[guatemalan]

When I was young. My parents never did teach me my native language so I taught myself spanish. I wish I grew up bilingual rather than just learning it myself

[SingleMiamiMom]

Originally Posted by rinabean

I was wondering if anyone out there that adopted a child from a foreign country tried to raise their children bilingual.

I am from Italy and my family still lives in Italy. I would like my baby to speak English and Italian so she can interact with her Grandparents and the rest of my extended Italian family.

I know that babies are very resilient and will adapt soon to new environments, but I am concerned of delaying my baby's speech even more.

I am in the process of adopting a baby girl from China and I am guessing that she'll be less than one year old by the time we bring her home.

I have found material that talk about how to raise biological children bilingual but nothing that applies to an older child that has been already exposed to a different language.

Can anyone give me any advice or suggest books that talk about this?

Thank you!

Hi, I am italian also, born in Italy and came here at a very young age...I can tell you from my own personal experience that knowing both has only HELPED...knowing a latin derivative language helps you pick up even more languages(I'm pretty good with spanish too) Kids pick up english in their first few years....I only spoke italian when I went to kindergarden..and now I can write, speak and read english better than native americans...

So, go ahead, teach him/her italian...I plan on that! In fact, italian WILL be my kid's first language, followed by english...and then hopefully spanish.
Good Luck!

[Exchangesis]

Make sure that the schools know that your kid is bilingual.
I was bilingual in Hebrew and English. When i was in preschool (in America), and i constantly interchanged the words... For example, when other kids annoyed me I would tell them "Die", which in hebrew means stop/enough, but the preschool teachers didnt realize that i wasnt speaking english. My parents had to go in for a confrence to explain that I was speaking Hebrew and I didnt really want them to die!

[neuilly]

I think it's interesting that you've chosen the "one parent one language system". I've actually found it works really well if both parents can speak in both languages. It's when children can listen to a conversation, between two or more people, that they start to pick up words faster because they see how the other person reacts to what's being said...and therefore the meaning can become clearer quicker. But really I think any sort of exposure works well for the kid. I was raised bilingual by a single mom. I was born in France but my mom is American so I was exposed at a young age. I remember I was helf back a year from school just to make sure I was adjusted to being in America and speaking only English but by the end of the first year I was told to skip a grade. In the long run I think it's a fantastic idea to raise children as multilingual. Ok, that was a bit rambling...sorry!

[ourdreamcametru]

our daughter is half filipino. When he was about 6 months old we began trying to teach her tagalog as well as english. We soon figured out tht she was picking up the tagalog but not english! Right now we are not using too many tagaog words/sentances and are hoping she will come around with her english. We have been told that we should have let her get a base of the language we wanted her to "use" before introducing another. LOL I love to hear her speak tagalog and it really gets people's attention when we are out! By the way, she was born in the US and we got her at birth.

[Quesita]

These posts are so fun to read.

I am just starting my Guatemalan adoption journey... and I am really not sure what I plan to do. I know I want to raise my child bilingual, which will be easy in my community because so many residents speak Spanish. I speak Spanish, but I am not a native speaker.

Depending on my daughter's age when she comes home (Guatemala seems to range from 4 months to over a year), I suspect the transition might be easier if I speak in her first language because it will seem more familiar and less frightening. However, if I start speaking in Spanish, (with a bit of flawed syntax), how do I then transition to English? I know that current theories state that it is confusing if a primary caregiver goes back and forth between languages (which is sort of what I do in my daily life.) I know that if i speak English only with her, and then get a Spanish speaking nanny, and introduce her to Spanish speaking friends it would be easier. But the temptation to speak Spanish (especially at first, and especially if she is an older baby) is enormous.

A friend of mine is from the US, and his wife is from Colombia. Dad speaks English only with their baby, and Mom speaks Spanish only. I know that is preferred, but I will be a single mom. Any words of wisdom? Anyone breaking the suggested protocols and going back and forth from one language to the other... with either good or bad results?

[haveyouseenmywife?]

Research states that having two languages, one from each person, is the best method. If you have a partner in this adoption, it would be best for one to choose English and the other to choose spanish.

However, barring that, your child can still learn to be bilingual if you hold a pattern, such as Spanish every other day, etc.

Finally, children are resilient, and although language is BEST learned one way, it does not mean that it CAN NOT be learned another.

I say, start with Spanish and transition to English when you feel comfortable. Speak both languages from the beginning. Switch back and forth. The truth is, babies want to communicate with you and they will learn what they need to learn to do that.

