This is part 2 of an interview I did with Christoph Oettinger on his experiences raising his children bilingually in English and German. You can read part 1 here.
Sarah: So what’s been the biggest challenge for you in speaking German to your kids?
Christoph: The challenge again is it sticks with me. I’m the one with the occasional grandma and aunt visit and such and there’s only one other place that I can think of really where they could get some immersion, and that’s really more of a class. That’s great and wonderful but the kids are learning all the time and to be in a more structured environment isn’t exactly what they want. The challenge for me is finding other opportunities. I had friends that were German-speaking and those that were English-speaking so I picked up those languages and I had to use them more because of that. You know, I had both parents speaking German to me and there was much more conversation. My language at home was German. Done, end of story. Where here, it’s both. And when children realize, “Hey, wait a second, Dadddy speaks it too, so I can answer him,” it’s the path of least resistance. So the challenge is finding more opportunities and some peers of theirs that speak German. And I haven’t found any around here. I find parents that may speak German but they don’t speak it at home, and it’s a little bit of the attitude, well, we’re in the United States now, we’re going to speak English. And I agree with that. My kids speak English and I want them to learn the language but I also believe that multiple languages are a huge advantage and if they do something with it, great. So the challenge is just finding other avenues to keep the language going. And that’s not easy.
Sarah: Absolutely, that’s a definite challenge, especially with German. With a different language, you might have more community resources at your disposal.
Christoph: Absolutely, and around here, Spanish would be obviously a much easier way to go about it. I mean, we have a lot of Hispanic families around and that would be a lot easier. And you don’t even have to go very far in suburban Chicago, you can find some Russian, some Polish, you name it, you find a lot more of those communities. But even the German community in Chicago is nowhere near what it was when we first moved here. The German community has gotten smaller. And that’s really because I think the younger – the importance of tradition and heritage isn’t there with my generation as it were. I think that’s kind of going away and that’s a shame, but I was kind of brought up very old school, to me it is very important.
Sarah: You know that’s like you said earlier, letting your kids know where they came from. That’s a big part of your motivation. What are you hoping for them? What are your goals for them to eventually do in German? Have you thought about that a bit? Where would you like them to be in 10 or 15 years?
Christoph: I do hope that by the time they get to be in those teen years, early college years and so on that they’ll have the ability to not only speak but to read and write. Would I be completely disappointed if that wasn’t there? No, I am very realistic. As long as they can understand me and don’t have the hang-up of gee, I’m going to sound funny so I’m not going to use it, that type of thing, I’ll be happy. In an ideal world, hey, great, go off to Germany or Switzerland or Austria or wherever you’d like where they speak German and you function. You just do and it’s very second nature. I want there just to be a certain amount of pride in being German and a pride in having at least a second language under their belts that just comes very second nature. I didn’t realize what I had until I came back to the States. And that was, gosh, it took me probably about another half a year, and I was a freshman in High School to realize, Wait a second, I’ve got something here. I grew up with my friends and their families at least having two and three languages if not four, five or six. My father spoke eight, so multiple languages as such wasn’t a big deal. It wasn’t anything where you go, “Hey, look at me, I speak three languages, four languages.” Where everybody else would be going “Yeah, so do we.” And that didn’t sink in for me until high school. So I’m kind of hoping that the kids realize “Hey, wow, yeah, I’ve got something special here.” That they won’t have the hang up if they do travel to a German-speaking country or someone speaks German to them that they can function. I feel perfectly comfortable traveling and going to a German-speaking or Spanish-speaking country and just functioning. I mean, I can do everything I would need to do – I can read, I can write, I can communicate. And that’s really what I hope for the kids. You know, that they just feel comfortable with it, realize that they have something special and just have an understanding of who they are. Because it is part of who they are.
Sarah: That’s beautiful. Tell me a little bit about their favorite books and CDs and DVDs. I know you’ve ordered from us a couple of times. Tell me about what they like to hear and listen to.
Christoph: Well, it’s changing a little bit. And I need to update a little bit. Where we’ve gone from Meine Sachen – you know the little flipbooks that they get when they’re you know, three months. There’s one my son I think has literally gnawed on. But learning simple words or now moving on to some of my old kids books that my mom when she came over brought with her, which are Du bist sehr lieb Charlie Brown. There’s a connection though because my kids, and my daughter in particular, goes, “Oh, Charlie Brown. I’ve seen the Christmas special, the Easter special.” You know, all those that they see on TV. There’s a connection there to a little bit more of a story now, not just pictures, for my daughter in particular. My son’s still says, “Hey, show me the plane,” but the other one that they seem to like right now at least book-wise is Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten.
Christoph: That’s one of the ones I remember getting from you. I think it’s Meine ersten Märchen or something. My son’s really getting into that, those animals, so that I think has a huge impact for him. We haven’t actually done much with movies and DVDs. We don’t do that much TV anyway, but I’ll be really honest with you – a lot of the dubbed stuff that’s out there that are a little more from US-based movies, I don’t particularly like the dubbing. A lot of the German that’s dubbed – and this sounds so awful, me being German – but German can sound very hoity-toity, almost elitist. The “hoch Deutsch” in particular. And that’s where the dubbing comes from. And I don’t particularly care for it. There are words actually that I don’t use in German because it sounds too funny to me. “Funny” being one of them – “Ach, das ist lustig.” Don’t ask me why, it’s something that’s always been with us, it’s been in our family, but my father never used it and trust me, my father was very old school. There are just – don’t ask me why – some words that we know them, they just don’t enter in our sentences at all. You’ll hear German German German German English word German. So we do a lot with just the books that we’ve got and I’m trying to think of one that we had that was a step above a magazine but it was definitely not a book. It was black and white, and we use it as a coloring book, actually, for both kids now. It’s everything from city to farm to animals to planes, trains, you name it and all the words are there and it’s just in black and white. We’ve used it as a coloring book to kind of, you know, go “Hey, let’s find the cow. What color should the cow be?” Again, you know, my son’s like, “Purple.” And my daughter’s going, “No, it should be black and white.” It’s the age difference. And so the argument ensues of which color we’re going to use. That type of thing works really well for us. And the nighttime stories. That’s kind of quiet time where I have one-on-one with my kids and my wife has her time with them and we kind of do the reading and cuddling and that’s when I take the opportunity to read the German books to them.
Christoph: That’s really kind of where we go with it. It’s the everyday. It’s just everyday conversation and even the English language books that we read to them, I’ll just translate them. The sentences – it’s not like I’m reading War and Peace – so we’re talking Curious George or anything like that where we don’t have it in German, I’ll just translate it. Being fluent in the language makes it obviously much easier than perhaps if you’ve learned and you really have to think about it. For me, it’s not a conscious thought process. For me it comes very naturally. And that’s just an advantage of having learned languages young. It sounds kind of funny to me but it’s not a thought process. My daughter right now loves Fancy Nancy. So I’ll just take the Fancy Nancy book and just read it, I may have to think about, give me another word for this that or the other you know, fuchsia. Fuchsia’s pink. And that’s just stuff that comes from being a guy. I’m not going to differentiate between pink one, two and three. It’s pink, okay. Things like that, there I have to think but other than that, the English language books that my children are reading, they’re so simple for me to kind of just go along and translate as I’m reading is not hard and it does make it easier access. Because they get gifts, and most people won’t think to get a German-language book because again, they’re not as easy to get.
You’re one of the few resources and it takes some Google searches to find somebody that has them. German isn’t the top ten, you know what I mean? So that’s kind of what we do. We have some of the books that we’ve gotten from you and then some of my kid books and my sister has hers so when they go visit her, she has some books there that she can read to them. But a lot of what we do also is the English ones and we just kind of have to translate as we go.
Sarah: I love it. It’s just everyday life and you just go with the flow and you’re just ready whenever the opportunity strikes to have an extra chat in German or to mention a color but it’s all just very natural.
Christoph: You nailed it. As an opportunity presents itself you just have to be aware and say, “you know, I could do that” and that’s it. I’m sure when you’ve been talking with the other parents that you’ve come across this. You know, you just take your opportunities where they are. It’s not like I do anything different than what most parents do in English to teach their children. With them, I’m lucky that I don’t have to split between English and German I just do it in German because that’s the way it is. My wife will do it in English. So why would I be doing it any different than any other parent would, I just have to do it in German.
Sarah: Mm hmm, great. I love that, that’s such a great outlook. Frank and straightforward – I guess if you don’t get enough of it today you don’t worry about it and start over again tomorrow.
Christoph: I’m not going to stress out about it. “Gee, I didn’t get my requirement of German in – gotta read two German books today” because they weren’t interested in them that day. That to me would be counterproductive to teaching them. You know, I want them to just kind of go with it, not “Oh, criminy, here’s Dad, he wants to read to me that book again. Ugh, this is so old, I don’t want to do this anymore.” It would be so counterproductive. Kids are the way they are and when it seems like a task, they’re not going to want to do it. “Oh, okay, that’s not the book I want, it doesn’t sound like when Mommy reads it, oh well, I get what he’s saying, he’s saying the same stuff Mommy does, okay.” That’s the nice part. If you start fretting over it, are the kids getting enough of it, the kids will pick up on that.
Sarah: So just be.
Christoph: Yeah, that’s kind of my philosophy “just be” (laughs).
Sarah: I love it! Well, I just have one more question for you. I was just wondering if you have any other comments. I think you touched upon some really exciting ideas. I know my customers are going to love to read everything that you’ve said.
Christoph: That or they’ll never come back to you again. (laughs)
Sarah: (laughs) No, no, this is fantastic stuff! Like I said, your perspective as a dad is so important. Moms can’t do it all themselves. A lot of moms can’t do it at all because they don’t have that level of fluency, so it’s really cool to hear these ideas from you.
Christoph: The other thing is I’m also a very different dad. My wife owns her own company; she’s the primary breadwinner in our house. I’ve kind of switched roles. I’d like to say I retired from the corporate world. I used to be the international sales and marketing guy. The last company I was with, I got to my senior level. I loved the international aspect of it. That’s been my life. I love it but I realized the corporate world just isn’t for me. Maybe it was just the companies I’d been with but the priority that they always put on international wasn’t there to the way I thought it ought to be. It doesn’t mean it’s right or wrong, it’s just the way they ran their business. I was just very fed up one day and my wife looked at me and said, “So why don’t you just leave?” I looked at her with this very strange look and she said, “Look, it’s not worth being miserable. It’s just not. You’ve not got to the company that has put the priority on international. Since this last company you’ve seen your entire budget go down to zero dollars and the expectations increased, it’s not an environment you want to be in. Quit. Figure out what you want to do.”
Sarah: Really?.
