“I ove yu” when he is giving me baby love.
“Hi!” in greeting to all.
“Tank yu” as he hands me his plate after eating.E
“Uh-oh” each time he or anyone else drops something.
“Yeah” instead of “yes”. Hey, he is American after all. :)
His only words have been in english so far whereas Sweet Bear and Petite Clown were speaking more French at his age. He does understand French, but he hasn’t said a word in French, yet. Today in the car, I was trying to get him to say, “Salut” instead of “Hi”. He smiled his shy smile and hide his face. When I wasn’t looking at him he’d say real big and loud, “HI!”. Stinker.
It is interesting how each of the children handle being bilingual. Sweet Bear and Petite Clown switch back and forth between English and French with no effort. Even Angel understands many words in French and is beginning to understand sentences. I, personally, forget which language we are speaking in half the time. I do speak only mostly in English with the children. There are exceptions to this rule.
We have decided to make Sundays our official speak in French day. The entire family will only speak in French on Sundays with each other. I think it is important for the children to hear French all around them at least one day out of the week. It is alot of fun and the girls adore correcting me.
Our Sarah, who just turned 2, favors English, too. We wish she had more exposure to French speakers. Hopefully one day. :-)
From what I’ve seen, when the father’s language is the foreign language, children have more difficulty learning. Some that I know are able to understand the other language, but not really speak it. I think it would be fine for you to speak in French to your son as much as possible. He will pick up English really easily at school whether he ever hears a word of it at home or not. Without question, all of your children will be English dominant. The more French they hear at home, the better!
Cathy, I wish you lived closer. We would be able to have a French playgroup.
Jessice, I think you are right about mothers teaching children language. Actually, I read about that while in college…my major was social psychology. It has something to do with our voices being higher and how we pronounce everything in a way that is easier for children to learn language. While we were living in France I taught them to count in both languages and to say their colors in both languages. I reinforced their French as much as possible. Since they were at home with me speaking English they needed that extra help.
Perhaps, we could speak in French as a family. And, when the children and I were alone we would speak in English together.