Every 6 months or so I write a small report on how is my daughter doing with her bilingual skills. She is two and half now which means it is time for me to tell you about her progress:
PS: For part 1 click here, part 2 click here and part 3 click here
I don’t know how else to start than by saying that it’s been going really great. Although I do not use the strange O.P.O.L. (One Parent One Language) method with her, my daughter has no problem understanding and also speaking Czech. She actually says whole sentences like a real human now! I will give you an example: we are in the grocery store and Hanicka points at some lady and says: “Pani ma velke brisko” (Lady has a big belly) or she points at some poor lady with graying hair and exclaims “To je babika!” (That’s grandma!). From practical reasons you can see that it is VERY advantageous she speaks Czech with me in public otherwise we would be in a big trouble. Instead, the big bellied lady and the other woman with graying hair are just pleasantly smiling at me, probably admiring how culturally diverse my family is.
When we are at a playground with other American kids she has no problem switching to English once she realizes that we are socializing with the English-speaking fellows. If I switch into English, she gets the hint really quickly and goes on speaking English as well. My husband marvels on how well she switches to English when he is around. Once in a while she starts talking to him in Czech but in a couple of seconds she switches back. Now, get this: when I tell Hahna in Czech “Jdi rict tatovi, ze je hotova vecere” (Go tell daddy that dinner is ready), she walks up to her dad and says “Daddy, dinner is ready”. She instantly translates it in her head without me telling her anything! I was pretty excited about that one. (more…)
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