Raising a Bilingual Child: The Daddy Show

Raising a Bilingual Child

 

Teaching Tips: The Daddy Show

A constant thought in my mind is “What can I do to help my two children develop their English language skills while living in Japan?”

I have done and am currently always researching and looking for new ideas. Also, my background as a kindergarten and elementary school teacher has helped a lot. It is a constant learning process however and I want to share some helpful tips I’ve learned with anyone else their raising children in a multi language environment.

 

The Daddy Show:

I came across this idea while reading a blog sometime ago. I can no longer remember when I read it exactly of even which blog it came from, but it is an idea that stuck in my head.  Since I have a background in video editing (one of my hobbies being video blogging) this seemed like such an awesome idea. Even with very limited skills in using a video editor, anyone could do this as well.

I have basically created a short “television” show that my son can watch when I am not at home. He of course has a small library of English DVDs that he watches throughout the day, but I wanted him to have more of a chance to listen to my voice and “interact” with me when I was at work.

Basically what I did was choose 3 short story books that my son likes. I chose “Me and My Dad” by Mercer Mayer, “The Daddy Book” by Todd Parr and “The Feelings Book” also by Todd Parr. I chose 4 or 5 songs that my son enjoys like “Bingo”, “Open Shut Them”, “If You’re Happy and You Know It”, etc. I then mixed a lot of dialogue in there. I would ask my son questions like “How do you feel today?” and then leave a pause so he had time to answer.

I set up my iPhone on a counter, sat down and started filming. I had to make several takes of some of the sings, but it was a lot of fun to do. I then downloaded all the video clips onto my MacBookPro and began to edit them in iMovie. If you have a PC you can easily use can editing program like Windows Movie Maker. There are also many free editing suites out there that are relatively easy to use.

I added some titles at the beginning and then before each song and story, clearly introduced what I was about to do. When I shot the video I looked straight into the camera as if it were my son. I also addressed the camera as my son. That way, when my son watched the DVD, I was making eye contact with him and he really felt it was “for him.”

In the end, my first episode of “The Daddy Show” was about 20 minutes long. I plan to make more in the future and now I’ll be including my daughter in them. Of course, you can make it “The Mommy Show” if you’re a mother or name it anything you want.

If you have any problems with using an editor like iMovie, there are free and easy to follow tutorials on apple.com and of course, as with any editing program, there are many video tutorials on YouTube. Just do a quick search and any questions you have can be quickly answered.

Hope you liked my teaching tip and hopefully you can make your own “TV show” for your kids or friends.

You can follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev

 

 

Raising a Bilingual Child: Parents Communicating

Raising a Bilingual Child

Good Communication and Planning With Your Spouse

 

One of the keys to being able to raise bilingual children is strong communication with your spouse. It’s also good to have a clear action plan and make sure that you’re on the same page.

In an earlier post about only speaking English at home I talked about a Japanese wife who had anxiety about her husband only using Japanese with their kids. The situation in itself is absolutely fine. If you have no interest in your children learning English (or another language) and fine with only one, there are no issues at all with both parents speaking Japanese. The mother was feeling anxiety though because she wants her children to speak English as well as Japanese. By the sounds of it, the two parents are definitely not on the same page. Have they ever sat down and talked about their children’s language development? Have they discussed future plans? Who knows, but these are things that parents need to talk about.

I think my wife and I have been pretty good so far with discussing our children’s language learning.  After the kids have gone to bed at night we have sat up and talked about what DVDs would be good for our son, which kindergartens would be best and how my wife will use English in the house. We thought about English kindergartens as well as Japanese kindergartens for my son. We’ve decided to send him to a Japanese kindergarten next year and are now thinking about how will reinforce his English once his Japanese language development takes off.

About a year ago, when my son’s Japanese language skills really started to take off I started to feel stress and anxiety. I thought to myself at times, “Man…I wish I was raising him in Canada now.”

Although I am a trained teacher and have read a lot about the topic I couldn’t help myself, but get stressed. I KNOW that we are in Japan so of course he’ll develop Japanese first. I KNOW he uses Japanese all day long so of course it would be his first language. I said to myself, this is all ok. No problem. I said this to myself, but still started to feel anxiety when I saw one language developing more rapidly than the other.

I then talked to my wife about my feelings. She was great. She listened and reassured me that she would also work hard to make sure our son learned as much English as possible. Her reassurance definitely made me feel better. I think that fact that we have been communicating our feelings about teaching our children has helped reduce stress a great deal.

 

I think some important questions spouses can ask each other if they are in a similar situation are:

What language goals do we want for our kids? (Bilingual, unilingual, trilingual?)

How will we help develop our child’s second language?

Will we be solely responsible for the second language development or send our child to an English-language preschool/kindergarten/international school?

If our child goes to an international school, how will their primary language develop? How will their understanding of Japanese culture (where they live) develop?

If our child goes to an English kindergarten elsewhere, how will they have a chance to make local friends?

English kindergartens tend to have very small class sizes. Will my child lose out on social opportunities and his/her ability to develop social problem solving skills (ones they would develop in a larger class)?

Will I get cable/satellite television so my child has English language television to watch?

Will I buy them English language DVDs? Which ones? (Put some serious thought into this one. It’s easy to choose DVDS that have no educational quality or your kids will have no interest in.)