Our baby says DADA, but understands, smiles, and claps with both languages, and I am terrible about speaking one language at a time.

You will be fine however you decide to proceed. Best of luck to you!

[need2learnchinese]

It is so nice can raising kids bi-lingual. I was attracted by the title. However it is so hard to do it. My daughter can speak Chinese only when she came to us at age 2. Now at age 7, she forgot all Chinese. This year, we decide to learn Chinese together. Just order some books from need2learnchinese.com It is not easy!

[Shai's Mom]

Originally Posted by need2learnchinese

It is so nice can raising kids bi-lingual. I was attracted by the title. However it is so hard to do it. My daughter can speak Chinese only when she came to us at age 2. Now at age 7, she forgot all Chinese. This year, we decide to learn Chinese together. Just order some books from need2learnchinese.com It is not easy!

You're right, it's not easy. My 5-year old still doesn't really want to speak English, I guess because he knows that I do understand him when he speaks Hebrew. Little by little we're making progress though. Like when I read him a book in English, on stories he knows well I'll encourage him to complete the sentence and he does.

Learning Chinese together with your daughter, while difficult, can also turn into a really wonderful project you're tackling together. Not only will she be able to stay in touch with her roots, but she can feel that you're encouraging her and you have a unique bonding experience... Great Idea!

[Shai's Mom]

My little one (18 mo) is starting to speak his first words. I only speak English to him. So, last week I told him to sit down, 2 or 3 times and he didn't listen until I said it in Hebrew: Shev.

A day or so later one of the care-takers at his day care told me that he wouldn't respond to "shev", and took his seat at the table only when she said "sit down" in English.

Go figure..

[teranga]

My son is adopted from Ethiopia (he's 2) and I have 2 bio children. My oldest bio wanted to learn Chinese (which my mother speaks from living there, although she is English). So she and my younger daughter started weekend Mandarin Chinese School. They are 2 of only a handful of non-Chinese in the school . We are also attempting to get them into a Dual Language Elementary school (Mandarin-English). Tough to get into--it's by lottery so we'll see. My son, when he is old enough, will also go to Chinese school and hopefully the dual language elementary.

An Ethiopian-born American Chinese speaker...well, I bet they don't see that on many college applications!

[SandyKassia]

One of the kids I babyssite on weekends are 2 wonderful girls (age 2 and 3.5)

The mom always talked to them in Spanish and the dad always spoke in English. They are fluent in both. AND, they take french lessons 2 times a week (so the 3.5yo girl speaks a good amount of French and talks some). AND... now, I am babyssiting for them 2 times a week with the only goal to introduce them to Portuguese (in which I am fluent). I only talk with them in Portuguese and because it is close to spanish they understand...

So far, the girls are doing amazingly well!

[Eve W]

Hello,

I am so happy I found this topic here. My husband and I are considering adoption from China. He is Canadian and I am Polish. We are in an early stage of deciding if China adoption is right for us. I always assumed that I will talk to my child in Polish, but now I ma wondering what to do if we adopt from China. As far as I know there are no Mandarin classes in my community. Should I speak to my future Chinese born Canadian raised child in Polish? Also, as much as I would like to expose my child to Chinese culture (not much in my community) I would like to expose her to my Polish roots (I was born in Poland and came to Canada as an adult). I am not sure if this is what I should do. Any comments would be appreciated.

Eve

[sak9645]

Eve,

I adopted my daughter from Xiamen (Fujian province). She came home when she was 18.5 months old, and she is eleven years old now.

I live in the U.S., in a heavily Chinese community (Gaithersburg, Maryland) and one in which there are many children adopted from China, so I have an easy time exposing my daughter to Chinese culture.

I am also actively Jewish. My daughter went to a Conservative Jewish preschool and then was enrolled in a non-Orthodox Jewish day school, where she is currently in sixth grade.

Becca's school teaches Hebrew by immersion for 50% of the day. The General Studies curriculum is taught in English and follows the curriculum of the Montgomery County public schools, which are among the best in the country. The Judaic studies curriculum is taught in Hebrew by native speakers and, because the school attracts the children of Israeli diplomats, meets the requirements of the State of Israel.

Becca is an outstanding student in General Studies. In Judaic Studies, Becca can read and write both modern and Biblical Hebrew, and speaks Hebrew in class though not at home. She has an excellent Israeli accent in her Hebrew, because all of the Hebrew teachers are Israeli.

