Okay Aran, You Win

I am still in the first level of challenges, a little over halfway done. I’ve been plugging through and hearing the little congratulatory schpiel after each lesson.

I really didn’t think anything much of it, decided I wasn’t retaining much because I couldn’t quite understand on command. I figure I’ll catch on at some point, just keep plowing through.

So I have a toddler daughter, and she is learning her ABCs, but I want her to have Cymraeg as her native language, rather than English. She is in “repeat and connect” mode at this point. She repeats what I say and connects what it means. I got a little irritated with mom, also realised I have to teach this child Cymraeg hell or high water.

I quit speaking English for the rest of her dinner and was amazed at the things I was actually hearing rolling out of my own mouth, and even better, I knew what I was saying. She began picking up on it as well.

You’re right. It works. I’m going to keep plugging along. And I’m also going to intentionally reduce the amount of English I speak to her as well.

-Sion

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I am fortunate that this also works with spouses :upside_down_face:

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OH! I just saw the avatar. That’s so awesome!! I used that same thing for a group on Deviant Art back in 2006. It’s such a beautiful thing.

And yes, it does work with spouses. Although right now it is almost like speaking a twinsie language, so she’s not feeling it at the moment. :stuck_out_tongue:

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There is a young family I am acquainted with here (in the US) who have raised their daughter like this. The husband is flat-out English-language American, the wife is Malaysian, another friend of ours is Chinese. When their daughter was born, the husband spoke English with her, the wife spoke her native language, and their friend spoke hers. The daughter very quickly understood that those were the languages of each of those people and understood all of them from the start, so that, as she has become a teenager, she is also tri-lingual from birth. It works, little kids are like sponges, and they don’t get confused.

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I approve of the title of this thread… :slight_smile:

:wink:

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