As a single-language, native English speaker I'm just blown away and impressed by this all. Ive always been fascinated by Russian and have tried several times (not like, in a committed fashion) to learn it and my goodness. It's a tricky one. I hope you find a trick that works! I imagine your daughter will be grateful one day that you put in the effort.
Thank you! In our case the difficulty is mostly psychological rather than having to do with grammar, which might make it harder or easier, I'm not sure which :)
Probably harder, speaking as someone whose brain constantly fights me for no other reason than it wants to be stubborn (and, ya know, insufficient dopamine, but I like to think of it as just stubborn.) 😂
That said, you've inspired me to hop back into the babbel app and get to re-gain my daily Russian study streak!
We are a multilingual family. Unless one can do a strict OPOL, it will definitely be a challenge. I speak Cantonese to my children, and English to my husband, so the children pick up this language passively, but strangely, my eldest son (5) decided he will speak English instead of Cantonese to me, and that also if prompted/hinted. I try to keep speaking Cantonese to him but I must say I've slacked too when I want to get my information across quickly, I'll resort to English (my first language aka my strongest one now). I grew up bilingual and use Cantonese mostly at home with my parents and some selected friends but we mix English whenever needed for e.g. discussing higher level topics.
I believe my son refused Cantonese because nobody else understands it when he used that except me, but with English, the adults in Germany do, and some other kids in English play group too (I cannot find any Cantonese play group here in Germany).
I think every little bit of exposure counts, the more input, at some point there'll be output. My son only started speaking English "properly" at 4, while he's been acing German at 2, so it was hard initially not to compare nor think there will be no hope! So for Cantonese maybe he'll start speaking it someday at 10? I'll keep chipping at that mountain till then!
Btw, I'm speaking completely Cantonese to my youngest (2) at the moment, hoping to have as much input before she decides as well which language she prefers, and my eldest can also passively absorb here.
My one more tip is, don't forget the books! Even if you can't find the books in target language, just translate on the fly or make up your own story base on the pictures. I read in both languages, translating German to Cantonese and English mostly in English. At some point, when they are older, I'll rely on targeted language movies. Nobody can resist a movie! XD
"I'm speaking completely Cantonese to my youngest (2) at the moment, hoping to have as much input before she decides as well which language she prefers, and my eldest can also passively absorb here." That's exactly what I did with my daughter when she was a baby: I spoke Hebrew to her (because we lived in England and she wouldn't have learned this language from anywhere else) hoping my son would absorb something too. It's complicated when there is more languages than adults in the family :) But I guess in the end it's worth the effort!
As a single-language, native English speaker I'm just blown away and impressed by this all. Ive always been fascinated by Russian and have tried several times (not like, in a committed fashion) to learn it and my goodness. It's a tricky one. I hope you find a trick that works! I imagine your daughter will be grateful one day that you put in the effort.
Thank you! In our case the difficulty is mostly psychological rather than having to do with grammar, which might make it harder or easier, I'm not sure which :)
Probably harder, speaking as someone whose brain constantly fights me for no other reason than it wants to be stubborn (and, ya know, insufficient dopamine, but I like to think of it as just stubborn.) 😂
That said, you've inspired me to hop back into the babbel app and get to re-gain my daily Russian study streak!
Yay! I'm glad I've inspired you :)
One packet of Doritos per sentence? I’ll speak Russian for you Tanya! 🤣
Oh good! At least someone will :)
We are a multilingual family. Unless one can do a strict OPOL, it will definitely be a challenge. I speak Cantonese to my children, and English to my husband, so the children pick up this language passively, but strangely, my eldest son (5) decided he will speak English instead of Cantonese to me, and that also if prompted/hinted. I try to keep speaking Cantonese to him but I must say I've slacked too when I want to get my information across quickly, I'll resort to English (my first language aka my strongest one now). I grew up bilingual and use Cantonese mostly at home with my parents and some selected friends but we mix English whenever needed for e.g. discussing higher level topics.
I believe my son refused Cantonese because nobody else understands it when he used that except me, but with English, the adults in Germany do, and some other kids in English play group too (I cannot find any Cantonese play group here in Germany).
I think every little bit of exposure counts, the more input, at some point there'll be output. My son only started speaking English "properly" at 4, while he's been acing German at 2, so it was hard initially not to compare nor think there will be no hope! So for Cantonese maybe he'll start speaking it someday at 10? I'll keep chipping at that mountain till then!
Btw, I'm speaking completely Cantonese to my youngest (2) at the moment, hoping to have as much input before she decides as well which language she prefers, and my eldest can also passively absorb here.
My one more tip is, don't forget the books! Even if you can't find the books in target language, just translate on the fly or make up your own story base on the pictures. I read in both languages, translating German to Cantonese and English mostly in English. At some point, when they are older, I'll rely on targeted language movies. Nobody can resist a movie! XD
"I'm speaking completely Cantonese to my youngest (2) at the moment, hoping to have as much input before she decides as well which language she prefers, and my eldest can also passively absorb here." That's exactly what I did with my daughter when she was a baby: I spoke Hebrew to her (because we lived in England and she wouldn't have learned this language from anywhere else) hoping my son would absorb something too. It's complicated when there is more languages than adults in the family :) But I guess in the end it's worth the effort!
Yes the journey is long but someday we will get there. Those further in their language journeys have told me - just don't give up!