Becca learned to write Hebrew cursive letters before she learned to write cursive English letters. She mastered creating Excel graphs on the computer in Hebrew before she learned to do them in English. She uses Hebrew word processing software as well as Microsoft Word.

Becca is by no means fluent in Hebrew, though the goal of the school is to get children nearly fluent by the time of high school graduation. Right now, she is well above average for a sixth grader at the school who does not have a Hebrew speaking parent -- I can follow a prayerbook and took a year of college Hebrew a few years ago.

I do not find it the slightest bit unusual that Becca is Chinese and mastering Hebrew. In fact, there was another Chinese girl in her school a while back who had lived in Israel for most of her life, and she was fluent in Hebrew. And there are Black Jewish kids Becca knows from school who are from Ethiopia and Eritrea, who speak Amharic, Hebrew, and English fluently. There are White children who are fluent in other languages as well; she knows Jewish children from school who speak Farsi, Russian, and Spanish.

While Becca and I have talked extensively about her Chinese heritage, and she would definitely like to know more about her birth family, she also feels connected to my family. Becca's first name, Rebecca, honors her Romanian great-grandmother. Her English middle name honors her grandfather, who came from what is now Belarus, though it was Russia when he emigrated.

Becca has seen documents like her grandfather's naturalization certificate. She has read stories written by members of my family about various relatives -- for example, "The Yellow Petticoat", the story of how her great-grandmother met her great-grandfather, which one of Becca's great-aunts wrote before she died. Becca is close to some of our cousins, who tell stories about our ancestors.

But, of course, in most ways, Becca is a typical American girl. She reads voraciously and on an adult level. She rides horses. She loves the Internet. She watches Disney Channel and Animal Planet. She wants to look "cool". She is beginning to discover boys. She likes to listen to American rock music, as well as to Asian pop singers like BoA (Korean), Ayumi Hamasaki (Japanese), Namie Amuro (Japanese), and the Twelve Girls Band (Chinese).

So, in my opinion, I would strongly recommend teaching your child Polish as well as English, and passing on your love of your heritage. It would make sense to visit Poland with your child, if you have the money, when she is old enough to appreciate the culture. It would make sense to celebrate holidays, such as Christmas, in the Polish way. It would make sense to fill your home with Polish foods and artifacts and music.

But you really should try to incorporate some Chinese culture into your life as well. If you live in a community where there is a university, there are likely to be some Chinese students who might want to earn a little money through babysitting and/or teaching your child Chinese. If your community has a Chinese restaurant, get to know the owner and see if he/she can help you identify a Chinese teacher.

Ask your adoption agency about other community resources for Chinese adopted children. You may be surprised at what's out there. There may well be a chapter of Families with Children from China within driving distance. Adoption agencies in the area may well have culture classes and camps for Chinese kids. There may be a local Chinese church that sponsors events in which you can participate.

Also, use the Internet to identify cultural items that you can purchase -- Asian-featured dolls, Chinese kites, tapes of Chinese lullabies, Chinese language CDs, videos and DVDs like "Big Bird in China", moon cakes, door plaques showing an Asian ballet dancer or child on a horse, Asian-themed Christmas ornaments, etc. There are truly wonderful things available on line for families with Chinese children, these days.

And, of course, make sure that she is well integrated into Canadian society. After all, that will be the country where she will spend most of her time. Choose schools that are diverse, if at all possible, so that she sees how people of many kinds can all be Canadian. Take her to places rich in Canadian history, and help her to see those places as part of her tripartite heritage. Buy artwork that shows some of Canada's scenic beauty. Talk to her about why you chose to migrate from Poland to Canada. And, of course, enjoy the customs of your husband's family.

You will find that having a child with a dual heritage -- or even a triple heritage like my daughter has -- enriches your own life tremendously.

But don't expect your daughter to value all three parts equally, all of the time. There have been times in my daughter's life where she had little interest in anything Asian. There have been times in my daughter's life when she preferred her Hebrew subjects in school and talked of becoming a rabbi. There have been times in my daughter's life when she preferred Asian rock to Justin Timberlake or Jewish music -- and times when American popular music has been the order of the day. And so on.

Sharon

[Eve W]

Hi Sharon,

Thank you for all the information. It looks like you are raising a very smart daughter. I will consider all the suggestions about Chinese culture that you gave me. I guess North America is so multicultural that it does not hurt for our future child to speak Polish even though the child may be Chinese. I am afraid though that her Polish will be better that her Chinese, but this will only add to being original.

Eve