Punk 2, who went first, said: “Der kommt weil ich spreche Deutsch mit Du! Und Englisch mit Papa!” [It’s coming because I speak German with you! And English with Papa!]
Not entirely correct in his use of grammar since he’s using the English sentence structure and has yet another pronoun problem (Du/Dir), but is very enthusiastic about it all, and one can definitely understand him. He also has OPOL down pat.
And Punk 1, not to be outdone, added: “Der kommt, Mama, weil ich mit Dir Deutsch spreche obwohl ich das gar nicht möchte! Und mit Papa spreche ich auch Englisch!” [It’s coming, Mama, because I speak German with you even though I don’t want to! And with Papa I speak English, too!].
So yes, the kids are fully aware we do OPOL and can explain how it works, at least in its most basic form. That Punk 1 has some issues around it was clear from the get-go – if you’ve been following along for a while, you know that she refused to speak German back in 2009 when I started this blog and on occasion gave up speaking it entirely. She has come such a long way, however, that nowadays it shocks me to hear her say things like this.
But for now at least, both kids understand that OPOL is what we do and, more importantly, participate in it.
6 comments:
My wife and I are trying the OPOL setup (her with Russian, and me with English). granted, our little one is only 3 months old, but never too early, right? does your husband know any German?
Hi Bill,
thanks for visiting!
Get'em young, that seems to be best, yes :) Just you wait, when Baby is a little older and can talk, s/he will dazzle you by all of a sudden spouting things out in both languages! Good luck with it, it'll be so worthwhile!
And no, my husband doesn't speak much German, unfortunately. That would make things much easier, I bet, but we make do with what we've got. His passive understanding is improving every day, but he still can't follow conversations or say too much.
(And now I think I'll have some Borscht! Heh....)
Interesting post as I have wondered about OPOL ever since I started speaking English to my son. Because for me the question is - how does speaking English TO my son but German in the family really work. There are so many occassions when we sit together and we speak, and yes, I may speak to my son at this very moment but really it involves everyone else around us. When his dad is there I sometimes still speak English then because I know he understands which at that point leads to his dad speaking English to him too because he understands and replies and I guess his switching doesn't work as well as mine (he speaks pretty good English but has some problems with intonation and accent). But let's say bigger family events with tons of people around and we sit in a bigger group and speak. It feels super awkward to speak English with him then because it leaves out everyone. The most comfortable are we by ourselves or around other English speakers.
Now - how strict are you with OPOL and do you really think it helps? Because as you may see in my blog, I often wonder if OPOL is really natural since I observed many true bilingual parents not using OPOL very strictly.
http://zweisprachig.blog.de/
Hi Sylvia,
I don't find OPOL natural either - but it's the method that works best for us, since The Husband doesn't speak much German.
I can also relate to you feeling awkward speaking English with Sohni in all-German company - I do, too, when we're at the in-laws and I speak German with the kids. I used to switch into English on those occasions while the kids were younger and didn't speak much - but now they expect me to speak German with them, regardless of where we are and who we are with. So I usually follow their lead and do it - and then maybe translate the basics for those within earshot. Which is still awkward, but at some point my kids' German is more important to me, so I put up with it.
We are not entirely strict with OPOL, however, and there are times I speak, sing or read English with them. I do try to limit that, though, as especially our eldest (almost 6 now, yikes!) easily takes this to mean that she can just speak English, too. So yes, to some extent I think being (fairly?) strict with it works.
Could you share a little more info about the people you know who are raising bilingual kids without being very strict with OPOL? Either here in the comments or over on your place, or email me, that's okay too.
I've got a post in the back of my mind on how OPOL plays our for us, my frustrations, surprises and all that - it might just take a while to get it all organized and out :)
Good luck with Sohni - and here's hoping it'll get easier as he picks up speed language-wise!
Und Danke auch für Deinen Besuch hier! Bis hoffentlich demnächst!
Hi,
I`m not a native speaker, but speak to my 26 month son in English. We watch a lot of British/American cartoons and learning programmes, I`m also working to improve my English too. But I feel this is not enough, there must be some reinforcement. Our environment is bilingual Russian/Ukrainian, I`m not sure I could find any English-speaking playgroup. Wife and nanny both speak Russian. Do you know anyone who raises his/her kids in a foreign language? If, yes, what was the experience of such families and youong ones? Thank you for the post and reply, and good luck!
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