Christoph: I kind of looked at her like “But what else do I do?” You know, international business has always been my focus. It took a little while. I taught for a short period. Then I realized I kind of liked the kids. And I kind of want to be home. I’ve turned out to be the house-husband. I grew up with a very German mother so I don’t mind keeping house. It allows us to be together as a family a lot more. I mean I do everything from cook, clean, do laundry, pay the bills, and keep our life organized. My wife, owning her own company, has the flexibility so late afternoons and evenings are ours because the stuff is done. She’s worked, and so to speak, she’s brought in the money. The house is in order. The kids come home from school and “Huh, what do you want to do?” “I want to play.” “Okay, let’s go play.” There’s no laundry that needs to be done, no last minute bills to be paid, don’t have to sit at the computer and think,” Oh, I’ve got to do the laundry.” Because it’s already done. And so our evenings and weekends are truly family time, which is the way I grew up. It was my mom doing what I’m doing. The family thing is to me a very traditional thing. And this way the children always have a parent picking them up, a parent is always home, rather than having to rely on a babysitter. Or, “Oh, okay, gotta ask Grandma to come and do something again.” It’s usually Dad, but Mom or Dad, always a parent there. And that’s something I grew up with, I was lucky enough to be able to grow up with, and we’re able to give that to our kids. And it gives me a little bit more to them, and keeps more of the German going. So that’s the other side of things. I’ve, gosh, for almost 20 years, I did the traveling. I had more miles than I knew what to do with and so I did that. I loved it, I enjoyed it to a certain extent, but our household is just a little bit different. That contributes to the way the kids are growing up too. And you were saying, what other comments and such, it’s just kind of nice to see through your site and that interview you did, I think the first one that I guess I paid enough attention to go, “Oh, huh, it’s nice to know that there are others doing it.” But as you see there’s a common thread to the story. One parent is a German. The importance of having that aspect of the life there is what that common thread is. It sounds so silly, but it’s nice to know there are others out there. And I think we all face the same challenges, especially with a language that isn’t so, you know, so forefront for people. It’s not the sexy language; it’s not the language that’s the second strongest language in this country. It’s kind of a language you need a reason to be speaking. You need a reason for it to be important in your life. That’s usually because one parent if not both, are German. I wanted to just say, keep doing what you’re doing please. Keep providing the resources. Because that’s what it is, at least to me, it is truly a resource that you may not tap all of the time, but for me it’s kind of in stages. And I don’t know how many stages it’s going to be. We’ve found the books that we could read to them when they were young. Three months old, six months old. Now we’re kind of progressing on. It’s nice to know that there’s a resource out there. I’m thrilled that you’re just able to keep it going.
Sarah: Well, thank you. You know, it’s been really, really fun for me to do these interviews. I think you’re number seven or actually eight now. Every time I talk to someone I think, okay, there’s so much more we can do here. You know, people are out there and they need help and we can help bring you guys together and give you support and give you inspiration. Just a simple half an hour call, with you spending a little of your time with me, again, I think this was fantastic. I can’t wait to listen to the call again and I can’t wait to get it out there for all the other people who are interested. I just really appreciate your time.
Christoph: I appreciate you doing what you’re doing and more than happy to do it. Like I said, I like to talk and I like to talk about what I’m doing, and if somewhere in there there’s something good that comes out of it, I think that’s great. I’m just glad there’s a resource for me, to be selfish about it, where I can go and find the occasional book or movie eventually or things like that. That will help me do what I want to be doing, which is teach my kids German. I think it’s great and seeing that there are other people out there is just very encouraging too.
Sarah: Absolutely. Good stuff.
Christoph: If there’s ever anything else that I can help you with, or honestly, just please, don’t hesitate to shoot me an email or let me know somehow and I’ll be more than happy to help out if I can.
Sarah: That would be fantastic! I will definitely keep in touch. I want to hear how things progress with your kids. Sounds like they are off to a fantastic start. Thank you again; I really appreciate it!
Showing posts with label culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label culture. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Deutsch mit Papa (part 1)
Sarah interviews Christoph Oettinger about his experience raising 4 year old daughter and 2 and-a-half year old son bilingually in German and English.
This post contains part 1 of 2 of this interview.
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Sarah: I’m so excited to talk to you! I appreciate your time this morning!
Christoph: No worries; glad to do it!
Sarah: Where are you located?
Christoph: I’m just outside of Chicago.
Sarah: And you are the German speaker in your family? You grew up speaking German with your parents?
Christoph: I am, I’m the German one in the bunch as it were. German parents, grew up speaking German at home, and still speak it with my mom and my sister.
Sarah: Did you grow up in the United States or was it abroad in Germany?
Christoph: The short answer is yes… I grew up a little bit all over. I’m actually US born because my father was with the German Foreign Office and we were stationed in New Orleans when I was born. And shortly after that, it was back to Germany for about a year and a half, then to New York with the UN, then off to Argentina, then to Brazil, then to Chicago, and my father retired in ’91 with a mandatory return to Germany – well, not really mandatory – but at the time, with the exchange rate, that’s really the only thing that made sense. So my parents moved back to Germany, and my sister and I stayed in the United States.
Sarah: So you’ve been all over the place!
Christoph: Yes, I’ve kind of been all over the place. Lived overseas quite a bit and then my professional career kind of took me the rest of the way.
Sarah: That’s really interesting – you really have an international perspective to bring to your kids and to your life.
Christoph: Yes.
Sarah: So how old are your kids?
Christoph: My oldest, my daughter, just turned four and my son is two and a half.
Sarah: And are they speaking German back to you?
Christoph: Hit or miss, actually. I mean, it’s pretty normal, they get so much English, you know, outside of the home and they know that my wife and I speak English so most of the replies I get are in English but when I speak to them it’s exclusively in German and my son is using more of it, but both of them understand everything that I say and on the rare occasions where there’s a word they haven’t heard before, both of them will look at me and go, “Now what does that mean?” They know to ask if there’s something they haven’t heard, and my son, like I said, is using it a little bit more. He’s proud of himself when he uses something. I think, as they get a little bit older, they will begin to use it, because they know that their grandmother and their aunt also speak it. Again, they don’t see them every day, and I think I mentioned in the email to you that the opportunity for immersion is difficult. The opportunities are few and far between. So I’m not all too worried that I’m not getting a whole lot of conversation with them in German, I’m thrilled that they understand what I say to them.
Sarah: Well, yeah, I like how you have set it up so naturally. I’m wondering, if that was hard for you to develop that habit or did it just come naturally?
Christoph: It’s come pretty naturally.
Sarah: That’s one of the greatest challenges that I have.
Christoph: It did come pretty naturally. Again, I grew up speaking German at home. That was just the way my life was. And I’m grateful I have a very supportive wife who as such doesn’t speak it, although I think she suffers more from what most adults do – if they don’t do something very well, they’d rather just not do it. My wife was learning German before she ever met me, and she was learning it from Berlitz which was still using statements like “Gee, Mrs. Mueller, you have a nice skirt on today. Would you get me my cup of coffee now?” which made me cringe, but it’s easy from the standpoint that one, I don’t have to worry that the kids will ever use it to try to pull one over on mom because mom understands as much as they do if not more.
And as they’re learning, so does she. She knows that that’s what’s coming at her, and if there’s ever anything she doesn’t know, she knows that she can ask. So it’s easy from the standpoint that my wife is supportive of it, I grew up speaking German at home, and it is just ridiculously important to me. Unfortunately, I no longer have family in Germany, my mom immigrated to the US two years ago almost, and my father passed away so we have no one left in Germany and for me, it’s just important that my kids learn that part of who they are. It’s kind of who I am, so, as you can tell, languages come easy and I have very little accent in either one. It’s kind of just English-German, flip a coin, it works both ways for me. Having support from my wife to do it was kind of really never even a question.
Sarah: So you feel she’s kind of picking it up along with the kids, even though she’s not speaking it.
Christoph: Oh, yes. She’s picking it up as quickly as the kids. And again, like I said, she was on her own, before we even met, for some reason she was studying German through tapes and classes whenever she could. There was an understanding. We’d traveled to Germany when my parents were still there. Despite what my father always thought, “Go with her, go with her, she needs help,” she could handle herself in a grocery store, the usual type of thing you pick up on so you can get by. She would do just fine. It’s again, we as adults, rather than sound funny or make a mistake, we hesitate to use something but her comprehension is very, very good.
Sarah: Right. Well, that would really hold you back if you were worried about or thinking about something like, which case is this in? Which gender is that noun again? Instead of not worrying too much about it and just chatting, you get a lot further ahead. But it’s hard to do that sometimes, especially if you learn it as an adult.
Christoph: Right, and kids don’t have that, “Oh, boy, I’m going to sound funny” or “Boy, that’s going to be wrong so I’m just not going to say anything.” Kids, for the most part, they don’t even know to think that way. Even as kids start learning English as their first language or their only language. I see it with my kids, I know I did it, and I see it with my kids’ friends. They make mistakes – which are perfectly normal – they correct themselves as they hear it more often or get corrected in school, they learn it. And that’s kind of just the way it is. But they just “Oh, that’s just the way it is” and they toodle on about their business, and we as adults are the ones that have this “Oh, gee, I’m going to sound funny when I say that”, or “Ooh, that’s going to be wrong, someone’s going to make fun of me.” We’re the ones with the hang-ups. Kids don’t have them. So that is another reason it’s easy – you just talk at them, they don’t know that they’re learning a second language while they’re learning a first to begin with, it’s just that’s the way it is.
Sarah: So for your kids, it’s “This is what we do. The words that Daddy uses when he talks to me.”
Christoph: You got it. And that’s exactly it. My son right now is kind of going, “That Papa guy, he uses Deutsch” and “Is that Deutsch, Papa or is that English?” It happened last night. We had my brother-in-law and my sister-in-law and my nieces over. And my nieces look at me like I have two heads. It’s like, “Wait a second, he just spoke English to me and now there’s this strange gobbley-gook stuff coming from him.” And my brother-in-law is like, “What is Uncle Christoph saying? Is that English? That’s not English, is it? Do you notice that Ellen and Copeland are understanding him? Oh, isn’t that amazing, they speak two languages.” And Cope’s looking at them like, “Oh, yeah, I guess I am.” It just is, you know.
My biggest fear, and this is the only thing my wife and I talked about. I said, “I need to know that you’re comfortable with that happening because I’ll be damned if they start using it against you.” You know, as they get older, to try and get away with something or say something to her that they probably shouldn’t and she doesn’t understand it. And she’s says, “No, that won’t be a problem. I know enough to be dangerous.” And she does. It’s just the fact that boy, they may use it against their cousins or some of their friends to talk about them or who knows what else. As long as it doesn’t happen here in the home, I’m okay.
Sarah: Right. If they’re going to do that, they’ll have plenty of opportunities to do it, whether or not they know German.
Christoph: You got it. (laughs)
Sarah: Kids can be mean in all kinds of languages.
Christoph: I’m sure they’ll be saying stuff to each other that I won’t understand.
Sarah: That could be (laughs). That’s when the real trouble comes in, right?
Christoph: Wait for the teenage years.
Sarah: You’ve got a while.
Christoph: Thank goodness. I’m not ready for them yet.
Sarah: Although I guess it will be here before you know it, right?
Christoph: That’s what everybody tells me.
Sarah: I have a son who just turned 9 and -
Christoph: You’re wondering where the time went?
Sarah: Yeah, I can’t believe it. I was thinking the other day about the first set of books that I bought even before I had the business, I was thinking, gosh, we still have them around, you know, the kleine Ich bin ich and a couple different ones. He was a baby, and now he’s nine.
Christoph: As a matter of fact, we’re going to be having a garage sale here in a couple of weeks from our little neighborhood and starting to pull the books and I’m going, “Wow, I actually read this to you?” It’s like, you’ve outgrown that one. Okay, that one I guess gets to go to the garage sale. It blows me away, how much they’re capable of and again, they just learn so much faster than we do. Their brains are just taking it all in. It’s just a non-issue and they just kind of go with it. It’s not like, “Oh, gosh, what’s this? And now I’ve got to learn that.” It’s just “Oh, okay, let’s just go with it.” It’s an amazing thing to watch happen.
Sarah: Even at age two-and-a-half you see amazing things going on, right?
