Raising Bilingual Children: Note to Self
Something that I have wanted to write about for a while is the struggle of raising bilingual children.
I'm Danish. Born and raised in Denmark, where my family still lives. My children are Danish, even though they were born, and are now being raised, in Alaska. I'm raising them to be bilingual. It seems so simple when I write it here, but in reality it is a decision that I have to make every day; every single time I interact with my children. We are surrounded by English-speakers everywhere we go. J and I speak English together. He is 100% supportive of their bilingualism but doesn't speak Danish and so our communal language is English. When we have to communicate a united front to our three-year-old, the language is automatically English.
I have always been fascinated with the English language. I watched a ton of English-speaking TV (what is the word here?) growing up and I speak English almost without accent. It's incredibly easy for me to communicate and express myself in English and I have to remind myself to speak Danish instead - even though Danish is my native language. It's a strange thing to experience; your native language becoming your second language as an adult. I have such a strong Danish foundation and talk and write in Danish every day, but what about my children? They don't have that strong foundation already. They only have me. And of course their Danish family through internet and visits.
One of the reasons I decided to not work full time when Una turned 1, was that I want to be there every day to speak Danish with her. I want to ensure that she becomes fluent in her minority language. I speak Danish to her every day, but not exclusively and I'm not sure if that's enough. How do you know if you're exposing your children to the minority language enough for them to become bilingual? We listen to Danish radio and she watches cartoons in both Danish and English. We read Danish books and speak to Danish family every week on the "phone" (Facetime obviously). I also take my children to Denmark every year and my parents visit us here in Alaska. But the current fact is, my 3-year old who is really starting to creatively and beautifully develop her language and vocabulary, speaks 95% English so far. She understands me completely when I speak to her in Danish, but responds in English. She can repeat words and sentences in Danish when I ask her to, but doesn't do it on her own. That makes me nervous. I don't feel like I'm doing enough. I feel like I'm throwing balls at random in the dark and no one is fetching them. Okay, that might also just be how parenting feels. But I think right now is a crucial time for me as the Keeper of the minority language and I want to put that thought here, to challenge myself to help my children develop their Danish language skills and maintain their Danish identities, their maternal culture.
Una, let's do this!
Willum, keep your ears open!
I'm Danish. Born and raised in Denmark, where my family still lives. My children are Danish, even though they were born, and are now being raised, in Alaska. I'm raising them to be bilingual. It seems so simple when I write it here, but in reality it is a decision that I have to make every day; every single time I interact with my children. We are surrounded by English-speakers everywhere we go. J and I speak English together. He is 100% supportive of their bilingualism but doesn't speak Danish and so our communal language is English. When we have to communicate a united front to our three-year-old, the language is automatically English.
I have always been fascinated with the English language. I watched a ton of English-speaking TV (what is the word here?) growing up and I speak English almost without accent. It's incredibly easy for me to communicate and express myself in English and I have to remind myself to speak Danish instead - even though Danish is my native language. It's a strange thing to experience; your native language becoming your second language as an adult. I have such a strong Danish foundation and talk and write in Danish every day, but what about my children? They don't have that strong foundation already. They only have me. And of course their Danish family through internet and visits.
One of the reasons I decided to not work full time when Una turned 1, was that I want to be there every day to speak Danish with her. I want to ensure that she becomes fluent in her minority language. I speak Danish to her every day, but not exclusively and I'm not sure if that's enough. How do you know if you're exposing your children to the minority language enough for them to become bilingual? We listen to Danish radio and she watches cartoons in both Danish and English. We read Danish books and speak to Danish family every week on the "phone" (Facetime obviously). I also take my children to Denmark every year and my parents visit us here in Alaska. But the current fact is, my 3-year old who is really starting to creatively and beautifully develop her language and vocabulary, speaks 95% English so far. She understands me completely when I speak to her in Danish, but responds in English. She can repeat words and sentences in Danish when I ask her to, but doesn't do it on her own. That makes me nervous. I don't feel like I'm doing enough. I feel like I'm throwing balls at random in the dark and no one is fetching them. Okay, that might also just be how parenting feels. But I think right now is a crucial time for me as the Keeper of the minority language and I want to put that thought here, to challenge myself to help my children develop their Danish language skills and maintain their Danish identities, their maternal culture.
Una, let's do this!
Willum, keep your ears open!
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