Comments on: Ask An Expert: We are very confused as to which languages to use

By: berg balance scale

berg balance scale — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 12:20:00 +0000

berg balance scale…

[...]Ask An Expert: We are very confused as to which languages to use « SpanglishBaby™[...]…

By: Ana Lomba

Ana Lomba — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 22:08:32 +0000

I would like to clarify for the people not familiar with the language situation in Spain, that Catalan, Basque, and Galician are official languages in their regions, and the schools are bilingual Spanish/ the other official language, so the people that live there are completely bilingual and it is not at all like the situation in the US. Therefore, Albert and Claudia’s decision is not exactly like the one of a person living in the USA, where bilingual schools are the sad exception In these regions, bilingual schools are the rule.

By: Ana Lomba

Ana Lomba — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 21:58:28 +0000

I agree with Karen that the affective factor is important, but being a Spaniard myself and knowing that all schools in Barcelona are bilingual Spanish/Catalán with Catalán spoken most of the time in elementary school (which starts at age 3 there), knowing as well that probably all of your family speaks Spanish perfectly well and since your wife does not plan on learning Catalán herself, then I would suggest that the strongest plan would be to stick to Spanish (so that your wife can be an active member herself and since your family speaks Spanish as well), your wife to German (since that´s her first language) and to tackle English or another language as a foreign language. If you feel strongly about speaking Catalán, then by all means go ahead and do that. The worst thing you can do is to not feel comfortable with what you are doing. [BTW, if you lived in Madrid and not in Barcelona, then I would say that the best plan would be for you to speak Catalán to your child]

By: BethO

BethO — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 20:42:00 +0000

Also my husband started out not understanding really what I was saying to our son but he has been learning a lot of my language this way

By: BethO

BethO — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 20:10:54 +0000

Dear Albert,
My husband and I had only two languages to choose from, not five, but I still think the most important factors in our decision-making may be the same:
1. Family. Grandparents on each side are monolingual AND live far away. We wanted the child to be able to communicate directly with both sets of grandparents by phone as soon as he could talk.
2. Overall language development. I have seen the damage that was done to children I personally know, because their parents spoke to them when they were little in a broken language, not really strong and rich. It’s like if they are taught how to build a good tower from red blocks, later they have no problem using purple blocks, but if when they are little they are given only a small number of inferior weak blocks that can’t make anything, they have difficulty understanding how to construct things later.

Basically, I am repeating here what Karen has said, but I hope it may help you to know that we are extremely happy and confident about this approach. It’s working out really well for us.
I would disagree with Karen in one sense, that you would need to teach your child Spanish at home, so that they know it before starting school. Here in the USA most children go to school in English, and I know many, many, many people who have gone to school not knowing one word of English but within a matter of months get fully up to speed in it and within a couple of years you would have no idea. Sometimes by the time they are teenagers they can even become almost incompetent in their “home” language. Hard to imagine but this is what really happens. The school environment where they spend so much time, the tv and all of the culture around them will give them the majority language (English here, Spanish where you are).
I believe that your wife could speak to the child the majority of the time in German, and have French days sometimes. You could speak to the child in Catalan, and you & your wife could speak in English to each other. That way the baby still would get good strong development in German and Catalan, but be exposed to French and English, and the Spanish will take care of itself when formal schooling is started.
I can tell you that our son is absolutely not confused at all by the fact that Mommy speaks one language to him and a different one to Papa. For him that is just normal. Also I can tell you I have several good friends and many people I know through work, who grew up with three, four, five languages. I believe it is very important for your child to hear some kind of very rich, strong language from each parent the majority of the time when the parent is speaking directly to the child.