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English

English

June 7, 2010

This is a post for all the times I didn’t post about this subject. I let it fall away. It was hateful. It was silly. It was so not me. However, I will post it now. Why do so many English people in Switzerland (and outside Switzerland) carry on as if Americans do not speak [...]

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Oxford First French Words book – Giveaway

November 21, 2008

Oxford First French Words (author Neil Morris) is a beautifully illustrated word book full of wonderful bird’s eye views taken from a typical day out of a child’s life. It is available in German and Spanish as well. Book description taken from the website of Oxford University Press (US): The Oxford First Words books give [...]

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My husband, the French

April 18, 2008

…was not happy that the French will sing a mostly English song in the next Eurovision. It is the first time that France will sing a song in another language other than French since the Eurovision began over fifty years ago. Read about it here on BBC NEWS. My French husband did what would have [...]

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Differences in American and British English

April 10, 2008

Spelling differences between American and British English

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American culture that warms my expat heart

March 13, 2008

I am not going mad. It is 1:30 p.m. in the French speaking part of Switzerland. My children are watching Cartoon Network France. Tom and Jerry to be exact. In English. Just like my brother and I did as little kids. It must be some sort of conspiracy to teach little French speaking kids English. [...]

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Wait a second…I am still in Switzerland, right?

March 7, 2008

I just turned on Cartoon Network for the kids. I heard, “You jerk!”, coming from a characters mouth. Immediately, I had a sense that something wasn’t right. It took me a couple seconds to realize it was because the cartoon was in English and not translated into French. It is the first time after living [...]

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Counting with your fingers in English vs. in French

February 27, 2008

In English, you start counting on your fingers with your index finger while in French you start with your thumb. I taught my bilingual children to count in English and French starting with the correct finger depending on the language. When they count in each language they switch their starting finger without thinking about it. [...]

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Language learning with Mama

November 5, 2007

Back in August I made a post about my bilingual children and language learning. I wanted to make the follow up post sooner but kept putting it off due to lack of time due to laziness. Now, I am making myself sit down and do it. While in college, during one of my social psychology [...]

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Mr. Clean’s Magic Eraser magically…works

October 19, 2007

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is a must have with kids. When we bought the magic eraser it was out of desperation. We decided it wasn’t expensive. So, it was worth a shot. I have bought things in the past that were supposed to magically clean away kids art creations on walls and furniture. None of [...]

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English is tough stuff

September 14, 2007

Everyone says English is easy to learn compared to other languages. I think perhaps it may be true in speaking small sentences. However, there are many words that must be pronounced a certain way and it isn’t always easy to figure out which way that is. So, I think someone that is not completely bilingual [...]

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Tutoring English

September 12, 2007

I have officially sat with my neighbor’s daughter twice to teach her English.  She is very determined and has already learned how to pronounce the alphabet correctly in English.  She has a French accent which is normal.  But, she works hard to pronounce the words like I do.  She is starting to sound American! For today’s lesson [...]

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Language learning with bilingual children

August 30, 2007

I was thinking the other day about how our children are completely bilingual. I am not including Angel in this post because she isn’t near to being bilingual. She knows some French words but hasn’t had enough time in a French speaking environment to become fluent. The girls are able to effortlessly switch between French [...]

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Steaming

August 27, 2007

As I sit here typing my body is still steaming from spending the day chasing kids and laundry. One day of laundry a week is great on all the days I do not have to do it. Today, I was not feeling it. Luckily, it was hot and my one dozen loads dried quickly. I [...]

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