lifestyle. She was the only Dutch girl attending this local school at the time. So she was immersed in Spanish during the school day.

After a couple of weeks the mum discovered that Nienke did not say a word at school. She did not open her mouth. She was scared to make mistakes. She was scared that the other kids would make fun of her. It actually took 6 months before she started speaking at school. During this time Nienke also started to wet her bed during the night again. Now mum was really worried. 

Each child handles stress and change differently. This situation was not only stressful for the family but very stressful for Nienke too. She was experiencing language shock. It's when the stress gets in the way of the language learning. I came across this article: Is your child experiencing language shock? 5 things you should know about language shock.

6 Things to consider when your child is not speaking the new language:

1. Do not condemn your child because they are not speaking the language yet.
2. Try to be relaxed about the fact that your child is not yet speaking the new language.
3. Talk to the teacher and ask advice.
4. Realize that this new situation is very stressful for your child, give him or her some extra hugs and have more time together.
5. Remember that in the end most children do pick up the new language, but it takes some time.
6. Seek professional help if necessary.

Here's an article with 6 Ways to help your child succeed when they are struggling to learn the new language. It is written for children in the U.S. but it is useful.

What's your experience? Did your children have difficulty learning a new language? Do you have tips?

Related posts:

• Language links for raising Multilingual children
• The Best gift you can give your child
• Third Culture Kids Learning their mother tongue
• Expat raising Trilingual Kids in the Netherlands

The best gift you can give your kid

I came across this Language Challenge 180 and I want to share it with you. There are over 650 people worldwide joining in the challenge and learning or passing on to there kids more than 50 different languages. I'm excited about the challenge because it is such a precious gift parents can give their kids the possibility of learning their mother tongue or father tongue. I wrote a blog on third culture kids learning their mother tongue.

As many of you know I grew up in Africa, I went to an English speaking international school and was surrounded by English speaking people most of the day but my parents come from the Netherlands. So my mother tongue is Dutch. To this day I am so glad that my parents made an effort to teach us to speak, read and write Dutch. Yes you are right it cost them energy, money, time and perseverance, but I am grateful.

Just to get back to the challenge. You can find more information on the website of Multilingual Living. I am impressed by the helpful information that can be found on this website. If you join in the challenge you will receive 2 emails each week with language tips, information and activities for the week. There are prize giveaways each week.

On the language page you will find many different languages. There you can share language-specific tips, resources and information. Here are a few languages that you will find in the list:

1. Dutch
2. English
3. Spanish
4. German
5. Italian
6. Chinese
7. Arabic

There are many more languages in the list. Here are two quotes from the Multilingual Living website:

"When it comes to learning a language or passing one on to our children, the key component is consistency: doing at least a little bit each and every day."

"Languages are a little like muscles: if we don’t use them, they can atrophy over time."

I found this quote on the internet too and I like it:

" Preserving Your Heritage Language is the key to preserving your next generation, giving your child a true sense of identity and a high level of self esteem."

-- Soji Oyenuga, 2006

I hope I have motivated you as parents to start or to keep teaching your kids your own language. I truly think it is the best gift you can give them. Do you agree? 

Related posts:

• Language Links for Parents Raising Multilingual kids
• Bilingualism and growing up abroad
• Cultural Identity Confusion and third culture kids
• Taal

Photo thanks to Duboix Morgue File

Christmas around the world.

Sorry to say I don't have much inspiration today, but I do want to wish you all a happy Christmas. So I will start by doing that in several different languages. On this website you can even hear how some are pronounced. As a third culture kid I grew up multilingual and I still enjoy hearing different languages being spoken around me.

• Prettige kerstdagen en een gelukkig nieuw jaar (that's in Dutch)
• Merry Christmas and a happy new year
• Noflike Krystdagen en folle lok en seine (Frisian, the language spoken in the North of the Netherlands. It's the language my grandparents spoke). It's my "father tongue".
• Joyeaux Noël et bonne année (French, the language I learned at school)
• Feliz Natal! Feliz Ano Novo! (Portuguese, the language my parents learned when they had passed the age of 50 years and were preparing to work in Angola).
• Hyvää joulua ja onnellista uutta vuotta (Finnish, just because the words look nice).
• Glædelig jul og godt nytår (Danish, it sounds nice) .

 Here is some interesting information about Christmas around the world: 

1. Did you know that the expats in Africa are most likely to make a call home at Christmas?
2. Want to read more about what Christmas looks like for third culture kids? Read Libby Stephens' post called: Christmas TCK style.
3. Did you know that: Christmas Day is just an ordinary day for most Chinese people. Sarah Crack is a teacher in Tianjin, China tells about it on the Telegraph website.
4. Want to know how Christmas is celebrated here in the Netherlands? Read about it on The Expatica website. 
5. For Dutch kids Sinterklaas is associated with getting presents. Read all about Sinterklaas on a previous blog post of mine.  
6. Do you want to see a fresh telling of the first Christmas (done by children)? Go over to the Third Culture Kids & company website. Enjoy.

Well as a third culture kid we celebrated Christmas many times in Malawi and Zimbabwe. My memories of those times are a mixture of English carol singing, church, pot luck meals (yummy! trifles and more), new made friends, swimming, eating, making music and of course a Christmas tree. Even though there was never snow!

• What are your Christmas memories? If you can say happy Christmas in an additional language please add it in the comments. Thanks.

Third culture kids: learning their mother tongue.

As I was on twitter tonight I realised that the tweets I was sending were mainly about language learning. So I thought that's what my blog post will be on today too. As you know I am an (adult) third culture kid. Born and raised in Africa but with Dutch blood. There are many advantages of growing up abroad but one of mine is that I was raised bilingually. We spoke Dutch at home and English at school. It was very tempting to mix English words into our "home" language but my parents had clear rules on that one. Especially when we as kids were quarreling we had a tendency to switch to English.

Now I am living in a Dutch environment but to this day I enjoy speaking English with by brothers and sister. We don't do it all the time but is feels so "comfortable". Even on the telephone we just switch from one language to the other.

It's good to have a family language plan. A language expert writes about it: Family Language Planning - A Tool For Success.

So what was my parents' plan? I'm not sure but here are a few things we did:

• Wrote Dutch letters to our family
• Sang Dutch children's songs, especially on long trips in the car! My mum knew lots of songs and loves singing. Songs like "Hansje Pansje Kevertje die klom eens op een hek..."
• Carried kilograms of children's books in our suitcases when returning back to Africa. This was in the time before you could order books through the internet.
• Were members of the children's library in Harare, Zimbabwe (that was 366 kilometres from Bulawayo where we lived).
• Had Dutch lessons during the holidays. As kids that was terrible, but now I am terribly grateful!
• Read many Dutch children's books.

I just want to encourage parents raising multilingual children. Please don't give up. I know it takes effort but know that in the long run your children will be grateful. Recently I have spoken to third culture kids who cannot speak their mother tongue well and they really regret it. A good site for information on this topic is Multilingual Living. Read this good advice on their website: 10 things you should NEVER say to your bilingual child.

Here's some food for thought on this topic:

1. Make language learning fun.
2. Don't listen to people who think that speaking the native language at home should be stopped.
3. Be patient. Being patient is the key for your child to build confidence in a second language.
4. Find material that helps with the language learning (like DVDs, computer games, books, CDs).

Want to read more? Bilingualism and growing up abroad.

Do you have thoughts on this topic? Parents do you have advice for other parents? Third culture kids do you have something to add? Please share your comments. (Photo thanks to Griet, Morgue file).