Christoph: Oh, it’s mind-boggling. It’s totally mind-boggling what they’re doing at two-and-a-half. I have to remind myself that he’s actually that young, because so much of what he does, to me, seems so much beyond but it seems perfectly normal at that age. They tell me, “Oh, no, that’s to be expected now.” And I’m think, really? Are you sure? I’d have trouble with this right about now. But their brains are just so amazing. So absolutely amazing.
Sarah: Just the leaps, right? From age one to age two? The leap in comprehension and what they can produce, it’s just substantial.
Christoph: It’s mind-boggling. It truly is completely mind-boggling. It’s like, “Wow, you can do that, now, huh?” From a language standpoint, we talk to them and the words they all of sudden pick up, in German or English and even Spanish, for that matter. They have it in school just one hour one day a week. All of a sudden they’ll be standing there counting in Spanish. I’ll say, “What? What are you doing?” “What, it’s Spanish, Papa.” “I know it’s Spanish, but you’re working on English and German, what’s this Spanish?” “Oh, yeah, Spanish too, Papa.” I’m all for it. You go right ahead, just keep picking up the languages. Whatever.
Sarah: Absolutely. It’s only going to be an advantage.
Christoph: It really will be. I don’t care what they ever do with their lives, I really don’t, my thing is, as long as they’re happy, but I know that over the years I was so glad.
Christoph: I just think that it’s such a huge gift that I can give them. You know, I’m fortunate enough to have multiple languages under my belt. Given that my father, who was a wealth of information, is no longer alive, and can’t share so much of what he knew with them, it’s the little thing that I can do to keep that German bit going and hopefully it will go on with my kids and their kids, but at least, I’ve done my part to share that with them. That was just very, very important to me.
I didn’t spend a lot of time in Germany and I don’t think I grew up German as such, I grew up very internationally – from my circle of friends, and we’re not traditional German in the sense people always ask me, “Do you eat German food?” Well, yeah, but it’s not like I have my Bratwurst every day and a Schnitzel as well. Yeah, I eat it because I like it, but it’s not what I make every day. And my mom never did either. For me it’s just let’s kind of keep a little bit of who I am, and who we are, going. Understand where you came from and if you do something with it, great, and if not, I hope it just gave you a little bit of insight into where you come from.
Part 2 of this interview is here.
Bilingual Families Wanted!
We are always looking for new families to interview! Even if you are not a native speaker of German and don't consider yourself to be bilingual, we'd still love to chat. It's quick, painless, and lots of fun! Plus, we'll send you a free book for participating.
If you'd like to be interviewed on our blog, please send an e-mail to thea (at) alphabet-garten.com
This post contains part 1 of 2 of this interview.
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Sarah: I’m so excited to talk to you! I appreciate your time this morning!
Christoph: No worries; glad to do it!
Sarah: Where are you located?
Christoph: I’m just outside of Chicago.
Sarah: And you are the German speaker in your family? You grew up speaking German with your parents?
Christoph: I am, I’m the German one in the bunch as it were. German parents, grew up speaking German at home, and still speak it with my mom and my sister.
Sarah: Did you grow up in the United States or was it abroad in Germany?
Christoph: The short answer is yes… I grew up a little bit all over. I’m actually US born because my father was with the German Foreign Office and we were stationed in New Orleans when I was born. And shortly after that, it was back to Germany for about a year and a half, then to New York with the UN, then off to Argentina, then to Brazil, then to Chicago, and my father retired in ’91 with a mandatory return to Germany – well, not really mandatory – but at the time, with the exchange rate, that’s really the only thing that made sense. So my parents moved back to Germany, and my sister and I stayed in the United States.
Sarah: So you’ve been all over the place!
Christoph: Yes, I’ve kind of been all over the place. Lived overseas quite a bit and then my professional career kind of took me the rest of the way.
Sarah: That’s really interesting – you really have an international perspective to bring to your kids and to your life.
Christoph: Yes.
Sarah: So how old are your kids?
Christoph: My oldest, my daughter, just turned four and my son is two and a half.
Sarah: And are they speaking German back to you?
Christoph: Hit or miss, actually. I mean, it’s pretty normal, they get so much English, you know, outside of the home and they know that my wife and I speak English so most of the replies I get are in English but when I speak to them it’s exclusively in German and my son is using more of it, but both of them understand everything that I say and on the rare occasions where there’s a word they haven’t heard before, both of them will look at me and go, “Now what does that mean?” They know to ask if there’s something they haven’t heard, and my son, like I said, is using it a little bit more. He’s proud of himself when he uses something. I think, as they get a little bit older, they will begin to use it, because they know that their grandmother and their aunt also speak it. Again, they don’t see them every day, and I think I mentioned in the email to you that the opportunity for immersion is difficult. The opportunities are few and far between. So I’m not all too worried that I’m not getting a whole lot of conversation with them in German, I’m thrilled that they understand what I say to them.
Sarah: Well, yeah, I like how you have set it up so naturally. I’m wondering, if that was hard for you to develop that habit or did it just come naturally?
Christoph: It’s come pretty naturally.
Sarah: That’s one of the greatest challenges that I have.
Christoph: It did come pretty naturally. Again, I grew up speaking German at home. That was just the way my life was. And I’m grateful I have a very supportive wife who as such doesn’t speak it, although I think she suffers more from what most adults do – if they don’t do something very well, they’d rather just not do it. My wife was learning German before she ever met me, and she was learning it from Berlitz which was still using statements like “Gee, Mrs. Mueller, you have a nice skirt on today. Would you get me my cup of coffee now?” which made me cringe, but it’s easy from the standpoint that one, I don’t have to worry that the kids will ever use it to try to pull one over on mom because mom understands as much as they do if not more.
And as they’re learning, so does she. She knows that that’s what’s coming at her, and if there’s ever anything she doesn’t know, she knows that she can ask. So it’s easy from the standpoint that my wife is supportive of it, I grew up speaking German at home, and it is just ridiculously important to me. Unfortunately, I no longer have family in Germany, my mom immigrated to the US two years ago almost, and my father passed away so we have no one left in Germany and for me, it’s just important that my kids learn that part of who they are. It’s kind of who I am, so, as you can tell, languages come easy and I have very little accent in either one. It’s kind of just English-German, flip a coin, it works both ways for me. Having support from my wife to do it was kind of really never even a question.
Sarah: So you feel she’s kind of picking it up along with the kids, even though she’s not speaking it.
Christoph: Oh, yes. She’s picking it up as quickly as the kids. And again, like I said, she was on her own, before we even met, for some reason she was studying German through tapes and classes whenever she could. There was an understanding. We’d traveled to Germany when my parents were still there. Despite what my father always thought, “Go with her, go with her, she needs help,” she could handle herself in a grocery store, the usual type of thing you pick up on so you can get by. She would do just fine. It’s again, we as adults, rather than sound funny or make a mistake, we hesitate to use something but her comprehension is very, very good.
Sarah: Right. Well, that would really hold you back if you were worried about or thinking about something like, which case is this in? Which gender is that noun again? Instead of not worrying too much about it and just chatting, you get a lot further ahead. But it’s hard to do that sometimes, especially if you learn it as an adult.
Christoph: Right, and kids don’t have that, “Oh, boy, I’m going to sound funny” or “Boy, that’s going to be wrong so I’m just not going to say anything.” Kids, for the most part, they don’t even know to think that way. Even as kids start learning English as their first language or their only language. I see it with my kids, I know I did it, and I see it with my kids’ friends. They make mistakes – which are perfectly normal – they correct themselves as they hear it more often or get corrected in school, they learn it. And that’s kind of just the way it is. But they just “Oh, that’s just the way it is” and they toodle on about their business, and we as adults are the ones that have this “Oh, gee, I’m going to sound funny when I say that”, or “Ooh, that’s going to be wrong, someone’s going to make fun of me.” We’re the ones with the hang-ups. Kids don’t have them. So that is another reason it’s easy – you just talk at them, they don’t know that they’re learning a second language while they’re learning a first to begin with, it’s just that’s the way it is.
Sarah: So for your kids, it’s “This is what we do. The words that Daddy uses when he talks to me.”
Christoph: You got it. And that’s exactly it. My son right now is kind of going, “That Papa guy, he uses Deutsch” and “Is that Deutsch, Papa or is that English?” It happened last night. We had my brother-in-law and my sister-in-law and my nieces over. And my nieces look at me like I have two heads. It’s like, “Wait a second, he just spoke English to me and now there’s this strange gobbley-gook stuff coming from him.” And my brother-in-law is like, “What is Uncle Christoph saying? Is that English? That’s not English, is it? Do you notice that Ellen and Copeland are understanding him? Oh, isn’t that amazing, they speak two languages.” And Cope’s looking at them like, “Oh, yeah, I guess I am.” It just is, you know.
My biggest fear, and this is the only thing my wife and I talked about. I said, “I need to know that you’re comfortable with that happening because I’ll be damned if they start using it against you.” You know, as they get older, to try and get away with something or say something to her that they probably shouldn’t and she doesn’t understand it. And she’s says, “No, that won’t be a problem. I know enough to be dangerous.” And she does. It’s just the fact that boy, they may use it against their cousins or some of their friends to talk about them or who knows what else. As long as it doesn’t happen here in the home, I’m okay.
Sarah: Right. If they’re going to do that, they’ll have plenty of opportunities to do it, whether or not they know German.
Christoph: You got it. (laughs)
Sarah: Kids can be mean in all kinds of languages.
Christoph: I’m sure they’ll be saying stuff to each other that I won’t understand.
Sarah: That could be (laughs). That’s when the real trouble comes in, right?
Christoph: Wait for the teenage years.
Sarah: You’ve got a while.
Christoph: Thank goodness. I’m not ready for them yet.
Sarah: Although I guess it will be here before you know it, right?
Christoph: That’s what everybody tells me.
Sarah: I have a son who just turned 9 and -
Christoph: You’re wondering where the time went?
Sarah: Yeah, I can’t believe it. I was thinking the other day about the first set of books that I bought even before I had the business, I was thinking, gosh, we still have them around, you know, the kleine Ich bin ich and a couple different ones. He was a baby, and now he’s nine.
Christoph: As a matter of fact, we’re going to be having a garage sale here in a couple of weeks from our little neighborhood and starting to pull the books and I’m going, “Wow, I actually read this to you?” It’s like, you’ve outgrown that one. Okay, that one I guess gets to go to the garage sale. It blows me away, how much they’re capable of and again, they just learn so much faster than we do. Their brains are just taking it all in. It’s just a non-issue and they just kind of go with it. It’s not like, “Oh, gosh, what’s this? And now I’ve got to learn that.” It’s just “Oh, okay, let’s just go with it.” It’s an amazing thing to watch happen.
Sarah: Even at age two-and-a-half you see amazing things going on, right?
Christoph: Oh, it’s mind-boggling. It’s totally mind-boggling what they’re doing at two-and-a-half. I have to remind myself that he’s actually that young, because so much of what he does, to me, seems so much beyond but it seems perfectly normal at that age. They tell me, “Oh, no, that’s to be expected now.” And I’m think, really? Are you sure? I’d have trouble with this right about now. But their brains are just so amazing. So absolutely amazing.
Sarah: Just the leaps, right? From age one to age two? The leap in comprehension and what they can produce, it’s just substantial.
Christoph: It’s mind-boggling. It truly is completely mind-boggling. It’s like, “Wow, you can do that, now, huh?” From a language standpoint, we talk to them and the words they all of sudden pick up, in German or English and even Spanish, for that matter. They have it in school just one hour one day a week. All of a sudden they’ll be standing there counting in Spanish. I’ll say, “What? What are you doing?” “What, it’s Spanish, Papa.” “I know it’s Spanish, but you’re working on English and German, what’s this Spanish?” “Oh, yeah, Spanish too, Papa.” I’m all for it. You go right ahead, just keep picking up the languages. Whatever.
