Language Development

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coccolone
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Re: Language Development

Beitrag von coccolone »

I think I would, look for a bilingual school I mean.
"You can't start a new chapter in your life, if you keep re-reading the last one."
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Thistle
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Re: Language Development

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Wouldn't seem like a bilingual school is in the cards for us :/ Didn't think it'd be such an issue to find something in Berlin :(
Bean (05/08) & Sweet Pea (12/11)
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coccolone
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Re: Language Development

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That's a shame.
"You can't start a new chapter in your life, if you keep re-reading the last one."
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coccolone
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Re: Language Development

Beitrag von coccolone »

Isn't there one near you or is it difficult to get in?
"You can't start a new chapter in your life, if you keep re-reading the last one."
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Thistle
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Re: Language Development

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It's a bit of both, really. There are several bilingual schools around (though not in our area) that look awesome - all private. After that, there are really only two schools that we could/would consider. One of them is overrun by applicants every year and priority is given to certain groups of people (that we don't belong to). I will apply for a spot in their entrance class, but I'm not holding out much hope at all. The other school I'm not so sure is for us - they require the children to be there until 4 pm every day. Don't think we're quite ready for that yet...
Bean (05/08) & Sweet Pea (12/11)
philomena
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Re: Language Development

Beitrag von philomena »

Hi, my older kids are now 19j and 15j. They were both raised bilingually, English/ German.
Wih Toby my eldest, it has always worked out and still does really well, as he seems to be a "language person" in general.
Cedy the middle son started to speak later in general, first had his "own language" which was neither English nor German. By now hes language wise an average child, just doesnt really like to speak English that much and doesnt speak it as perfectly as his elder brother does who sounds like a native speaker in both languages. So i figure it has to do with the kids individual talents and likings as well.
....and our little one is only 6 months.....no idea how the language thing will work out with him in our Scottish/English/German family;)
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Thistle
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Re: Language Development

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Oh, philomena, how did I miss your post? You're probably not even active on here anymore now :( We're also a Scottish/German family :)

Digging this thread up once more as Soph's key carer approached me yet again a little while ago, concerned about Soph's German. Let me just copy what I wrote to an English acquaintance of ours a few days ago...

I am forever insecure and/or unsure when someone talks to me about Soph's speech development. We're in a relatively unique situation here, as noone can even relate to the choices we've made and there isn't really anyone around who does things the way we do. Our family language and our childrens' first language is English. They are, however, exposed to German about 95% of the day, with us living in Berlin and our children attending a German Kita. Whenever people voice their concerns regarding Soph's speech development, they don't really know what they're talking about, as they haven't worked with children in a situation similar to Soph's. At the same time, I do not want to miss the point in time where it'd be best to aid Soph in her development. She'll leave Kita and start school next year in August, so there's just one more year for her to catch up with things. While I do see that she's made significant progress in English, I also realise that her German is somewhat wobbly - she has issues with general grammar, doesn't get her articles right ('der', 'die', 'das', a common issue among native English speakers). I can see that Soph manages to separate the languages in her head more and more and I personally feel all she needs is time. She sometimes uses sentences such as 'Why are you not letting me? I want to put it away, dann kann keiner das reaching.' I actually think she deals with both of her languages really, really well. Anyway, Soph's key carer talked to me again yesterday about the issues with her German and I've now made an appointment with a speech therapist next Friday. I do not want Soph to feel like there is something wrong with her, but I also don't want to ignore what her teacher is saying and just hope for the best. I hope Soph will be ok with this :/
Bean (05/08) & Sweet Pea (12/11)
Maia
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Re: Language Development

Beitrag von Maia »

Do you know whether the speech therapist has worked with bilinguals before? I think it can turn out to be difficult to find someone who knows what she's talking about concerning bilingualism.
Maia + grosser Sohn (12/05) + kleiner Sohn (06/08 ) + kleine Tochter (05/11)
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Thistle
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Re: Language Development

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Yes, actually. That was a priority when I looked for speech therapists in our area. They offer their services in three different languages and I specifically asked them about their experience with bilingual children.
Bean (05/08) & Sweet Pea (12/11)
Maia
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Re: Language Development

Beitrag von Maia »

That's great to hear. As far as I've heard, it's already difficult to find a 'normal' speech therapist (we've been on a waiting list since last september...) and I guess it's even more difficult to find one with an extra 'feature'.
Maia + grosser Sohn (12/05) + kleiner Sohn (06/08 ) + kleine Tochter (05/11)
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