Comments on: How to have a bilingual child / Jak vychovat dvojjazycne dite http://czechmatediary.com/2008/07/28/how-to-have-a-bilingual-child/ Small Bohemian Steps to World Domination.... Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:17:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: The most popular posts of 2008 / Nejpopularnejsi clanky za rok 2008 | Czechmatediaryhttp://czechmatediary.com/2008/07/28/how-to-have-a-bilingual-child/comment-page-1/#comment-19634 The most popular posts of 2008 / Nejpopularnejsi clanky za rok 2008 | Czechmatediary Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:36:16 +0000 http://czechmatediary.com/2008/07/28/how-to-have-a-bilingual-child/#comment-19634 [...] How to have a bilingual child [...] [...] How to have a bilingual child [...]

]]> By: Czechs invade Sidney / Cesi se vrhnou na Sidney | Czechmatediaryhttp://czechmatediary.com/2008/07/28/how-to-have-a-bilingual-child/comment-page-1/#comment-18959 Czechs invade Sidney / Cesi se vrhnou na Sidney | Czechmatediary Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:59:05 +0000 http://czechmatediary.com/2008/07/28/how-to-have-a-bilingual-child/#comment-18959 [...] and 3 Slovak ones. The major focus will be teaching  kids how to speak fluently via the so-called total immersion method where the language will be taught only in Czech/Slovak language itself. Another focus of these [...] [...] and 3 Slovak ones. The major focus will be teaching  kids how to speak fluently via the so-called total immersion method where the language will be taught only in Czech/Slovak language itself. Another focus of these [...]

]]> By: Tanjahttp://czechmatediary.com/2008/07/28/how-to-have-a-bilingual-child/comment-page-1/#comment-16374 Tanja Tue, 10 Mar 2009 04:07:54 +0000 http://czechmatediary.com/2008/07/28/how-to-have-a-bilingual-child/#comment-16374 That's interesting, so I guess it happens everywhere the same way. From what I have heard and what people told me from their personal experiences, although both (!!) parents speak the language (or just one parent does), the culture that surrounds the children pretty much ends up 'winning'. But then people say the same thing as you: once they go back to Czech they end up picking the language up really fast - so there is a hope!! That’s interesting, so I guess it happens everywhere the same way. From what I have heard and what people told me from their personal experiences, although both (!!) parents speak the language (or just one parent does), the culture that surrounds the children pretty much ends up ‘winning’. But then people say the same thing as you: once they go back to Czech they end up picking the language up really fast – so there is a hope!!

]]> By: Vlastimilhttp://czechmatediary.com/2008/07/28/how-to-have-a-bilingual-child/comment-page-1/#comment-16373 Vlastimil Tue, 10 Mar 2009 03:01:51 +0000 http://czechmatediary.com/2008/07/28/how-to-have-a-bilingual-child/#comment-16373 I don't qualify as a mom (even if some of them have similar moustach to mine) , but I have also experiences to share. I am Czech, my wife is Russian and my children grew up in Sweden. So they had to learn 3 languages at the same time. They picked the Swedish language very quickly, and indeed, you have to be consistent in talking to your kids in your language. I talked to my kids in Czech, my wife talked to my kids in Russian and they got tired of switching between Russian and Czech depending who talks to them, so they started to respond solely in Swedish. Anyway, one evening I was reading children stories in Czech and another evening my wife read stories in Russian. So they got good a foundation, even if only a passive one. We already gave up and thought that our children will never speak Czech or Russian. When we came to visit Prague after 1989, we were very surprised to learn, that our kids spoke almost fluent Czech with their Czech speaking relatives ! But now, when we live in USA, if somebody listens to our family conversation he/she has very slim chance to understand us. Only a person understanding Czech, Russian, Swedish and English at the same time, can make sense of our conversation. We simply got lazy and each member of family is switching between all those languages like TV channels :)) I don’t qualify as a mom (even if some of them have similar moustach to mine) , but I have also experiences to share. I am Czech, my wife is Russian and my children grew up in Sweden. So they had to learn 3 languages at the same time. They picked the Swedish language very quickly, and indeed, you have to be consistent in talking to your kids in your language. I talked to my kids in Czech, my wife talked to my kids in Russian and they got tired of switching between Russian and Czech depending who talks to them, so they started to respond solely in Swedish. Anyway, one evening I was reading children stories in Czech and another evening my wife read stories in Russian. So they got good a foundation, even if only a passive one. We already gave up and thought that our children will never speak Czech or Russian. When we came to visit Prague after 1989, we were very surprised to learn, that our kids spoke almost fluent Czech with their Czech speaking relatives !
But now, when we live in USA, if somebody listens to our family conversation he/she has very slim chance to understand us. Only a person understanding Czech, Russian, Swedish and English at the same time, can make sense of our conversation. We simply got lazy and each member of family is switching between all those languages like TV channels :) )