Sarah: Absolutely. It’s only going to be an advantage.
Christoph: It really will be. I don’t care what they ever do with their lives, I really don’t, my thing is, as long as they’re happy, but I know that over the years I was so glad.
Christoph: I just think that it’s such a huge gift that I can give them. You know, I’m fortunate enough to have multiple languages under my belt. Given that my father, who was a wealth of information, is no longer alive, and can’t share so much of what he knew with them, it’s the little thing that I can do to keep that German bit going and hopefully it will go on with my kids and their kids, but at least, I’ve done my part to share that with them. That was just very, very important to me.
I didn’t spend a lot of time in Germany and I don’t think I grew up German as such, I grew up very internationally – from my circle of friends, and we’re not traditional German in the sense people always ask me, “Do you eat German food?” Well, yeah, but it’s not like I have my Bratwurst every day and a Schnitzel as well. Yeah, I eat it because I like it, but it’s not what I make every day. And my mom never did either. For me it’s just let’s kind of keep a little bit of who I am, and who we are, going. Understand where you came from and if you do something with it, great, and if not, I hope it just gave you a little bit of insight into where you come from.
Part 2 of this interview is here.
Bilingual Families Wanted!
We are always looking for new families to interview! Even if you are not a native speaker of German and don't consider yourself to be bilingual, we'd still love to chat. It's quick, painless, and lots of fun! Plus, we'll send you a free book for participating.
If you'd like to be interviewed on our blog, please send an e-mail to thea (at) alphabet-garten.com
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Stocking your library without breaking the bank
If you've made German a priority for your family, you'll want to offer your children books and other media (CDs, DVDs) to support their learning. But German books can be expensive and it can be a bit intimidating to select something on a budget. Here are a few ways to get the most bang for your buck (or Euro).
Consider your home library an investment
First and foremost, understand that a commitment to a foreign language is going to require an investment in books. Most libraries don't have a selection of German books for children and so you'll probably have to build a home library yourself. Make sure that the quality of your library matches the priority you've set on bilingualism.
Plan for re-use.
If your preschooler demands to hear Der Buchstabenbaum 10 times, you've cut the cost / read to $1.34. If you play a Conni CD in the car twice a week for a month, the cost is negligible. If you have more than one child, you can pass on the books from one to the next.
Select quality over quantity
A few excellent stories published well-made books will provide you more value than a pile of cheap books that no one wants to read again.
Not all German books are expensive.
You can always find books and smaller titles that are under $30. This is comparable to most English books. This is comparable to most English books.
Consider compilations and collections.
While these books are more expensive than smaller volumes, you get many times the reading material. For instance, Das Grosse Buch zum Lesenlernen contains 4 stories and 110 pages compared with the individual Lesemaus zum Lesenlernen series which is half the price but contains 1/4 of the stories. Plus, compilations are usually hardcover which increases their durability.
Make sure the books you buy are ones that will interest your child
A favorite book will be read over and over and treasured by a child. Buying books in your child's favorite topics will help make it more likely that you'll pick a winner.
Request gift certificates
If you tell friends and family that you're building a German library, they may be glad to help you out with gift certificates for your children's birthdays.
Yes, furnishing your German library does take careful consideration and an investment of money.
But if bilingualism is your goal, than you're sure to find it an excellent use of your money.
Consider your home library an investment
First and foremost, understand that a commitment to a foreign language is going to require an investment in books. Most libraries don't have a selection of German books for children and so you'll probably have to build a home library yourself. Make sure that the quality of your library matches the priority you've set on bilingualism.
Plan for re-use.
If your preschooler demands to hear Der Buchstabenbaum 10 times, you've cut the cost / read to $1.34. If you play a Conni CD in the car twice a week for a month, the cost is negligible. If you have more than one child, you can pass on the books from one to the next.
Select quality over quantity
A few excellent stories published well-made books will provide you more value than a pile of cheap books that no one wants to read again.
Not all German books are expensive.
You can always find books and smaller titles that are under $30. This is comparable to most English books. This is comparable to most English books.
Consider compilations and collections.
While these books are more expensive than smaller volumes, you get many times the reading material. For instance, Das Grosse Buch zum Lesenlernen contains 4 stories and 110 pages compared with the individual Lesemaus zum Lesenlernen series which is half the price but contains 1/4 of the stories. Plus, compilations are usually hardcover which increases their durability.
Make sure the books you buy are ones that will interest your child
A favorite book will be read over and over and treasured by a child. Buying books in your child's favorite topics will help make it more likely that you'll pick a winner.
Request gift certificates
If you tell friends and family that you're building a German library, they may be glad to help you out with gift certificates for your children's birthdays.
Yes, furnishing your German library does take careful consideration and an investment of money.
But if bilingualism is your goal, than you're sure to find it an excellent use of your money.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
How to teach your kids about German culture even if you didn't grow up there.
What do fireworks on the Fourth of July, baseball games, knock-knock jokes, the Pledge of Allegiance all have in common? They are all very typisch American things, and all things that you might not understand or fully appreciate if you didn't grow up in the United States. Cultural things like this allow us to have a shared experience even with a person we've just met.
A language learned without some cultural aspects is like a pancake without the baking powder.
It may have 99% of the right ingredients but without this key aspect, it will be flat. In the same way, if you want your children to fully understand the German language, you must also teach them German culture. Kids need to learn that learning German is not just another way of speaking - it's intertwined with a whole different world. Germany and Europe are different than the U.S. They have different values and norms. Kids need to know a bit about Germany's history within Europe, that pretzels are much loved in Bavaria, and about how stores and restaurants have much different hours than in the U.S. Things like this make a place so much more interesting for us and make the language come alive.
Culture is a tricky subject to teach, especially if you don't know a lot about it yourself.
If you've only spent minimal time in a German-speaking country, chances are good that you don't know a whole lot about German culture yourself. The good news is that you can seek it out and learn it together if you keep your eyes open and make it a priority to learn.
Holidays are a great place to start.
Food, music, crafts, activities - holidays are ready-made cultural learning experiences. You and your children can immerse yourselves in the sights, sounds and smells of traditional German activities. Take the time to ask a German relative or immigrant about their memories of a particular holiday or event.
When reading books, look out for cultural differences that you can point out to your children.
Even if you something is new to you, you can point it out and discuss it, perhaps making a note to research a bit later. The Lesemaus series is a great place to look for culture. In Ich habe einen Freund, der ist Bäcker, you learn about all sorts of baking and many traditional German baked goods are mentioned. The corner bakery is as common in Germany as a convenience store in America. These little bakeries are everywhere! Pretzels are produced piping hot on the hour. School children pick them up on their way home in the afternoon. This is a topic you can discuss with your children.
Keep an eye out for the opportunity to point out German culture
You may discover an aspect that is completely new to you, yet that is common knowledge to many Germans (and Swiss and Austrians) and have that much richer of an experience for it.
Would you like a headstart in discussing culture?
Our Trip to Germany Unit Study is a great way to introduce culture to your children. Books, lessons, activities, and websites are all coordinated in this extended unit study.
A language learned without some cultural aspects is like a pancake without the baking powder.
It may have 99% of the right ingredients but without this key aspect, it will be flat. In the same way, if you want your children to fully understand the German language, you must also teach them German culture. Kids need to learn that learning German is not just another way of speaking - it's intertwined with a whole different world. Germany and Europe are different than the U.S. They have different values and norms. Kids need to know a bit about Germany's history within Europe, that pretzels are much loved in Bavaria, and about how stores and restaurants have much different hours than in the U.S. Things like this make a place so much more interesting for us and make the language come alive.
Culture is a tricky subject to teach, especially if you don't know a lot about it yourself.
If you've only spent minimal time in a German-speaking country, chances are good that you don't know a whole lot about German culture yourself. The good news is that you can seek it out and learn it together if you keep your eyes open and make it a priority to learn.
Holidays are a great place to start.
Food, music, crafts, activities - holidays are ready-made cultural learning experiences. You and your children can immerse yourselves in the sights, sounds and smells of traditional German activities. Take the time to ask a German relative or immigrant about their memories of a particular holiday or event.
When reading books, look out for cultural differences that you can point out to your children.
Even if you something is new to you, you can point it out and discuss it, perhaps making a note to research a bit later. The Lesemaus series is a great place to look for culture. In Ich habe einen Freund, der ist Bäcker, you learn about all sorts of baking and many traditional German baked goods are mentioned. The corner bakery is as common in Germany as a convenience store in America. These little bakeries are everywhere! Pretzels are produced piping hot on the hour. School children pick them up on their way home in the afternoon. This is a topic you can discuss with your children.
Keep an eye out for the opportunity to point out German culture
You may discover an aspect that is completely new to you, yet that is common knowledge to many Germans (and Swiss and Austrians) and have that much richer of an experience for it.
Would you like a headstart in discussing culture?
Our Trip to Germany Unit Study is a great way to introduce culture to your children. Books, lessons, activities, and websites are all coordinated in this extended unit study.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Bilingual and glad
The other day we were at the library and my son asked another little boy a question (in English). The little boy stared back at him without responding. The boy's big sister came to his rescue - "He doesn't speak English yet. Just Spanish" But she obviously did. I asked her "But you speak English and Spanish?" She emphatically nodded with a great big smile on her face. She is obviously proud of her bilingualism.
Others may not feel so proud and willing to share their bilingualism.
In the past, many immigrants to this country tried to shed their foreign culture, accent and language and become "American." I have a friend who spoke 4 languages at home (2 Filipino dialects, English and French) up until starting kindergarten. When she was asked to speak to a teacher in Tagalog, she couldn't because that language wasn't spoken in her home. Her teacher took this as disobedience and her parents were called. The end result was that her family stopped speaking their native languages at home in an effort to improve her English and help her fit in. What a shame that they felt pressured to obscure their Filipino heritage.
Being bilingual (or multilingual) shouldn't be something to hide.
Being bilingual says something about who someone is - about where they come from and what they value.
If you try to hide this, you miss out on the whole person. The picture just isn't complete. The shame a child will feel due to hiding his family's heritage will surely turn him away from his roots and make him try to become someone he isn't.
Teach your kids that being bilingual is special.
Tell them about where the family comes from and how these languages came to be in your family. Make sure they understand why you've chosen to teach them two (or more) languages. Did you have relatives in another country? Did the family emigrate at one time? Did someone learn a language in school and decide to make it part of the home? These are fascinating topics for kids and help them see their place in the context of the larger world.
In conclusion
The good news is that my friend still speaks 3 of the 4 languages she grew up. She didn't lose out on that piece of her background. However, she was quite pained when discussing it with me. The little girl at the library shares none of this pain. Make sure your kids value knowing German just as much. The more they love it, the better they will do and the more likely they are to pass it on to the next generation.
Others may not feel so proud and willing to share their bilingualism.
In the past, many immigrants to this country tried to shed their foreign culture, accent and language and become "American." I have a friend who spoke 4 languages at home (2 Filipino dialects, English and French) up until starting kindergarten. When she was asked to speak to a teacher in Tagalog, she couldn't because that language wasn't spoken in her home. Her teacher took this as disobedience and her parents were called. The end result was that her family stopped speaking their native languages at home in an effort to improve her English and help her fit in. What a shame that they felt pressured to obscure their Filipino heritage.
Being bilingual (or multilingual) shouldn't be something to hide.
Being bilingual says something about who someone is - about where they come from and what they value.
