I know I just updated a few days ago, but I have more to say now.  I want to keep track of this!

I have been saying for months, "Was ist los (mit dir)?" which means "What is wrong (with you)?"  and Ryan finally said it!  Although he was repeating after me, he said it perfectly.  I might have mentioned before that he is having difficulties with his speech being clear.  I cannot always understand him and we are both frustrated, so I was happy to hear him saying something in German.

I had an insight into the situation with him.  Wednesday night at my class, one of the presentations was about the English Only movement, and he cited a study that showed when Spanish-speaking children were put into a total English-speaking environment, the result is that they lose their native language faster than they gain the second language, thus putting them at a real disadvantage in learning.  The native language is a bridge to learning the second language, and when the children lose their Spanish, it also separates their families.

So I started thinking about how I had just suddenly started speaking German with Ryan.  Whenever I spoke English, I would feel guilty, like I should be speaking German, so sometimes I just wouldn't speak. And he has matured a lot and there was a lot I couldn't say in German to him.  Then I decided I couldn't speak German 24/7 to him anyway, because that would impact our relationship.  It wouldn't be authentic, and it would impact his language development.

Then I remembered a post from Sarah on her blog, Bringing Up Baby Bilingual.  Here is her post: Once a Teacher, Always a Teacher?  I realized that I could teach Ryan instead of just speaking to him in as natural a way as possible.  He is four now, and we could have a German time, and I could teach him specific vocabulary and then incorporate it at other times.  Then it is not just me saying things to him that he doesn't understand.  I think this will work better.  And then at other times I will just immerse him in English, and hopefully his speech will get clearer.

The twins are still young enough that I can speak to them in German and they don't mind.  So I will keep doing that.  I have given up on teaching the girls German.  They don't want to learn, and I don't want to spend my limited time, energy, and money on making them do something they don't want to.  They each have a language they want to learn, so I will support that.  I am going to start doing more Spanish with Gabrielle.  A lot of what I do with my Spanish 1 class would be appropriate for her as well.

Now, for the twins:  I mentioned before that they always say "Danke" and "Bitte."  Yesterday I got Christopher some food, and as he walked away he said, "Danke."  I was distracted, so I did not respond with "Bitte" as I normally would have.  He actually stopped walking, looked at me, and said, "Danke" again!  Then I said, "Bitte" and he walked away.  He also was saying "Hose" (pants) over and over again earlier today. 

I also just ordered some new German books from Alphabet Garten.