]]> By: Tanjahttp://czechmatediary.com/2008/07/28/how-to-have-a-bilingual-child/comment-page-1/#comment-16115 Tanja Sun, 22 Feb 2009 06:29:19 +0000 http://czechmatediary.com/2008/07/28/how-to-have-a-bilingual-child/#comment-16115 Hi Janney,your English is great for just 1 month spent in the US! Congrats! In 6 months you will be writing books..I completely agree with you, I could not steal away those precious moments from my husband; I mean all those little jokes and and everything....I also think that it is not good for the child, the child does not feel like the parents are a unity and therefore it leaves him feeling a bit insecure - that is my point of view anyway... You can get DVDs at "czech-books.com"; they are kind of expensive though! The best thing is to find Czech friends in the neighborhood so they can make you copies :) Or just ask your parents :)) Hi Janney,

your English is great for just 1 month spent in the US! Congrats! In 6 months you will be writing books..

I completely agree with you, I could not steal away those precious moments from my husband; I mean all those little jokes and and everything….I also think that it is not good for the child, the child does not feel like the parents are a unity and therefore it leaves him feeling a bit insecure – that is my point of view anyway…
You can get DVDs at “czech-books.com”; they are kind of expensive though! The best thing is to find Czech friends in the neighborhood so they can make you copies :)
Or just ask your parents :) )

]]> By: janneyhttp://czechmatediary.com/2008/07/28/how-to-have-a-bilingual-child/comment-page-1/#comment-16111 janney Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:38:07 +0000 http://czechmatediary.com/2008/07/28/how-to-have-a-bilingual-child/#comment-16111 Hi everyone. I liked your post and I think it is really important to talk to our babies in czech when it's possible.But also I don't see the joy of parenthood if I would talk to her only in czech when my partner is around ( english speaking) So i agree. My one year old doughter spen her first 11 months back in prague. he has only czech speakers around ( american daddy only from the begining of her life and than on a phone) Now, whn e are in USA, I continue to speak to her in czech when I am talking to you, but sure sometimes I peak english, bcause I want daddy to understand. I feel like he would't know what kind of relation ship I ave with her and what a mom I am.He would totally miss all the cute jokes and thing like that. Sure I talk to her in czech and it is still the more simple language for me ( I am here for a month), but sometimes - when we play together as a family,we talk in english.or we shoing her pictures with animals, when I say the zech name and daddy the english name of it. How I said - I want to share the gift of parenthood with him. I wish my doughter to take a both languages as her native - it is my bigest wish.But it is not possible to force it all the time I think:-) I think some things we learn just how the time goes same as like with taking care of our newborn. But I welcom any advices and experiences. I would like to buy some fairy tales as a "Krtecek" on DVD - is it possible to get it somewhere in US? Thank you and I wish you all best - Your doughter is really cute.:-) I am sorry for MY ENGLISH for change:-) Hi everyone. I liked your post and I think it is really important to talk to our babies in czech when it’s possible.But also I don’t see the joy of parenthood if I would talk to her only in czech when my partner is around ( english speaking) So i agree.
My one year old doughter spen her first 11 months back in prague. he has only czech speakers around ( american daddy only from the begining of her life and than on a phone)
Now, whn e are in USA, I continue to speak to her in czech when I am talking to you, but sure sometimes I peak english, bcause I want daddy to understand. I feel like he would’t know what kind of relation ship I ave with her and what a mom I am.He would totally miss all the cute jokes and thing like that.
Sure I talk to her in czech and it is still the more simple language for me ( I am here for a month), but sometimes – when we play together as a family,we talk in english.or we shoing her pictures with animals, when I say the zech name and daddy the english name of it. How I said – I want to share the gift of parenthood with him.
I wish my doughter to take a both languages as her native – it is my bigest wish.But it is not possible to force it all the time I think:-)
I think some things we learn just how the time goes same as like with taking care of our newborn.
But I welcom any advices and experiences.
I would like to buy some fairy tales as a “Krtecek” on DVD – is it possible to get it somewhere in US?
Thank you and I wish you all best – Your doughter is really cute.:-)
I am sorry for MY ENGLISH for change:-)

