I used that phrase alot with my oldest. I had more time and patience then (7 yrs ago!). If he would ask for something in Chinese, I would say "how does mommy say that?" to get the English out of him. My oldest would look at me, turn and go ask his father in Chinese. My ds2 looks at me with pitiful eyes, smiles and says really sweet "I don't know Mom." Ds3 who is almost 2yr say "Mommy" or "hmmmm".
At our house it is so easy to say "Would you pass me the roh?" meaning would you pass me the meat. More than once I have caught myself saying "Do you want apple or shi gwa?"--do you want apple or watermelon? Yes, we are mixers, mixing up the languages really bad!! no wonder my sons give me strange looks sometimes.
Why are we bilingual? well, dh is Chinese, I am American. We live in Taiwan and MUST know how to speak Chinese. BUT they need to speak English too so to be able to communicate with their relatives and when we go back to the states. Really, in today's time, probably only American kids grow up with one language. Actually the kids here in Taiwan are required to have English and native language (aborigine, Taiwanese or Hakka) lessons each week, in addition to their normal Chinese classes.
Where does that leave us? well, for homeschooling, we have Chinese class (a must), English class (only in English) and math in both languages. So this is how a math lesson would go:
Me(M): so if we subtract nine from 25 what do we get?
Josh (J): shemma?(what?) 25 minus nine?
M: Yes, dear, that's right....25 minus nine?
J:25 jian(minus) nine equals...ummmmm.....wo dzai shiang....(I am thinking)
M: ok, keep thinking...25 MINUS nine...
J: oh jr dao le(oh, I know)....25 minus 9 equal shr liou..
M: (giving the WHAT? look)
J: I mean, 16.
We won't even go into science or music ok. He knows I understand Chinese, so why bother....all of them are like that really. My ds2 speaks more Chinese to me than English. I get many comments from Chinese like....Can't your sons speak English? ....see, I speak to them in English, they answer in Chinese. Narration is like that too. We read a story in English, I ask questions in English, he responds in Chinese with English vocabulary every here and there.
Well, I am not worried though. In an all English speaking atmosphere, they do pretty good, it catches up to them. Bilingual homeschooling is definetly not easy, but well worth it. They appreciate languages so much more, one word can MEAN something, it's not just a word. They will have better listening skills (I hope) because tonations and the way something is said in one language could mean something different in another. Culture, they will learn to appreciate other cultures. Most importantly, they will have the ability to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to many more people than if they were monolingual..........what a gift!!!
Comments
May. 11, 2006 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Olya Howard
Wow, so this is what we're in for?! We are actually Russian-American family living in Slovenia. So what do we do then?! English is so much easier than Russian and I am a little bit worried that my son (19 mos now) and whatever other kids we have will prefer English, just because imagine saying "mashina" instead of "car", "myachik" instead of ball etc. He is already speaking mostly English...but I don't want to loose hope :) He does understand everything I say in Russian.
Thank you for the post. Certainly A LOT to think about.
Hey, as an expert, do you find that bilingual kids talk later?! I had a post on that, if you have time http://amazingjourneys.blogspot.com/2006/04/that-language-stuff.html
Well thanks again!
Blessings
Olya
May. 11, 2006 - loved this post
Posted by Jimmie
Great! We use lots of Chinglish around here too. DD just gets a huge kick out of it, and our bilingual friends who can understand also crack up at how we mix up the language. Some words are just better expressed in one language than another! It's just to much ma fan (trouble) to use one language. Two gives your communication a richer quality!
I notice that your pin yin is really different from ours. I am able to sound it out and know what you're typing, but we don't spell that way.
shen me
wo zai xiang
shi liu
zhi dao
Interesting! I am so glad that DD is learning Chinese! I think it enriches her communication skills all around. I remember at one point she would often say things like "take off bu liao" (can't take off). cute
May. 16, 2006 - sounds like us
Posted by SweetHomeTennessee
When we lived in Honduras and spoke SPANGLISH most of the time. Now we're back in the States, where it sometimes is just easier to get your point across in another language.
~Betsy