What a difference a year makes.

Holy  moly! It's been almost a year...I've been thinking about posting but never got around to it. Something to do with lack of time...

A lot has happened this year in the life of my bilingual children.

Suzanne will be turning 10 in 6 weeks. When I began this blog, she was barely speaking. And now, she's a fully bilingual young lady. She's thriving in the environment of the bilingual class at school. I can't say enough for positive reinforcement, of which there is not enough in the French school system. Her English teacher this year is amazing and I've told her as much. She's positive, full of energy and since Suzanne's English is better than the other kids in her class, she uses Suzanne as a helper. So that positive energy is really giving Suzanne confidence, something all little girls could use a little more of. (As a reminder, Suzanne is in the international section of a public school so she has 3 hours of English a week. This doesn't seem like much, but is so much more than she'd get at a traditional public school). The main issue right now is hormones and social issues. I've spent so long telling Suzanne that difference is good that she actually believe it. Yes! And now she's starting to learn to stand up for herself. I'm proud of the person she is becoming. But I'm not looking forward to the bumpy road ahead ie puberty.

Max has been more of a challenge. My little boy is turning 7 this summer. He's always been a bit anxious. But it turns out he's what the French call précoce, which in English is gifted. We've been doing a lot of reading up on what that means and basically he's wired differently than other people so his brain goes at light speed ALL THE TIME. That's why he's had issues in school in the past; that's also why he's always been sensitive (physically and emotionally) and that also why he was bored at school. As soon as we got the results, we went to speak to his teacher along with the principal of the school. His teacher was also Suzanne's 1st grade teacher whom, you may remember, was not the most skilled in dealing with child psychology. So when the principal offered to take Max into her triple level class we said YES! I'm happy to report that he is now thriving at school. There are still many social challenges, mostly because he prefers to be one on one and because he gets so emotional that some friends just don't want to deal with him. But he seems to be feeling fairly good with himself. He even read 2 chapters of a book in English. For the past year and a half, he's resisted reading, claiming he doesn't know how. But I know he does. And then the other night, I read a chapter of Little Bear and told him it was time for bed. So he asked if he could read alone. He spent the next 10 minutes alone in his bed reading out loud in English. I was amazed.  I hope that we can keep up his self-confidence because it's going to be a rough road ahead. The French school system doesn't adapt to difference...I realized last week that there are no handicapped kids in either of the kids' schools. So where are they all ????

In other news, I got my wallet stolen on a business trip to Germany. And I've spent the last month trying to deal with the frustrations of French administration. A good example is when the city hall called me to say the Préfecture needed a certain document to process my ID card; but the Préfecture didn't even ask for said document when they took my driver's licence request. Some things never change....

I will try to be more diligent with my blog. I'm working on a new cookbook at the moment. I think the old one wore me out. And the last year has been full of introspection, including a bilan de compétences , which was actually fairly emotionally exhausting. As I tell my kids, I won't promise but I'll try to get back here more often.

Second language literacy

This post from Bilingual Monkeys really caught my eye. Adam is an American father raising his kids bilingually in Japan with his Japanese wife. As I go through his blog posts, it constantly reassures me that my strict approach to my children’s bilingualism is the biggest ingredient in their bilingual success. Adam has also been really strict, maybe even more strict than I am!

I’ve mentioned previously, that I chose not to introduce reading in English until my daughter, Suzanne, had mastered French reading. This does not mean that I do not read to her in English or teach her sight words or answer her English spelling questions.  It simply means that I have not taught her about spelling and grammar and punctuation. I have not taught her that bout “th” or “sh” or the difference between “see” and “sea”.  But since she is an inquisitive little girl, she went and looked for it herself. In her own words, “I have a lot of questions in my head and I need to ask them”.

So during our recent trip back to New Jersey for Halloween and fall, I told Suzanne I would bring her to a bookstore to get her some English books. But during the week leading up to the big bookstore trip, Suzanne surprised me by reading signs all around her, asking me about words she’d seen in magazines and even reading entire books (easy readers) to herself! She wrote notes to her father and her grandparents in English; she played restaurant with her grandmother and wrote out full menus. And when we got back to France yesterday, she asked me why the word butter has a “t” in it when we pronounce it “budder”.

I am so thoroughly impressed with my little girl and her reading abilities in French. And even more impressed with her self-taught reading in English!

 

Although Suzanne is much more fluid in French reading, her English reading is coming along. As for her speaking, you would never be able to guess English was her "weaker" language just from speaking to her. Where her little brother has a slight French accent (not sure if this is an improvement over the Germanic accent he used to have), Suzanne's English is all me (ie a toned down NJ).

 

This week, we will be meeting with the director  of Ecole Sophie Germain, the public school in Lille which hosts the bilingual class my daughter will be going into next year (3rd grade/CE2).

 

PS If you haven't yet visited Bilingual Monkeys, you should do so. It's a fun and inspiring site for bilingual parents.