]]> By: janneyhttp://czechmatediary.com/2008/07/28/how-to-have-a-bilingual-child/comment-page-1/#comment-16110 janney Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:36:40 +0000 http://czechmatediary.com/2008/07/28/how-to-have-a-bilingual-child/#comment-16110 Hi everyone. I liked your post and I think it is really important to talk to our babies in czech when it's possible.But also I don't see the joy of parenthood if I would talk to her only in czech when my partner is around ( english speaking) So i agree. My one year old doughter spen her first 11 months back in prague. he has only czech speakers around ( american daddy only from the begining of her life and than on a phone) Now, whn e are in USA, I continue to speak to her in czech when I am talking to you, but sure sometimes I peak english, bcause I want daddy to understand. I feel like he would't know what kind of relation ship I ave with her and what a mom I am.He would totally miss all the cute jokes and thing like that. Sure I talk to her in czech and it is still the more simple language for me ( I am here for a month), but sometimes - when we play together as a family,we talk in english.or we shoing her pictures with animals, when I say the zech name and daddy the english name of it. How I said - I want to share the gift of parenthood with him. I wish my doughter to take a both languages as her native - it is my bigest wish.But it is not possible to force it all the time I think:-) I think some things we learn just how the time goes same as like with taking care of our newborn. But I welcom any advices and experiences. I would like to buy some fairy tales as a "Krtecek" on DVD - is it possible to get it somewhere in US? Thank you and I wish you all best - Your doughter is really cute.:-) I am sorry for my english for change :-) I came month ago so I am on very low level - exspecially with writing:-) Hi everyone. I liked your post and I think it is really important to talk to our babies in czech when it’s possible.But also I don’t see the joy of parenthood if I would talk to her only in czech when my partner is around ( english speaking) So i agree.
My one year old doughter spen her first 11 months back in prague. he has only czech speakers around ( american daddy only from the begining of her life and than on a phone)
Now, whn e are in USA, I continue to speak to her in czech when I am talking to you, but sure sometimes I peak english, bcause I want daddy to understand. I feel like he would’t know what kind of relation ship I ave with her and what a mom I am.He would totally miss all the cute jokes and thing like that.
Sure I talk to her in czech and it is still the more simple language for me ( I am here for a month), but sometimes – when we play together as a family,we talk in english.or we shoing her pictures with animals, when I say the zech name and daddy the english name of it. How I said – I want to share the gift of parenthood with him.
I wish my doughter to take a both languages as her native – it is my bigest wish.But it is not possible to force it all the time I think:-)
I think some things we learn just how the time goes same as like with taking care of our newborn.
But I welcom any advices and experiences.
I would like to buy some fairy tales as a “Krtecek” on DVD – is it possible to get it somewhere in US?
Thank you and I wish you all best – Your doughter is really cute.:-)
I am sorry for my english for change :-) I came month ago so I am on very low level – exspecially with writing:-)

]]> By: How to have a bilingual child - personal experience | Czechmatediaryhttp://czechmatediary.com/2008/07/28/how-to-have-a-bilingual-child/comment-page-1/#comment-15694 How to have a bilingual child - personal experience | Czechmatediary Mon, 12 Jan 2009 03:51:00 +0000 http://czechmatediary.com/2008/07/28/how-to-have-a-bilingual-child/#comment-15694 [...] Most of the day mommy speaks Czech to Hahna: they read Czech books or English ones with  the manually added Czech translations in them. Mommy tries to speak very clearly to Hahna and repeats words very often. Sometimes mommy [...] [...] Most of the day mommy speaks Czech to Hahna: they read Czech books or English ones with  the manually added Czech translations in them. Mommy tries to speak very clearly to Hahna and repeats words very often. Sometimes mommy [...]

]]> By: Kimmiehttp://czechmatediary.com/2008/07/28/how-to-have-a-bilingual-child/comment-page-1/#comment-15047 Kimmie Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:45:23 +0000 http://czechmatediary.com/2008/07/28/how-to-have-a-bilingual-child/#comment-15047 Sorry, I mispelled the last line.Even though we come from two different cultures we are one family. Sorry, I mispelled the last line.

Even though we come from two different cultures we are one family.

]]> By: Kimmiehttp://czechmatediary.com/2008/07/28/how-to-have-a-bilingual-child/comment-page-1/#comment-15046 Kimmie Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:43:53 +0000 http://czechmatediary.com/2008/07/28/how-to-have-a-bilingual-child/#comment-15046 The real test is when we get back to the US. My husband will speak only Czech to my children. I plan to continue Czech lessons. I have a great Czech teacher here!! We plan to have lessons over the phone or skype. I must learn Czech!!! It is very important for me and my children to communicate with our family in Czech. Even though we come from to different cultures we are on family. The real test is when we get back to the US. My husband will speak only Czech to my children. I plan to continue Czech lessons. I have a great Czech teacher here!! We plan to have lessons over the phone or skype. I must learn Czech!!! It is very important for me and my children to communicate with our family in Czech. Even though we come from to different cultures we are on family.

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