If you try to hide this, you miss out on the whole person. The picture just isn't complete. The shame a child will feel due to hiding his family's heritage will surely turn him away from his roots and make him try to become someone he isn't.
Teach your kids that being bilingual is special.
Tell them about where the family comes from and how these languages came to be in your family. Make sure they understand why you've chosen to teach them two (or more) languages. Did you have relatives in another country? Did the family emigrate at one time? Did someone learn a language in school and decide to make it part of the home? These are fascinating topics for kids and help them see their place in the context of the larger world.
In conclusion
The good news is that my friend still speaks 3 of the 4 languages she grew up. She didn't lose out on that piece of her background. However, she was quite pained when discussing it with me. The little girl at the library shares none of this pain. Make sure your kids value knowing German just as much. The more they love it, the better they will do and the more likely they are to pass it on to the next generation.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
How to involve a parent who doesn't speak German
You're having a dream: You're in a room with a bunch of people chattering away in a foreign tongue. They talk to you, make jokes, and are having a wonderful time. They smile and nod at you, and the volume in the room is growing ever louder. All the while, you are feeling more and more left out and baffled as to what they are saying.
Is this a scene from a Kafka novel? Nope - it's what some monolingual parents imagine when they think about their kids growing up speaking German with their bilingual spouses.
One of the most common reasons a family gives up on German as a second language is because one of the parent's doesn't speak it.
Reality usually isn't quite as harsh as our Kafka nightmare, but it can be an obstacle for families where one parent is bilingual and the other is not. The English-only parent (EOP) feels left out and excluded from family conversations, the bilingual parent (BP) is torn between wanting to provide as much German as possible without leaving her spouse out in the cold.
But bilingual family life doesn't have to be all confusion and exclusion for the parent who doesn't speak German. Take a look at these suggestions to help pave the way for linguistic harmony.
1. Create your family's language goals and objectives together.
Probably the most important step, when you discuss your goals regarding German together, it's much easier for the EOP to be supportive and feel involved.
2. Build family traditions together that transcend the language.
If you're consciously integrating German culture into your family activities, this is a great time for the EOP to be involved. You can all enjoy a Laternenzug on Martinstag or give Schultüten on the first day of school. These German traditions can be enjoyed by all and will create a sense of family unity which is not based on language ability.
3. Allow and encourage your children to do some mixing or "code-switching."
Some families like to be very strict about never mixing German and English in the same conversation or sentence. But most bilinguals are very comfortable switching back and forth depending on the context - perhaps your children wouldn't dream of calling a pretzel anything other than a "Bretze" and they do so even in an English sentence, or they throw in some German words when telling their EOP about the German DVD they watched. This is an easy way for the EOP to pick up a few German words and allow the kids to enjoy their ability to pick which language is right for a particular thought. This kind of linguistic play is lots of fun for bilinguals and you can encourage it in your family.
4. Offer the EOP some of our free Parenting auf Deutsch phrase guides.
He can then issue commands in German with confidence!
5. Make sure the EOP has quality time with the kids in his native English.
Encourage him to share songs with them in English, tell jokes, or read stories. They will be sure to treasure these times with him.
6. If you start when the children are small and you use a large amount of German at home, you may find that the EOP learns along with the kids.
Perhaps he gets to the point where he can understand most of a conversation and is able to then respond and participate in English. No more exclusion!
7. Suggest formal learning.
This takes the previous point one step further. If the EOP decides to study German himself, within a few years, he can be close to catching up with the kids. Podcasts like One Minute German and Rosetta Stone software make it possible to study German with a small investment of time daily. Formal study will also impress your children of the commitment the family has made to German - if Dad is taking the time to learn this, I guess it's pretty important!
Why is it important to speak German around an English-only parent (EOP)?
Of course you don't have to speak German even when the EOP is around - many families do just fine switching to English when necessary and back to German when everyone present can understand. However, sticking to German more often has it's advantages - the children will get more exposure which will ultimately lead to more advanced fluency. They may be more accepting of German as they hear more of it.
Be proactive - make sure there are no Kafka-esque scenes in your home.
A little preparation to involve your English-only spouse in the German aspects of your family will pay off - no metamorphosis required.
Is this a scene from a Kafka novel? Nope - it's what some monolingual parents imagine when they think about their kids growing up speaking German with their bilingual spouses.
One of the most common reasons a family gives up on German as a second language is because one of the parent's doesn't speak it.
Reality usually isn't quite as harsh as our Kafka nightmare, but it can be an obstacle for families where one parent is bilingual and the other is not. The English-only parent (EOP) feels left out and excluded from family conversations, the bilingual parent (BP) is torn between wanting to provide as much German as possible without leaving her spouse out in the cold.
But bilingual family life doesn't have to be all confusion and exclusion for the parent who doesn't speak German. Take a look at these suggestions to help pave the way for linguistic harmony.
1. Create your family's language goals and objectives together.
Probably the most important step, when you discuss your goals regarding German together, it's much easier for the EOP to be supportive and feel involved.
2. Build family traditions together that transcend the language.
If you're consciously integrating German culture into your family activities, this is a great time for the EOP to be involved. You can all enjoy a Laternenzug on Martinstag or give Schultüten on the first day of school. These German traditions can be enjoyed by all and will create a sense of family unity which is not based on language ability.
3. Allow and encourage your children to do some mixing or "code-switching."
Some families like to be very strict about never mixing German and English in the same conversation or sentence. But most bilinguals are very comfortable switching back and forth depending on the context - perhaps your children wouldn't dream of calling a pretzel anything other than a "Bretze" and they do so even in an English sentence, or they throw in some German words when telling their EOP about the German DVD they watched. This is an easy way for the EOP to pick up a few German words and allow the kids to enjoy their ability to pick which language is right for a particular thought. This kind of linguistic play is lots of fun for bilinguals and you can encourage it in your family.
4. Offer the EOP some of our free Parenting auf Deutsch phrase guides.
He can then issue commands in German with confidence!
5. Make sure the EOP has quality time with the kids in his native English.
Encourage him to share songs with them in English, tell jokes, or read stories. They will be sure to treasure these times with him.
6. If you start when the children are small and you use a large amount of German at home, you may find that the EOP learns along with the kids.
Perhaps he gets to the point where he can understand most of a conversation and is able to then respond and participate in English. No more exclusion!
7. Suggest formal learning.
This takes the previous point one step further. If the EOP decides to study German himself, within a few years, he can be close to catching up with the kids. Podcasts like One Minute German and Rosetta Stone software make it possible to study German with a small investment of time daily. Formal study will also impress your children of the commitment the family has made to German - if Dad is taking the time to learn this, I guess it's pretty important!
Why is it important to speak German around an English-only parent (EOP)?
Of course you don't have to speak German even when the EOP is around - many families do just fine switching to English when necessary and back to German when everyone present can understand. However, sticking to German more often has it's advantages - the children will get more exposure which will ultimately lead to more advanced fluency. They may be more accepting of German as they hear more of it.
Be proactive - make sure there are no Kafka-esque scenes in your home.
A little preparation to involve your English-only spouse in the German aspects of your family will pay off - no metamorphosis required.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
How to calm a child with Attention by Reading
I was trying to get something done this morning and my two year old was doing everything in his power to be disruptive. He was grabbing books, throwing toys, singing at the top of his lungs and interrupting me every two seconds. Frustration was mounting. I was heating up. I finally decided enough was enough. This situation called for serious Attention by Reading.
He had a big basket full of German boardbooks on the floor. I sat him in my lap and we read. Book after book. He handed them to me one after another, often before I had even finished the one I was reading. As soon as he had my attention, he melted. All the frustrations were gone, leaving just a sweet chubby boy nestled in my lap. The Attention by Reading had done it's job.
What is Attention by Reading?
Attention by Reading is when you give your child your full and undivided attention through sharing a story. You let him pick the book, you let him decide when to move on, you let him set the pace. Disruptive behavior is usually a cry for attention and it usually gets negative attention. When you practice Attention by Reading, you replace the negative with the positive and everyone emerges rested and refreshed.
Why is Attention by Reading so powerful?
You've heard the complaints before. Kids these days are spoiled. They have way too many toys. They don't appreciate all their parents do for them. Yet in our busy lives, the one things kids don't have often enough is our full and undivided attention. In the hectic pace of day to day life, there's always another room to pick up, the race out the door to a soccer practice to race, a bill to be paid. Kids may have lots of things but they often don't receive quiet uninterrupted time with a parent to just be together. In the grand scheme of things, which is more important?
When you drop everything to read with a child, he sees that he is valuable to you.
He knows mom is busy and often rushing around. But if mom stops to be with him, it shows him that he is important to her, at least as important as all the other things on her to-do list. When you let him be in control by picking books and setting the pace, he feels capable and strong. Do your kids know they are as important to you as is serving dinner on time? This is one way to show them.
When you cuddle him in your lap or sit close on the couch, he is immediately calmed. His breathing will relax and he will snuggle in closer. His mind focuses on the story, the pictures, the sound of your voice. All other distractions in the room fade away. As he focuses, he is calmed and his energy is restored to a positive place. The frustrations that were so important to him (and you) a few minutes before are no more. All is well in the universe for a kid who's snuggled up sharing a book with a parent.
Attention is love!
Your child knows it. If you show him you know it, too, you will be greatly rewarded.
Reading with a child is a direct path to build a bond and reconnect with him.
Don't neglect this opportunity! It's free, it's fun, and it's guaranteed to improve the behavior around your house!
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a two year old who needs some more attention. I'm off to find a book.
He had a big basket full of German boardbooks on the floor. I sat him in my lap and we read. Book after book. He handed them to me one after another, often before I had even finished the one I was reading. As soon as he had my attention, he melted. All the frustrations were gone, leaving just a sweet chubby boy nestled in my lap. The Attention by Reading had done it's job.
What is Attention by Reading?
Attention by Reading is when you give your child your full and undivided attention through sharing a story. You let him pick the book, you let him decide when to move on, you let him set the pace. Disruptive behavior is usually a cry for attention and it usually gets negative attention. When you practice Attention by Reading, you replace the negative with the positive and everyone emerges rested and refreshed.
Why is Attention by Reading so powerful?
You've heard the complaints before. Kids these days are spoiled. They have way too many toys. They don't appreciate all their parents do for them. Yet in our busy lives, the one things kids don't have often enough is our full and undivided attention. In the hectic pace of day to day life, there's always another room to pick up, the race out the door to a soccer practice to race, a bill to be paid. Kids may have lots of things but they often don't receive quiet uninterrupted time with a parent to just be together. In the grand scheme of things, which is more important?
When you drop everything to read with a child, he sees that he is valuable to you.
He knows mom is busy and often rushing around. But if mom stops to be with him, it shows him that he is important to her, at least as important as all the other things on her to-do list. When you let him be in control by picking books and setting the pace, he feels capable and strong. Do your kids know they are as important to you as is serving dinner on time? This is one way to show them.
When you cuddle him in your lap or sit close on the couch, he is immediately calmed. His breathing will relax and he will snuggle in closer. His mind focuses on the story, the pictures, the sound of your voice. All other distractions in the room fade away. As he focuses, he is calmed and his energy is restored to a positive place. The frustrations that were so important to him (and you) a few minutes before are no more. All is well in the universe for a kid who's snuggled up sharing a book with a parent.
Attention is love!
Your child knows it. If you show him you know it, too, you will be greatly rewarded.
Reading with a child is a direct path to build a bond and reconnect with him.
Don't neglect this opportunity! It's free, it's fun, and it's guaranteed to improve the behavior around your house!