What I learned in my first year of CP (French 1st grade)

1. Elle peut être très jolie mais ça veut pas dire qu'elle est gentille (she may be really pretty but that doesn't meant she's nice) : Suzanne said this about one of the teachers at her school. And she's right
2. Just because the principal is an ex-wrestling champion and doesn't smile much doesn't mean she's cold and mean. The principal - who will be S's teacher next year - actually is much kinder than the kind-looking teacher she had this year
3. Don't expect to be thanked by the teacher...ever ! Back in December and January, I went into S's class once a week for 30 minute American lessons, real lessons that I prepared for, put my heart into and that the kids and parents really appreciated. The teacher never said a simple merci.
4. Once your bilingual child learns to read in one language, she'll figure it out in the other.
5. Just because your bilingual child hears the majority language all day doesn't mean she'll reject the minority language. In fact, S seems even more proud of her bilingualism now that ever!
6. Snacks are really important.
7. CP is scary- maybe even more so for an American mom sending her children to French school - but you can make up for the lack of warm and fuzziness at school with your attitude at home. As my husband so wisely says, he and I went through different systems and we both ended up in the same place. There's a lot to be said for home life.
8. Kids go at their own pace. S could speak French and English by the time she was 1 but she couldn't walk until she was 20 months. She may not have been the fastest reader, but she got there and she did it at her own pace.
9. Teacher gifts are great (but don't expect them to say thank you...)
10. If you ever think French kids have too much vacation time, I'm here to tell you it's well worth it. My kids are exhausted and need every break they can get !

Vive les vacances!!!!

Amazing...the power to read !

Of all the things my kids have done - learning to walk, talk, dress themselves, use an ipad! -nothing amazes me as much as watching my daughter learn to read.

This school year has been full of lots of worry, stress and patience. My daughter is far from being a stupid kid but she's a perfectionist who's scared of doing things wrong. So instead of launching herself into reading the way she did with speaking, she waited. And waited. And waited while her friends starting reading by themselves. (Ironically she was writing which seems to be a much harder skill!)
And I was starting to wonder (and worry).

And then in April, we saw the Matilda the Musical in London and she was inspired by the little girl who reads. She got home and tried to read. But then gave up.

Then one day about a 2 weeks ago, she came to me with a book in her hand and said she'd read 2 pages. Then last week, we went into her room to wake her up and her glasses were on, her light was on and she had a pile of books next to her. My little girl has turned into a book addict who wakes up in the middle of the night to read just one more page....she can't stay awake at school but she knows how to read!

From the bilingual side, it's amazing to see her transferring her decoding in French to her reading in English. I can hear her sounding the word out in French and then transforming it into English.

Amazing...simply amazing.

Some of her favorites : Princesse Academy (in French), La Famille Trop d'filles, Mademoiselle Zazie, any graphic novel she can get her hands on....

C.A.T spells chat

I'm strict and rigid. When I decide to do something, I do it (unless it requires food related will power). So when my husband and I decided on the OPOL approach to raising our children, I jumped in with both feet. From the moment I saw Suzanne (and then Max), I spoke to them in English. While they were in utero, I spoke to them in English. And the result is that Suzanne speaks better English than French. I attribute this to the fact that she has mainly had adult language for her English role model but has had baby French for her French role model. This imbalance has of course changed since she started school in September. She now speaks correctly in French and, to my secret delight, I've even caught her sprinkling her French with English words when speaking to her teacher and her school friends.

When Suzanne was first learning to speak, I ignored her when she spoke French. It pained me, but I did it in order to force her to speak English to me. The rule is that I never speak directly to my kids in French. It's a rule but it's also impossible for me to speak French to my kids (and my cats). I look at them and my French brain short circuits.

When I am with non-English speakers, like the nanny or the teacher, I say what I have to in English to Suzanne/Max and then repeat it in French for the other person. I also do this with Suzanne's French friends. I'm sure her friends will get annoyed at Suzanne's American mother later on, but for now they think it's funny to hear me speak English. And, so far, Suzanne isn't self-conscious speaking English around her friends although sometimes I have to remind her to speak French!

The same goes for reading. Suzanne is a bookworm and has always loved books (her second word after mom). Bedtime routine for both kids is 3 books and then dodo (one of only 3 French words I use with the kids). And since Suzanne is a book fiend, she knows which books are in French and which are in English and she knows that I will read any of them to her, in English.

Now that she can recognize letters and some words, it is becoming a problem. In fact, it already was a problem when she was recognizing a couple letters. For instance why was I saying A for apple when the first letter of the word was clearly a P (for pomme)? She can sight read some words in English (not sure if she can in French since I never read to her in French!) but it's always a little odd to see your daughter write C.A.T. and then tell her father it says chat or that M.O.M spells maman!

When we were at the park the other day, Suzanne asked me what the sign said. I asked her if she wanted me to tell her in French or English, which was a strange proposition for us both but I figured since she is interested in reading and can read some letters, I should make the effort. So, I read the sign to her in French. When I finished, there was a heavy silence, as if we both felt like we had betrayed ourselves and each other. It was a strange feeling to share with my 4 year old. Then, sensing the tension, I turned to Suzanne and said,"do you like it better when I speak English or French?" Without skipping a beat, Suzanne said, "English". So I answered, "Me too. I like speaking English better."

This has all got me thinking about how to teach Suzanne reading in English without interfering with her French. I've heard experiences from friends, read numerous books on bilingualism... But the bottom line is, I do not want to speak French to my children; I cannot speak French to my children. So how will I contribute to their education without confusing them?