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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5840 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes  Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 17 of 32 02 June 2009 at 7:55pm | IP Logged | ||
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Russianbear - yeah, but think about it this way; if you lived in Russia and was married to a Russian woman who didn't speak English, would you really want to consistently speak English to your child?
That's what the equivalent situation would be, and it's what she's proposing to do... I just think it's a bit odd; it's going to be rather strange with friends & family too, plus confusing for the child and rather surreal for her husband. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Russianbear Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6777 days ago 358 posts - 422 votes 1 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, Ukrainian Studies: Spanish | Message 18 of 32 02 June 2009 at 8:07pm | IP Logged | ||
As unrealistic as that analogy is (given that I can't really imagine myself being married) - why wouldn't I want to speak English to my child? It might be the only way for me to practice the language. Besides, English is rather useful, and on some level, I think of it as a part of me - so, knowing how bad the foreign language education is in Russia, and knowing that my child would likely never learn English if he/she were to study it in Russia - why wouldn't I want to teach them from a very early age? Edited by Russianbear on 02 June 2009 at 8:20pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5840 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 19 of 32 02 June 2009 at 8:16pm | IP Logged | ||
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Ok, I understand. I suppose in your case you might want to take another approach; simply enroll your kid in an international school.
I could see myself speaking English to my child. But only if I lived in an English speaking country or I English was the language that I spoke to my husband in. Otherwise I think it would feel strange. Or perhaps I am just unpractical and overly patriotic about my own language... But it's definitely how I view it. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Russianbear Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6777 days ago 358 posts - 422 votes 1 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, Ukrainian Studies: Spanish | Message 20 of 32 02 June 2009 at 8:27pm | IP Logged | ||
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I am patriotic about my language, too (if not the country). But, at the same time, I don't really consider English a "completely alien language". I am not saying I would definitely speak English to my children, but I would at least consider it.
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| Russianbear Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6777 days ago 358 posts - 422 votes 1 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, Ukrainian Studies: Spanish | Message 21 of 32 02 June 2009 at 8:54pm | IP Logged | ||
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Also, from what I know about international schools in Russia, there are very few of them and they are extremely expensive.
For example, there is the Anglo-American School of Moscow:
I think it may be a little too expensive for my imaginary Russian wife and me:) And your perspective is a bit different. It is relatively easy for Swedes to learn a useful foreign language like English or German. Russians have a monolingual curse on them, and it takes an epic effort to overcome that curse :) So a Swedish child is likely to grow up into a bilingual adult, but a Russian child would likely end up being monolingual. Edited by Russianbear on 02 June 2009 at 9:00pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5840 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 22 of 32 02 June 2009 at 9:23pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yeah ok, I guess that's a good point. That's a lot of money....
It's interesting to hear your view on the language situation for Russians. I think it's pretty common for European people (like me) to jump to incorrect conclusion about Russia - maybe that's what I was doing.. Because I'd really like to see good relations between Europe and Russia, it's important that people can communicate in some form or shape... So if it's required that you and your imaginary wife speak English to your imaginary kid, then I suppose I'll have to live with that :-) There are other things people could do too: Try to travel to English speaking countries if possible; try to watchg films with subtitles instead of dubbed. Other exposure to English media... Oh, and what about these famous (state/public )"language schools" for kids that exists in larger cities in Russia? I have got to know a girl in Moscow over LiveMocha. She speaks EXCELLENT Swedish AND English -- I am totally blown away by her; she could be mistaken for a well-educated Swedish person from her writing. She studies German too at uni right now. She says she went to a special school for languages as a child. I've heard about them before. If she is typical, these schools must be absolutely amazing at teaching languages. Do you know anything about it? Edited by cordelia0507 on 03 June 2009 at 4:04pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| andee Tetraglot Senior Member Japan Joined 7079 days ago 681 posts - 724 votes 3 sounds Speaks: English*, German, Korean, French | Message 23 of 32 03 June 2009 at 3:06am | IP Logged | ||
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There have been a few studies of people that have raised their children in a non-native language when neither their partner nor surrounds had any association with the language. Aside from a few cases of the child first speaking a little later (which happens with many bilingual children, but I don't see this as being much different to a monolingual child that develops a little later than what is considered normal) there haven't been any issues reported.
One case study I just finished reading was of an Australian couple and the husband spoke German to the children with his only tie to Germany being that he majored in German at university; both their sons developed into fluent English/German speakers by their accounts. One son developing normally, the other speaking a little later. I am personally stuck on the fence about speaking a non-native language to a child when you are not even in that environment or have intentions of going there. The one exception in my mind is English - everyone studies English these days, so why not at the very least speak it with your children; it can only give them a headstart when it comes to schooling. I do believe that if my wife weren't Korean that I may indeed have made Korean Daddy's Language for my kids, but that's a moot point since it's not reality. These days, all I consider with regard to non-native languages is whether to read stories in the vicinity of the child or not.. Not directly speaking in that language, but giving some exposure to a tongue which may form the environment in a few years time. There's also the TV for this purpose as well. Edited by andee on 03 June 2009 at 3:08am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| GuardianJY Groupie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5687 days ago 74 posts - 72 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Italian, Swedish, French | Message 24 of 32 03 June 2009 at 3:59am | IP Logged | ||
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I have a friend that grew up in Finland, I think, and stayed there until she was 8 years old. Her mother is Swedish and her father is Finnish. They moved to America when she was 8. She's 17 now, and speaks Swedish, Finnish, and English fluently, without an accent. Apparently she has trouble with learning Spanish, although I can't attest a reason why this is so as of right now. This would likely back up the native side of the non-native vs. native argument, so I figured I would add my opinions.
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