Monday 26 January 2015

OPOL still lives

November...has it been THAT long since my last post? Oh my...

I love this blog and want to keep it up, but my brain can only do so many things at once. And right now it's working on a cookbook for kids. I'm working with LittleBilingues, publishers of bilingual books for kids, to make an English cookbook to help kids learn English. It's so much fun! and a lot of work! and requires a lot of brain power...

But back to what I love about this blog...documenting my kids' bilingual adventures, both for posterity but also for anyone who may be raising their kids bilingual and needs some advice or a push or some inspiration...

Suzanne is turning 9 in May. NINE! She has entered the second half of her first year in Section Internationale. She loves Thursdays most because she learns in French, Dutch (30 minutes a week) and English (3 hours a week). The older she gets, the more I realize that English as Suzanne's first language was not a fluke. She has always preferred English, even though I am working and the majority of her time has always been in French. But as she gets older, socializes almost only in French and starts to appreciate reading more and more (she's always loved books. In fact, book was one of her first words!), I realize that the girl is just really good in languages. Her English capacity is beyond my wildest dreams. I never imagined that she'd be so fluent without spending more time in an English speaking environment, needless to say I never imagined she'd  teach her self to read in English! At any given time, she's working on at least 3 books...mostly in English! I think changing schools and integrating the section internationale was good for her self confidence for many reasons. But mostly, she realized that she speaks English really well and it's not bad for a kids to be the best at something! (to see stories on Suzanne's linguistic progress over the years, click here).

Max is 5 1/2 already...and he continues to be all boy. In the past year, he has discovered legos. And just as legos require a certain amount of structure and analysis, he applies the same logic to reading. Max can read better than Suzanne did at the same age because he likes systems. He's a very intelligent little boy with a lot of energy. Personally, I think he's bored in school...he's punished a lot because he likes to talk...A LOT. Max likes to understand things. And then he likes to explain the things he's understood to anyone who will listen to him. He knows everything you could possibly want to know about super heroes and is very proud to know all their names in both French and English.  You may remember that Max's English was a struggle for a while. But now it's solid. He continues to have a cute little accent, but like his sister, he speaks only English to me. And he uses such precise language in both French and English, which is part and parcel of his personality. The other day, he said, "Mom, I managed to ...something something." and that's exactly what he meant. He managed to do it. He didn't just do it.

This post from 2012 documented how each of the kids deals with bilingualism, fitting it into their own personal rules and order. And looking back at it, it all still holds true! I had some cool insight back then (when I had time to think about all this more!)

Some general observations I'd like to share, after all these years of strict OPOL:

  • the hard work continues to pay off! The system is so ingrained in their minds, that they have trouble speaking French to me when their friends are there
  • I am no longer scared of them speaking French to me because I know it's not a permanent thing.
  • authenticity is important to the kids. When they tell me what happened during the day, and what so and so said, they tell me in French because that's what the kid said! For them, it would be artificial to translate from French to English. 
  •  correcting them is frustrating. I was always so scared of them not speaking correctly, that I got in the habit of correcting them mid-sentence. This is a huge point of frustration for my daughter. I'm trying to stop it, and just let her go on, and correct after, but old habits die hard...
  • homework is challenging. At first, I did my daughter's homework in English. But I'm finding that sometimes, when it's a stressful topic like math, then I have to switch into French. And it's ok! It doesn't impinge on our English speaking at all. 

3 comments:

cmoi said...

You may not be blogging as much as you used to, but I am not reading blogs as often as I used to either, but I still like hearing about your kids' progress! I once told you a long time ago how my boys taught themselves to read in English in CP, right alongside French, and what a weight that was off my shoulders (I thought I would have to teach them!). And we are a non-OPOL household to put it mildly. So I am not surprised that your daughter has also done so, and done so brillantly. Bilingual kids are so smart! Also, doing homework in French is necessary so much of the time, nothing to sweat about. Now with my boys in collège, we talk franglais most of the time when going over their schoolday - How was the cantine? Did you get a mot in your cahier de liaison? What did you do in SVT? etc. That's what gives bilingual families their unique flavor. Good luck with your cookbook, sounds like a fun project, and a great way to learn a language too.

Reb said...

And you were right! Thank you for your advice because it has been helpful, when it looked hopeless...what SVT by the way???

cmoi said...

SVT is French national education speak for Science Class, literally Sciences de la Vie et de la Terre. Don't worry, it took me several months to become fluent in collègese when my boys started!

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