I’m raising my son using the one language/one parent method. He is nearly 2.5 and understands both English and German. He uses his own sign language and sounds to communicate with us. He now has three words, which you’d find in the dictionary.

I found your article interesting because it seems to indicate that a less rigid approach (one parent/one language) to bringing up children bilingually can work. It also seems to be more accepting of less than grammatically perfect language use.

My concerns, in contrast, to the linked article are the limitations of my German (as a non-native speaker), and accessing other German speaking resources for children. I use youtube videos and have bought children’s books in German. If you could guide me to further reading on bringing up children in a culture with a monolingual mindset, I’d appreciate it.

Further, I wasn’t able to access the reading related to relationship tensions arising from raising children bilingually. I’m finding this is the case in the relationship with my son’s Dad. He, btw, is learning German much the way our son is!

Thank you in advance, and regards,
Sarah

Thank you for sharing, Laura. When I met your son last, I really enjoyed using my French with him, but I was also conscious of the fact that his skills will soon surpass mine.
It’ll be interesting to see how your family negotiates these languages as he grows, particularly given your own linguistics background, and the competing language ideologies we’re surrounded by. The discourses around transmitting a LOTE by a ‘non-native’ caregiver presented this FLP decision as a positive move, informed by the belief in a bilingual advantage. Unsurprisingly, posters in the forum condemned the decisions of a non-native English-speaking caregiver passing on ‘poor’ English. It’d be worth looking into how the monolingual mindset plays out in a specialised forum on bilingual parenting.

Choosing to speak my second language (French) with my toddler has been challenging in some of the ways mentioned – particularly, worrying about whether I can meet his other needs (emotional, behavioural, social etc) as he develops, when my proficiency or fluency is not quite as high as my first language (English).
Another concern in our situation is how speaking French with him may impact the family dynamic as my husband does not speak/understand French. At the baby/toddler stage, this hasn’t been a major problem – in fact, it has mostly led him to picking up a number of basic expressions and key vocab, eating, changing nappies etc. Still, I do wonder how this may play out as our son gets older and our conversations become less one-sided and more complex in subject matter.

For my husband, who, when he’s not using his newly acquired French words, speaks Pashto with our son, a key challenge is the lack of learning materials or media that he can share with him to help his exposure. For both of us, going forward, the lack of quality language learning opportunities outside the home means that the onus remains on us to create learning and speaking opportunities for our son.