Of course she still speaks in Portuguese with me, but not as a golden rule anymore. When we are chatting, she shifts back and forth, back and forth, back and forth... until the moment she sticks to English. I keep answering in Portuguese, of course (and now more than ever). However, as of now, she has clearly chosen English.
I guess that is happening mostly because of school. She is now very active there, sometimes doesn't want to come home, has music and dance classes, has lots of friends (and keeps talking about them all day long), and is expanding her understanding about the world – weather, actions, animals, plants. We can see that in her vocabulary. So probably it all makes more sense if it is in English.
Her favourite DVDs are also the ones in English. If I trick her and put something in Portuguese, she will eventually get into it and enjoy. But if you ask her what she wants to watch, it will be definitely “Winnie the Pooh” or, the winner at home, the Australian “Playschool”.
Her repertory of songs has expanded tremendously, and she keeps singing “I'm a little tea pot”, “Twinkle twinkle little star”, “Bah bah black sheep”, “Five little ducks”, “Row row row your boat” and “Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree” all day long. She likes to hear a Brazilian CD with nursery rhymes, and when it is playing she might sing along. However if you just ask her to sing something spontaneously, it will definitely be an English rhyme.
I wonder what went wrong with my approach. Is it just a normal path for Babel families? Or have I failed?
Recently I've been quite sick and she has spent a lot of time with daddy. I wonder if it is a consequence of that as well. Surely as a mother (and with the Brazilian Catholic blood) I feel very guilty for not being capable of playing games with her daily, dancing and singing and counting… But oh well. I'm pregnant and facing tough times and that's how it is, unfortunately. I hope this will change, or at least it won’t stop her Portuguese language acquisition at all.
Time will tell.
4 comments:
No need to feel discouraged or guilty, it's just part of socialisation. You live in a predominantly English-speaking society, your daughter will favour English, especially at that age where she is discovering her identity, her peer group and her place in society. The early years of school are particularly tough for a non-societal language.
As long as you continue to speak Portuguese, even when she won't, you're doing your job. When she gets older and has visits to Brazil, sees Portuguese as part of the natural place of mum's country and mum's family, it will hopefully change.
As a native speaker of 2 languages and a near-native speaker of another, the dominance of each of those 3 languages has shifted several times in my life, and may shift again. One thing you can guarantee in life is change!
This is what I anticipate happening with Griffin as well--he's almost 2.5 years old and goes to daycare twice a week and loves it--so I'm very relieved to see TongueTwister's encouraging response!
I experience this with my son who is now 9. I try to always talk to him in Spanish, and ask him to answer in Spanish. Usually after school, english is all he wants to talk. Sometimes so much that he will say "never mind then" if I ask him to say it in Spanish.
Sometimes I think to myself it it's worth it to insist he talks in spanish. Is it better for me to give in and have him excitedly share his day... in english or should I be persistent and focus on how important it is for him to see the value of learning the Spanish language.
Thank you for being so truthful, it means a lot.
I am sure that is frustrating. Maybe when the baby is born you can try the "baby doesn't understand English so you must speak to him/her in Portugese." It worked with my son. If he wants to watch t.v. in English I tell him that we have to watch it in Spanish or his little brother won't understand. :)
Stopping by from the Blog Carnival.
Post a Comment