Salut, Je veux appredre le français. Il faut que je trouve des gens qui peux m’aider avec mes études français. Je suis un américain. J’aime bien la langue.
Pourqoui est-ce que c’est tout le monde écrivent en anglais? Mais, ou est le français.
It’s remarkable how easily the English is lost - I know someone who spoke a mixture of French & Eng to her baby (because she listened to ‘experts’ who had no experience of bilingualism) and then met a French man so mainly Fr was spoken at home. By the age of 3, the child really couldn’t communicate in English and now at 5ish, despite efforts over the last year to improve his English, it is pretty much a second language. To some extent, the damage is done as the early years are so important.
Hi, I have 2 children here in France, the oldest Alex is now 9, he was 5 when we arrived and although he could already read and write which put him above his classmates, he could only speak a few words of French. Now however he is totally fluent for his age and chatters away to his friends like a native, not that anyone could ever mistake him for one, as he is over a foot taller than any of his class mates (age 9 in age 12 clothing!), both he and our one year old daughter Amy, who was born her are blond with blue eyes. We really only speak English at home, because we were told that if you don’t they will lose the language eventually. We also have English TV! As for the teaching of English in school here, we find it a bit of a joke. I have asked Alex what he does in the lesson, ‘not much’ was his reply, so I said didn’t he talk to the teacher in English? And he said - ’ no Mum, she can’t understand me’. Why am I not surprised!
Hi Victoria
I think you should continue to speak English as so many of our friends here in France want their children to speak the best English they possibly can. Your little one is fortunate but it will be easy to lose excellent English, we know a couple of kids who haven’t got the same grasp of English as French even though both their parents are English as they didn’t make English a priority at home.
Suzanne
www.UK4Me.co.uk
UK Stores Delivering Overseas
Hi Victoria & welcome - it depends what your French is like? The recommendation is always to speak your maternal language with your child for several reasons - it’s more natural, you teach them the language correctly and you don’t teach them bad habits. However, it’s natural to speak the social language when meeting others so no-one is excluded. If he’s at creche then he’ll know enough French to get started at school and then he’ll be immersed in it all day so I wouldn’t worry. Maintaining their English then becomes the bigger problem! Good luck…
Hi all, I have a little boy Alex, who is three. He has been going to a crèche since September last year and will start school this year. Although, as most bilingual kids, he was a late starter, now there’s no stopping him! He’s now very chatty in both languages (depending on who we’re with) and even translates for me sometimes! I do worry about how I converse with him tho. It is just the two of us, and I’m not sure whether I should stick strictly to English or carry on as I am doing, often switching myself between the two languages? When we’re in French company I automatically speak French? I don’t want to teach him bad habits however, and I certainly don’t want his English to suffer. I will now cut my essay off (!) and leave it over to you for some tips…
Poor thing, should we encourage ours to adopt a French accent to pass their exams? 'Allo 'allo, here we come!
I expect her accent was ‘too’ authentic too…
Hello all,
this will probably amuse you. My middle daughters’ name is Juliette, just before the BAC she was marked down for reciting a verse from Romeo and Juliet (complete with sighs and wistful looks) because she spoke’ too clearly’ for the others to understand!
Solved that one by going into my daughter’s school to teach English as otherwise they aren’t getting any English at all in CM1. Only allowed to go once a fortnight though as otherwise it would be “regulierement” and therefore the paperwork would be huge…
In grade school, my older kids were always correcting the English teachers. It was pretty funny at times actually.
Catherine, if that wasn’t so pathetic I’d find it hysterically funny!
Off topic but indicative of how rubbish the language teaching generally is…
My middle one sat through six months of English this year in 5ieme before the teacher clocked she was English. Hello…very blonde child with English name who is rather good at the subject…
But, that is probably because the teachers pronunciation is so bad she couldn’t appreciates Tilly’s crystal clear British accent!!!
Thanks Lorraine. I sometimes feel like I should write a book about it! Here is the link again for anyone interested and I’d love to hear if anyone has a similar thing going on!
http://dailytiffin.blogspot.com/2010/05/no-language-to-call-my-own.html
I think I’d better let the other half know he needs to learn French Maths!
I find it totally ridiculous that a child is considered TOO GOOD to join the English European class! But then I am so down on the French school system and have seen and heard it all so this doesn’t surprise me. My younger son was in the English European class and eventually just gave up. If he raised his hand in class to answer a question the teacher would say “I know you know the answer so give the others a chance” and yet if he didn’t raise his hand they would send home notes saying “Simon doesn’t participate…he should be the motor of the class”. Damned if he did, damned if he didn’t.
On the other hand, every single year I would go and speak with each of my sons’ English teachers and explain the situation. Of course every single year they would tell me how fabulous it was that they were bi-lingual and tri-lingual and that of course they would understand if he either did or didn’t jump into the middle and try and answer every question but in class it was a different story : always either too much or not enough. Argh! Sorry to be a downer but we never got it right. One son pushed and always had 19 and 20 grades, the other gave up and got 11s and 12s.
Lorraine, Shelby here. I have raised 6 kids here in France and the best thing you can say to the teacher would be that your bilingual child does have English limitations in reading and writing. You should say also that she would be an asset for the class so the kids may ant to aim higher. She is good at speaking where the others will be poor BUT she would need the encouragement of other children as far as reading and writing goes. Please tell me how you fare.
Oh Lorraine yes I do as my son was in English European but have to dash so will take a bit of time to answer…
Hi everyone, Had to laugh, we all seem to be in the same boat don’t we especially about maths, my son who is 13 started school here when we arrived when he was 4 1/2, was a year or so before he actually spoke French but of course now he switches no problem from English to French no hint of an accent in either language.
We do talk English at home which is not what I really wanted but my other half and son only wanted to speak English even though we all speak French, which is a shame as it would have helped me perfect it.
My son Joshy, definitely prefers to read English, I have never taught him how to read in English as was told by numerous teachers not to as it will come naturally, and in the last year he can read it now as well as most people can.
But the maths, as a lot of you have also found was a real challenge, I had to learn how to do long division, multiplication the French way to be able to help, I never showed him my workings out in English as I thought it would throw him rather! I had to be by myself and gave myself a lesson on how to do them in French, now I have to think about the English way! LOL But yes the English way is so much easier!
I have to add that it served no purpose trying to explain to a confused kid an easier way using the way I learned because the sons had to know the French way and put it down on paper the French way or their grades would be lowered even if they had the right answer.