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a two year old who needs some more attention. I'm off to find a book.
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
The end of an era
A connection in cyberspace
She was an American who married a German, just like me. She was raising her kids to be bilingual, just like me. When I connected with Corey Heller over 4 years ago, it was like finding a kindred spirit, an instant friend. Even though we live on opposite coasts and have never met face to face, we found we had so much in common!
I was so excited when Corey launched Multiliving Magazine. It would be a magazine dedicated to the issues faced by bilingual (and multilingual) families. What I didn't expect was the extent of her dedication and the quality of work she would produce. Issue after issue poured forth in vibrant full color, with articles that gripped me, inspired me to keep up our German even when the going was tough. The issues contained up to 100 pages of interviews, crafts, recipes, and motivation - so critical for me as an isolated bilingual mom.
The end of an era
This week we learned that Multilingual Living Magazine is producing it's last issue. Corey had been creating this amazing work on a volunteer basis with a shoestring budget and only 1 other dedicated person. It's time for her to move on.
The magazine lives on
Although there will be no new issues, Corey is providing access to back issues of the magazine plus the last issue at minimal cost. If you are struggling with speaking German with your kids or are looking for some new inspiration, I urge you to take advantage of this opportunity. There are 19 back issues, over 1000 pages of material available to encourage, excite and inspire you.
If you're not convinced...
take a look at the table of contents from the last issue:
Don't miss out
I'm not sure how long this option will be available so I recommend taking action right away. The 19 issues of Multilingual Living Magazine are online and downloadable immediately.
I didn't tell Corey I was going to post this - wouldn't it be great if we surprised her with a whole bunch of subscriptions? She has been truly selfless in her service to the multilingual community and she deserves recognition for this excellent work. I can't wait to see what project she has up her sleeve next!
How to subscribe
You can see the listing of back issues and their tables of contents here and subscribe here. You won't regret it!
She was an American who married a German, just like me. She was raising her kids to be bilingual, just like me. When I connected with Corey Heller over 4 years ago, it was like finding a kindred spirit, an instant friend. Even though we live on opposite coasts and have never met face to face, we found we had so much in common!
I was so excited when Corey launched Multiliving Magazine. It would be a magazine dedicated to the issues faced by bilingual (and multilingual) families. What I didn't expect was the extent of her dedication and the quality of work she would produce. Issue after issue poured forth in vibrant full color, with articles that gripped me, inspired me to keep up our German even when the going was tough. The issues contained up to 100 pages of interviews, crafts, recipes, and motivation - so critical for me as an isolated bilingual mom.
 |  |  |
The end of an era
This week we learned that Multilingual Living Magazine is producing it's last issue. Corey had been creating this amazing work on a volunteer basis with a shoestring budget and only 1 other dedicated person. It's time for her to move on.
The magazine lives on
Although there will be no new issues, Corey is providing access to back issues of the magazine plus the last issue at minimal cost. If you are struggling with speaking German with your kids or are looking for some new inspiration, I urge you to take advantage of this opportunity. There are 19 back issues, over 1000 pages of material available to encourage, excite and inspire you.
If you're not convinced...
take a look at the table of contents from the last issue:
Trilingualism? Yes we can! - Find out how to raise your child with three languages!I could spend all day exploring any one of these topics. This is great stuff, people!
4 Tips for parents of trilingual children - Make sure you are on track with this helpful guidance.
From 3 languages to 4 languages! Going from trilingualism to quadralingualism - yes it IS possible.
OPOL with a second child - when it just doesn't work out the same the second time around!
Bilingualism one step at at time - because raising bilingual children takes patience and time!
Frequently Asked Questions - your most pressing questions about multilingualism answered!
Growing up with Three Languages - An exclusive interview with the author, Dr. Xiao-lei Wang (and a review of her book)!
Our linguistic landscape - Two language experts show us how multilingualism is all around us.
Don't miss out
I'm not sure how long this option will be available so I recommend taking action right away. The 19 issues of Multilingual Living Magazine are online and downloadable immediately.
I didn't tell Corey I was going to post this - wouldn't it be great if we surprised her with a whole bunch of subscriptions? She has been truly selfless in her service to the multilingual community and she deserves recognition for this excellent work. I can't wait to see what project she has up her sleeve next!
How to subscribe
You can see the listing of back issues and their tables of contents here and subscribe here. You won't regret it!
Friday, May 29, 2009
Why do you want your child to learn German?
I recently surveyed my customers and asked this question. Would you believe I got 154 responses? I thought you might enjoy reading some of the answers I got to this question so here they are:
- Because it's a gift to know more than just one language and to be able to provide my child with that is priceless.
- Open bilingual opportunities and easier when learning as a child. Plus (our) ancestry is from Germany. Both of my parents speak German (mother - native)and I speak German. I would like to one day pass it on.
- We love the language. We took a vote on which language we each wanted to learn and German was common between the three of us.
- Because it's my native language, and we have a lot of family in Germany. Additionally, anyone who speaks more than one language is given a great opportunity to view the world in more than one way.
- So he can communicate with his relatives in Austria, maintains cultural awareness, and can also conduct business in German, should the need arise.
- All that we have read about language development and bilingual babies has been very positive; we wanted her to have this gift of language, problem solving, and new perspectives for travel, work, above all for life.
- We selected German as our language to study because
- Our child had exposure to German speakers
- I studied German at University
- I worked in an academic setting and German is a useful language in that world
- It's an opportunity for linguistic development that we should give to our children since one parent is a native speaker. It can only benefit our children in their vocabulary and ability to learn foreign languages.
- I was raised bilingually. My father is German and my mother is American. We moved to the states when I was 6 years old, but I spent most summers thereafter with my grandparents. I want my son to be able to experience our culture and background, and I think language comprehension is a big part of that.
- My wife and I always had this understanding that no matter how many children we would have, I, being a native German speaker, would always speak German to them and teach about German culture etc.
- I am very homesick for Germany, and teaching my sons helps me. It is a precious thing.
- I believe being bilingual is a great asset. I want her to be able to communicate with my husband in his native German language as well as be able to communicate with her grandparents, uncle and cousins in Germany. We also would like to keep relocating to Germany as an option in the future, so it's important for her to speak it.
- It's a big part of who I am!
- To broaden his (soon to be their) knowledge and to give them confidence in being bilingual, even if they do not continue with German as a second language.
- I think being bilingual is healthy for your mind, helpful for future job opportunities, and just plain cool.
- Ich bin Deutsche und somit ist Deutsch einfach ein Teil ihrer Herkunft. Ich moechte, dass sie wissen woher sie kommen und dass sie auch mit ihrer Familie in Deutschland problemlos kommunizieren koennen.
- I love the language, and I want to get the language part of my kids' brains going as early on as possible.
- To be bilingual and to embrace his cultural heritage
- We want them to be biligual and German was the language that we fell into as our first nanny was a native German speaker. We hope that by learning German young, they will be able to learn other languages more easily. They can all speak a bit of Spanish and Japanese.
- It is such a gift to be bilingual!!! It opens the door to understanding another culture and your own in a whole new way!
Friday, February 20, 2009
German Mom writes a bilingual book: An Interview with Ulrike Rylance (English translation)
Sarah Mueller sat down with Ulrike Rylance and chatted about her new bilingual book, Wo ist Hawaii, and her strategies for bilingual success with her daughters.The original interview was conducted in German. This is the English translation.
Sarah: Thank you again for your time!
Ulrike: No problem.
Sarah: I read through the book this morning; it is beautiful!
Ulrike: Oh thank you. I sent you the CDs as well, right?
Sarah: Yes, right. I have them. So how did you come up with the idea to write the book?
Ulrike: Well, I wanted… I write other stories anyway, for children and for adults, but I really wanted to make something that was bilingual. I find that there’s just too few out there. I wrote it first in German, the poem, and wanted to make something that was a little international. With things that are bilingual, you have to make sure that the themes transcend countries, I mean, that it’s not just purely German or purely American. Then I came up with the idea of the trip and I wrote it first in German and just translated it into English. My friend is an illustrator and she told me she’d do it, and that’s how it originated.
Sarah: Wow, super! I really like the part at the end with the questions and the map – that’s great. I thought, “Oh, I need to get my map” but then I found it, already there.
Ulrike: Yes, that is for younger children, so that they can get an idea of what the world map is like, you know, and where it actually is and how they swam there and what they did wrong.
Sarah: Cute! And it rhymes so nicely as well.
Ulrike: Yes. My friend already had the idea that we should maybe a second part sometime. Up to now they’ve only seen half of the world, actually. There’s still China, India, a whole other corner of the world, and you could send them there.
Sarah: Maybe they could finally reach Hawaii! (laughing)
Ulrike: Yes, exactly.
Sarah: The poor things. Yeah, a second book would be nice.
Ulrike: And the CD, someone told me that it would be a good idea, so the kids can, so to speak, “read” along, you know, and can turn the pages and take it in the car… That’s why we made the CD.
Sarah: Yeah, that is your daughter on it, right?
Ulrike: Yes, Lizzy reads the German, and the illustrator’s daughter, Randi’s daughter, she reads the English.
Sarah: Oh, okay. And how old is your daughter?
Ulrike: She is eleven. She’s just turned eleven.
Sarah: She speaks such beautiful German.
Ulrike: Oh, thank you.
Sarah: How does it work in your family at home? Do you all speak German together? Or German and English?
Ulrike: Well, my husband doesn’t speak German. My husband is English; we actually lived first in England. He can’t say anything [in German]. I actually have always spoken German with the kids from the beginning, everywhere, and they have just learned it. In the meantime, when he’s around, we speak English of course, but as soon as I’m alone with them, I speak in German with them. When they were younger, I mostly said everything twice – I would say something in German and then say “Now we need to say that again in English because Daddy doesn’t understand us!” That’s basically how it’s unfolded, yeah.
Sarah: Okay, and have the children lived in Germany before or have they been in Seattle the whole time?
Ulrike: Oh, they have never lived in Germany. We were in London for the first four years and than since 2001 we’ve been in America. But we travel often back home to my parents, about twice a year, and that helps. My daughter has a German pen pal as well. I encourage that a bit, that she keeps that relationship. Do you have children?
Sarah: Yes, I have three kids, three sons. The oldest is eight, then one who is five and one is two now. My husband is German and I am American – we try to speak German and English. Partially more English than German, but they understand everything and they always speak German with the youngest. He speaks it very nicely actually, very great. When they want to talk to him they speak German but when they talk to me they speak English. They are comfortable with that. But it will come. We’re working on it.
Ulrike: I think when they are around 12 and have learned it well then they won’t lose it. They see a reason to learn it as well, you know, because they love Germany and they love German food, and they love Grandma and Grandpa and the German swimming pools… They like to go there when they can, so they have an incentive, you know? If we never traveled there, they would probably eventually ask, why do we do this?
Sarah: Yes, exactly, but they have good memories and a good relationship with it. So, what was – a question that my customers always ask – What was the biggest challenge in raising the two children bilingually? What do you find was the hardest?
Ulrike: Well, I haven’t actually had many challenges, but I know for many it’s the Tatsache of just being consistent, that you always speak German, even when in the moment you don’t like it. For example, at the playground or in the grocery store, when you immediately give away that you’re a foreigner. Many who live in America want to integrate and appear to be American. And as soon as you speak to your children loudly in German, everyone knows it. So, I think it’s a problem for some, and then they cut back and forth between the languages, and as soon as they do that, it is in principle, lost. Because the children see that and they don’t learn that they should speak German. I have seen some cases where it didn’t work because the parents just didn’t stay consistent.
Sarah: So, just staying consistent and then…
Ulrike: Yeah, I know that as we lived in England… they have a little bit different relationship to Germans, and it wasn’t as easy there to stay consistent and speak German everywhere.
Sarah: Really? It was harder in England then?
Ulrike: Yes, they are a little more – well, in America they are actually very open to all nations. I wouldn’t say that they are hostile there [in England], I wouldn’t go that far – but it’s a little bit different atmosphere. I know I man in England who had a 14-year-old daughter who once told him he shouldn’t speak to her in that stupid language, it was embarrassing her.
Sarah: Oh, no! That’s too bad!
Ulrike: And they live in Wales where there just aren’t any other Germans and it was terribly uncomfortable for her that her father spoke to her in this stupid language. So, that’s what I mean, you know? That’s definitely a reason for some to give up speaking German, I think.
Sarah: Luckily we don’t have that here. In my experience it’s always positively accepted.
Ulrike: Yeah, it is a little different here. At any rate, in Germany it’s the opposite, I would say. When the children speak English they are excited, it’s even more positive actually.
Sarah: It’s supported there. Can your children read and write as well? Well, obviously that can read already, right?
Ulrike: They read, yes. The older one, Lizzy, she reads German books – a little lower level than what she reads in English, but it’s also a little more strenuous for her, it’s not as relaxing, but she does it anyway. She’s begun to read Cornelia Funke’s Tintentod. But she’s not so good at writing yet. She writes like Pippi Longstocking. (laughing) But I have to say, I don’t think about it much. I think when she can read and speak German then she can take a course to learn to write later when she’s a little older. Then she’ll have that as well. I must say that’s it’s more important to read and speak. The younger one, she has just learned to read in English, she is just in first grade.
Sarah: And how old is she?
Ulrike: She’s seven.
Sarah: One is seven and the other is eleven, right? Yeah. Do you think you will go back to Germany sometime? I mean, move back? Or are you staying here…?
Ulrike: I don’t think so actually. As I said, my husband doesn’t speak a word of German – that would be a huge adjustment for us and he would probably go back to England, but I don’t think that I’d necessarily want to go there. All in all, we will probably stay here. Well, you don’t know for sure, I would never say “never”. It’s not in our plans, I’ll say that much.
Sarah: I understand. And there are many Germans in Seattle, in the area.
Ulrike: Yes, actually. That’s why it’s not so urgent for me to go back home.
Sarah: I think I’ve asked all my questions. Is there anything else you’d like to say?
Ulrike: Well, no. I just hope that people like it.
Sarah: Oh, yes, I wanted to ask that – What’s the reaction to it? Have you already sold many books in the area?
Ulrike: Yes, we have sold some here in Seattle in the schools. I presented the book at the German kindergarten in the ABC-Schule. Overall positive reactions – it’s so nice, a good idea, cute. Many also have said that they also think that there’s not enough bilingual books. And that’s true. I think there are some in Germany, some paperbacks and novels, for when the children are a little older, around 10, that are written in the two languages – German and English. But I haven’t seen many for younger children that maybe have a German-speaking father and an English-speaking mother.
Sarah: That’s true.
Ulrike: You probably know that, you have a book store. Do you have any? Any others like this?
Sarah: I have a few - “Kleiner Eisbär” that you can buy. The Nord-Süd Verlag has many bilingual books, but they are more picture books for language courses. This [book] is a little smaller but also nice and long. That’s nice that’s it’s not over in two minutes. I like that.
Ulrike: We just thought… in my personal opinion, children learn language better through rhymes. They learn so many things through songs. My children have learned many songs and have learned better through them. That’s why I wrote the story in rhyme. That way that can memorize it and say it along with [the CD]. The rhythm and melody of it makes a difference.
Sarah: I think so too. So, as we said, another one, right? Hawaii, number two. Then I will buy that as well!
Ulrike: I already think that we’ll make another one. I’m also working with a friend on one about a snowman. Maybe we’ll have that ready before next Christmas. It’s also in German/English and in rhyme. It’s about a snowman looking for a wife. It’s also a little of a overarching theme. It doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with Christmas; more about winter. It’s intended for all countries.
Sarah: Nice! Once again, thank you for your time. I will be putting the book on the website in the next few days and then hopefully I can order some more!
Ulrike: Thank you.
Bilingual Families Wanted!
We are always looking for new families to interview! It's quick, painless, and lots of fun! Plus, we'll send you a free book for participating. If you'd like to be interviewed on our blog, please send an e-mail to thea (at) alphabet-garten.com .
Thursday, February 19, 2009
German Mom writes a bilingual book: An Interview with Ulrike Rylance
Sarah Mueller sat down with Ulrike Rylance and chatted about her new bilingual book, Wo ist Hawaii, and her strategies for bilingual success with her daughters.Note: the interview was conducted in German. You can read an English translation here.
Sarah: Also, vielen Dank nochmal für die Zeit!
Ulrike: Ja, es ist kein Problem, kein Problem.
Sarah: Ich habe heute Morgen das Buch durchgelesen; es ist so schön geworden!
Ulrike: Ach, danke, ja. Die CDs habe ich auch mitgeschickt?
Sarah: Ja, genau. Die habe ich. Wie bist du auf die Idee gekommen, das Buch zu schreiben?
Ulrike: Ich schreibe sowieso noch andere Geschichten, für Kinder und auch Erwachsene, aber ich wollte gern was machen was zweisprachig ist, weil ich finde, dass es einfach zu wenig gibt. Ich habe das erst auf Deutsch geschrieben, das Gedicht, und wollte gern was machen, was ein bisschen international ist. Bei diesem zweisprachlichen Sachen da muss man immer aufpassen, dass die Themen irgendwie so Länder überkreisend sind, also, dass es nicht nur was rein Deutsches ist oder was rein Amerikanisches ist. Dann bin ich auf die Idee mit der Reise gekommen und dann habe ich es auf Deutsch geschrieben und dann einfach ins Englische übersetzt. Meine Freundin ist Illustratorin und hat also auch gleich gesagt sie macht mit, und das ist also entstanden.
Sarah: Wow, super! Ich mag das ganz am Ende mit den Fragen und mit der Karte... das ist prima. Ich habe auch am Anfang gedacht, ich muss meine Karte holen und dann habe ich die im Buch gefunden, schon dabei.
Ulrike: Ja, das ist für kleinere Kinder, dass sie ein bisschen, so eine Vorstellung bekommen, wie die Weltkarte ist, weißt du, und wo das überhaupt ist und wie sie (die Charaktere) so dann da lang geschwommen sind und was sie falsch gemacht haben.
Sarah: Süß! Und es reimt sich auch so schön.
Ulrike: Ja. Meine Freundin hat jetzt schon die Idee aber vielleicht noch einen zweiten Teil irgendwann machen, denn sie haben eigentlich also nur die Hälfte der Welt bis jetzt gesehen. Gibt’s da noch China, Indien, diese ganze andere Ecke dahinten, da könnte man sie noch mal hinschicken.
Sarah: Vielleicht können sie endlich Hawaii erreichen.
Ulrike: Ja, genau.
Sarah: Die Armen. Das wäre schön. Das stimmt.
Ulrike: Und mit der CD, hatte mir jemand gesagt, dass es eine gute Idee ist, wenn die Kinder sozusagen, mitlesen können, und dann immer die Seiten umblättern können im Auto oder so und deswegen haben wir die CD gemacht.
Sarah: Ja, das ist deine Tochter drauf, na?
Ulrike: Ja, die Lizzy liest das Deutsche, und die Tochter von der Illustratorin, von der Randi, liest dann das Englische
Sarah: Also, okay. Und wie alt ist denn deine Tochter?
Ulrike: Sie ist elf. Sie ist jetzt elf geworden.
Sarah: Sie spricht so schönes Deutsch.
Ulrike: Ach, danke.
Sarah: Und wie geht es denn bei Euch in der Familie? Spricht ihr denn alle Deutsch zusammen? Oder Deutsch und Englisch?
Ulrike: Also, mein Mann spricht überhaupt kein Deutsch. Mein Mann ist Engländer, wir haben erst in England gewohnt, und der kann überhaupt nichts sagen. Ich hab' eigentlich immer mit den Kindern immer nur Deutsch geredet also, von Anfang an, und überall, und dadurch haben sie es einfach gelernt. Mittlerweile wenn er dabei ist, redet man naturlich Englisch, aber sobald ich mit ihnen alleine bin, rede ich mit ihnen Deutsch. Als sie klein waren, habe ich meistens “doppelt” gesagt – dann habe ich meistens erst auf Deutsch gesagt und dann habe ich gesagt "Jetzt müssen wir das nochmal auf Englisch sagen weil Daddy uns nicht versteht!" Es hat sich einfach so ergeben.
Sarah: Okay, und haben die Kinder dann auch mal in Deutschland gewohnt oder sind sie die ganze Zeit in Seattle dann?
Ulrike: Sie haben also nie in Deutschland gewohnt. Wir waren erst in London die ersten vier Jahre und seit 2001 sind wir in Amerika. Aber wir fahren ziemlich oft nach Hause zu meinen Eltern, so zweimal im Jahr, das hilft natürlich. Meine Tochter hat auch eine deutsche Brieffreundin. Also, ich verziere das ein bisschen, dass das Verhalten bleibt. Hast du denn auch Kinder?
Sarah: Ja, ich habe drei Kinder, drei Söhne. Der Älteste ist acht (Jahre alt), dann einer der ist fünf und einer der ist jetzt zwei. Mein Mann ist Deutscher und ich bin Amerikanerin – wir versuchen Deutsch und Englisch zu reden Teilweise mehr Englisch als Deutsch, aber sie verstehen alles und sie reden Deutsch immer mit dem Kleinen. Der kann das ganz schön eigentlich, ganz toll. Wenn sie mit ihm reden wollen dann sprechen sie Deutsch, aber dann wenn sie mit mir reden dann sprechen sie nur Englisch. Sie sind so gewohnt. Das kommt noch. Wir arbeiten daran.
Ulrike: Ich denke mal wenn so sie auch ungefähr bis zum zwölf sind und gut gelernt haben, dann verlieren sie es auch nicht mehr. Sie sehen halt auch einen Sinn darin, das zu lernen, weißt du, weil sie Deutschland lieben und sie lieben das deutsche Essen und sie lieben Oma und Opa und die deutschen Schwimmbäder… Sie fahren gern dahin wenn sie können – da haben sie auch einen Anreiz, weißt du? Wenn wir jetzt nie dahin fahren würden, würden sie sich iregendwann fragen warum das Ganze aber…
Sarah: Ja, genau, dann haben sie gute Erinnerungen daran und ein gutes Verhältnis. Dann eine Frage von meinen Kunden dass immer wieder kommt: Was war die größte Schwierigkeit, also die zwei Kinder zweisprachig zu erziehen? Also, was findest du am schwierigsten?
Ulrike: Also, ich habe eigentlich nicht so viele Schwierigkeiten gehabt, aber ich weiß dass es für viele, ist es die Tatsache dass man einfach konsequent bleiben muss, dass man immer Deutsch reden muss, auch wenn es in dem Moment nicht so gefällt. Zum Beispiel auch auf dem Spielplatz oder im Supermarkt, weil man sich dann sofort immer outet als Ausländer, weißt du, und viele die jetzt in Amerika leben sie wollten sich auch integrieren und als Amerikaner anscheinen. Und in dem Moment wo mann laut mit den Kindern Deutsch redet, wissen natürlich alle. Also, ich weiß dass das für einige ein Problem ist, und dass sie dann inzwischen den zwei Sprachen hin und her schnitten und in dem Moment wo man das macht ist es im Prinzip schon verloren, weil dann die Kinder das sich einsehen dass sie Deutsch lernen, dass sie Deutsch sprechen sollen. Ich habe auch einige Fälle gesehen wo es nicht geklappt hat, weil die Eltern halt nicht konsequent geblieben sind.
Sarah: Also, einfach konsequent sein und dann –
Ulrike: Ja, ich weiss zum Beispiel als wir im England gewohnt haben… Sie haben ein bißchen anderes Verhältnis zu den Deutschen, da war es nicht so einfach dann immer konsequent zu bleiben und überall Deutsch zu reden.
Sarah: Wirklich? Das war schwieriger dann im England?
Ulrike: Ja. Im Amerika sind sie sehr offen gegen überallen Nationen eigentlich, ich würde nicht sagen dass sie dort Deutsch feindlich sind, so weit würde ich nicht gehen… aber ein bißchen andere Atmosphäre. Ich kenn’ einen Mann in England, der hat ein 14-jähriges Tochter, die hat einst ihm gesagt, er soll nicht mehr in diesen bescheuerten Sprache mit ihr reden, es würde ihr peinlich.
Sarah: Oh, nein! Schade!
Ulrike: Und sie wohnen in Wales wo es gibt halt nicht andere Deutsche und es war ihr furchtbar unangenehm als Teenager, dass ihr Vater dann in dieser bescheuerten Sprache mit ihr redet. Also, sowas meine ich. Das ist sicher für Einige einen Grund aufzuhören, Deutsch zu reden..
Sarah: Zum Glück haben wir das hoffentlich nicht. In meiner Erfahrung ist hier das immer positiv akzeptiert worden
Ulrike: Ja, es ist ein bisschen anders hier. In Deutschland ist es sowieso umgedreht, sage ich mal, wenn die Kinder Englisch reden sind sie ganz begeistert, noch positiver eigentlich.
Sarah: Es wird da unterstutzt. Können deine Kinder denn auch lesen und schreiben? Offentsichlich lesen können sie schon.
Ulrike: Also, sie lesen ja, die große, die Lizzy, sie liest also deutsche Bücher - ein bisschen niedriger Niveau als das was sie auf Englisch liest und es ist auch ein bisschen anstrengender für sie also es ist nicht ganz so entspannend aber sie macht trotzdem. Also, sie hat, glaube ich, Cornelia Funkes Tintentot angefangen. Aber das Schreiben das ist noch nicht so gut. Sie schreibt wie Pippi Langstrumpf. (lacht) Aber ich muss sagen, ich mach mir nicht so viele Gedanken. Ich denke wenn man Deutsch lesen und sprechen kann dann macht sie irgendwann mal ein Kurs, wenn sie ein bisschen grösser ist. In dem sie Deutsch schriebt. Dann hat sie das auch. Dass sie das Lesen beibehält und das Sprechen ist eigentlich wichtiger. Die Kleine, sie hat jetzt gerade Englisch lesen gelernt, also sie liest… Sie ist erst in der ersten Klasse.
Sarah: Und wie alt ist sie denn?
Ulrike: Sie ist sieben.
Sarah: Die Eine ist sieben und die Andere ist elf, stimmt? Ja. Was für Fragen habe ich noch hier? Meinst du dass du einmal wieder nach Deutschland gehst? Also, umziehst? Oder seid ihr denn hier...?
Ulrike: Ich glaube eigentlich nicht. Also, wie gesagt, mein Mann kein Wort deutsch redet … das wäre wahrscheinlich für uns eine riesengroßen Umstellung und dann würde wahrscheinlich er zurück nach England gehen, aber da würde ich nicht unbedingt hingehen wollen. Alles zusammen genommen, würden wir wahrscheinlich hier bleiben. Man weiss nicht, ich würde nie "nie" sagen. Wir haben es nicht im Plan, sage ich es mal so.
Sarah: Ich verstehe. Und es gibt viele Deutsch in Seattle da, in der Gegend.
Ulrike: Ja, eigentlich. Deswegen ist es nicht so brennend dass ich unbedingt nach Hause muss.
Sarah: Ich glaube, ich habe alle meine Fragen jetzt gefragt. Gibt da noch etwas, was du sagen möchtest?
Ulrike: Also, nein. Ich hoffe nur dass es den Leuten gefällt..
Sarah: Oh, ja, das wollte ich noch fragen... Wie ist der Reaktion dazu? Hast du viele Bücher schon verkauft in der Gegend? In der Nähe?
Ulrike: Ja, wir habe ja hier in Seattle in der Kinderschule, da haben wir Solche verkauft. Ich war in dem deutschen Kindergarten in der ABC-Schule und habe das Buch mal vorgestellt. Gründlich eigentlich positiv – schön, gute Idee, niedlich. Viele haben auch gesagt dass sie auch der Meinung sind, es gibt nicht genüg zweisprachige Bücher. Stimmt das auch. Ich glaube es gibt in Deutschland, wenn sie ein bisschen grösser sind, die Kinder, so ab 10, gibt's denn so Taschenbücher und Romane die sind so zweisprachig geschrieben – Deutsch und Englisch. Aber für so kleinere Kinder die vielleicht ein Deutscher Vater, Englische Mutter haben, habe ich nicht so viel gesehen.
Sarah: Das stimmt.
Ulrike: Das musst du auch wissen, du hast denn eine Buchladung. Hast du auch mehr solche Sachen?
Sarah: Ich habe ein Paar – es gibt so “Kleiner Eisbär”, das kann man kaufen. Die ganze Nord-Süd Verlag, sie haben viele zweisprachige Bücher, aber sie sind so richtig Kurse Bilderbücher. Ein bisschen kleiner und auch so schön lang. Das gibt’s eigentlich dabei, das ist nicht also in zwei Minuten fertig. Das finde ich gut.
Ulrike: Wir haben auch halt gedacht, das ist, weil ich persönlich auf der Meinung bin, durch Reimen lernen die Kinder sowieso besser, die Sprache. Also, sie lernen viele Sachen durch Lieder. Meine Kinder haben viele Lieder und sowas gelernt, dadurch bringt es so besser ein. Deswegen habe ich auch diese Geschichte in Reimform gehalten. Das können sie besser auswendig lernen und mitsprechen irgendwie. Macht diese Rhythmus, diese Melodie macht, das macht doch ein Unterschied, ja.
Sarah: Genau, glaube ich auch. Okay, ja, wie gesagt, noch ein zweites, na? Hawaii, nummer zwei. Dann kaufe ich das auch.
Ulrike: Ich denke schon dass wir noch eins machen würden. Ich habe noch vor, mit einer Freundin eins über ein Schneemann zu machen. Vielleicht haben wir das vor nächsten Weihnachten fertig. Das ist auch auf Deutsch/Englisch, und mit dem Reimen, von dem Schneemann der sich eine Frau sucht, also. Das ist auch so ein bisschen ein überkreisendes Thema. Hat nicht unbedingt was mit Weihnachten zu tun, aber einfach mit Winter und so. Das ist für alle Länder geeignet.
Sarah: Noch mal vielen Dank für deine Zeit. Ich veröffentlich jetzt das Buch in den nächsten paar Tagen auf der Website und dann hoffentlich kann ich bald wieder neue Bücher bestellen.
Ulrike: Ich danke dir.
Sarah: Also, vielen Dank nochmal für die Zeit!
Ulrike: Ja, es ist kein Problem, kein Problem.
Wo ist Hawaii is available through Alphabet Garten with and without accompanying CD. Ulrike Rylance's website is http://www.bilibooks.com
Thursday, February 05, 2009
New Unit Studies - What would you like to see?
The response to our (free) St. Martin's Day and St. Nikolaus Day unit studies was tremendous. It's really exciting to see people going the extra mile to explore German language, culture and traditions with their kids.
I'm itching to get some new unit studies underway for you! But what would you like to see? What topics would you like to explore with your children? Maybe nature in the spring? How about Easter? Fussball? (I'll definitely need to bring in outside help on that one!)
Leave me a comment with your ideas and if we pick your topic, I'll send you the book of your choice up to $20. :)
- Sarah
I'm itching to get some new unit studies underway for you! But what would you like to see? What topics would you like to explore with your children? Maybe nature in the spring? How about Easter? Fussball? (I'll definitely need to bring in outside help on that one!)
Leave me a comment with your ideas and if we pick your topic, I'll send you the book of your choice up to $20. :)
- Sarah
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Closed until January 5 - in the meantime have some Glühwein
Alphabet Garten is closed until January 5 - all outstanding orders will ship at that time. We hope you are enjoying a peaceful end-of-year time with your family as we are with ours.
In the meantime, why not enjoy some tasty Glühwein (Erwachsene only please). Nathalie has a great recipe and a fun style of mixing German and English in her posts that I can relate to.
See you in the New Year!
Sarah
In the meantime, why not enjoy some tasty Glühwein (Erwachsene only please). Nathalie has a great recipe and a fun style of mixing German and English in her posts that I can relate to.
See you in the New Year!
Sarah
Sunday, December 14, 2008
In der Weihnachtsbäckerei
Have you started your Christmas baking yet? Make it even more fun by baking with another friend or family. Learn new recipes and share the results of your baking. This requires a bit more preparation than baking by yourself though so here are a few things to consider in advance:
- Which cookies to make – some traditional cookies (Plätzchen) include Zimtsterne and anise cookies.
- Will you spend your time together mixing cookies, baking cookies or decorating?
- What ingredients are needed?
- What tools are needed? Pans, spatulas, mixers, etc.
Photo: Noema
Kinderpunsch (1)
2 cups brewed herbal tea (I’ve used strawberry or hibiscus but experiment)
2 cups Cranapple juice
½ pkg of mulling spices from Simply Organic (or use cloves and cinnamon sticks)
Cook for 20-30 minutes. Serve warm.
The kids love it. It’s a beautiful red color and smells great.
Kinderpunsch (2)
2 cups brewed herbal tea
2 cups apple juice
Juice of one lemon
3 teaspoons honey (or to taste, we use less)
Brew tea for 10 minutes. Add other ingredients and reheat.
Sing along with Rolf to “In der Weihnachtsbäckerei“:
Music and Text: Rolf Zuckowski
In der Weihnachtsbäckerei
gibt es manche Leckerei.
Zwischen Mehl und Milch
macht so mancher Knilch
eine riesengroße Kleckerei.
In der Weihnachtsbäckerei,
in der Weihnachtsbäckerei.
Wo ist das Rezept geblieben
von den Plätzchen, die wir lieben?
Wer hat das Rezept verschleppt?
Na, dann müssen wir es packen,
einfach frei nach Schnauze backen.
Schmeiß den Ofen an -
und ran!
In der Weihnachtsbäckerei ...
Brauchen wir nicht Schokolade,
Honig, Nüsse und Sukkade
und ein bisschen Zimt?
Das stimmt.
Butter, Mehl und Milch verrühren,
zwischendurch einmal probieren,
und dann kommt das Ei -
vorbei!
In der Weihnachtsbäckerei ...
Bitte mal zur Seite treten,
denn wir brauchen Platz zum Kneten.
Sind die Finger rein?
Du Schwein!
Sind die Plätzchen, die wir stechen,
erst mal auf den Ofenblechen,
warten wir gespannt -
verbrannt.
In der Weihnachtsbäckerei …
Wir wünschen ein frohes Fest!
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