Will I make my home an English-only environment in the evenings? (Forcing a language on someone may cause him or her to resent it.)

Will studying my child’s first language help me teach him his second language? (Probably yes since you will know what they are saying in their first language and then you can teach them how to say the same thing in their second language).

How can we make language-learning fun?

How and at what age will we start to teach them to read and write? (Speaking and listening comes easily compared to these. Speaking and listening can be learned passively just by being immersed in the language environment whereas reading and writing must be actively taught and reinforced with much practice).

What do we do if at some point our child refuses to use his/her second language? (language rebellion)?

 

There are many other questions families will find them asking themselves and each other through out their child’s education.

Communication within the family is a key to raising successful language learners. It’s also an important factor in reducing any stress that may arise in the family. It’s extremely important for parents to be on the same page!

 

You can find me on Twitter: @jlandkev

 

 

 

Flash cards with a 2 year old

Today my son turns two and a half years old. He’s growing like a weed as they say back home and his language continues to grow at a frightening (for me anyway) pace. He simply loves speaking in both English and Japanese.

Last Monday, I began work after a three-week holiday. During my holiday, I spent most of my time with my family. That of course meant that our house was pretty much an “English Zone.” Living in an English environment for almost a month was a great boost for my son’s language, but as with every vacation, it had to come to an end. Last Monday I started work again and it began with a six-day work-week for me.

Yesterday when I got home from work I took my son to the supermarket to buy some pancake mix. He babbled in English the entire way, curiously pointing t everything he saw and sharing a running dialogue about those things. “Look Daddy, blue car. Big red car. Pigeons are walking. Building is yellow. Look, leaves are green. Tree is tall.” I loved every minute of it.

After dinner last night, while he was playing with Lego I spent sometime showing him various flashcards. Most of them were animal flashcards, but some were also shapes. He is quickly learning them, but I plan to add flashcards to our daily routine more often. Again, I almost have to think about English as if I were a teacher (which I am). He doesn’t get exposed to much English on a day-to-day basis so I need to work hard to help him learn.

Last year I bought a few sets at the local English bookstore, but have realized that at my son’s pace of learning it would cost me a small fortune to continue buying them so I have begun to make flashcards for him. I have relied on some of the great free sites I use for teaching such as MES English and Sparklebox. I simply print the cards at home and I even bought a laminator so I can make them last for years. I think it was a worthy investment.

Some flash cards I bought at Junkudo Bookstore. He already knows about 85% of these so I have begun making them myself at home.

You can check out a video below of me showing some color flashcards to my son the other morning while he was playing. To be honest, he really enjoys playing with the flashcards. He sees them as a toy. I suppose that’s a good thing!

You can follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev

“Big Surprise” Language Moments: Part 1

When you are raising any child, there are definitely special language milestones that you remember as a parent. When your child first says, “Mamma” (word may vary according to language). When your child first says “food.” When your child first vocalizes that they need to go to the toilet (an important step in toilet training).

I am sure that many of you out there vividly remember your child’s language milestone moments. If you don’t have kids right now, let it be known, you will be VERY excited about these moments.

I have to admit that part of me now wishes that I had been recording a lot of my son’s “language milestones” on this blog from the moment he started to communicate vocally, but I did not. I am now though and am happy to share many of his linguistic accomplishments, both Japanese and English, with you.

I mentioned in my previous post that my son’s L1 (first language) is Japanese. At times I feel some anxiety about the fact that his Japanese language ability is higher than his English ability. I feel anxiety (a topic for a full on blog post/chapter in a book…in the future) about this, but of course I shouldn’t. My half Canadian/Japanese kid lives in Japan so of course his Japanese is stronger than his English. He spends every day with his Japanese mother going to the local community center for classes. He goes to the local day care for classes as well as the local pool for swimming classes; all of them of course in Japanese.

My brain is boggled though at how much English he is picking up. He can now use basic sentences and basically communicate his wants and needs. He was even able to tell us what he wanted Santa Claus to bring him this year (in English) and that communication ensured that “Santa Clause” was able to get him the gift he indeed desired!

My recent “Big Surprise” moment:

Last week as I was pushing him in his stroller while we were coming back from our local IKEA (I’m on a 3 week Winter holiday and at home with him a lot), he said to me, “Daddy, two boys are going there.” I looked across the road and sure enough, there were two little boys, maybe six or seven years old, running across the road in front of us.

Amazing for me. Not only did it surprise me that he spoke the words, but that they were legitimately connected to a real-world observation.

Cool stuff!

You can follow me on Twitter @jlandkev.

Raising a Bilingual Child - 2 Years Old

This is a follow up to my original blog post about raising a bilingual child.

If you are a follower of this blog you already are aware of my situation, but if you are a new reader (and thank you very much for reading), I’ll fill you in a little on my situation. 

I am a Canadian teacher working at an international school in Japan. My wife is Japanese and we have a two year, one month old son who we are raising to be bilingual. We want him to be able to speak both Japanese and English. He is a duwl Canadian/Japanese citizen so we want him to have the skills and knowledge to function in both cultures/societies.

My son’s language abilities are coming along very well. I am actually quite surprised at how much he is able to speak and understand in both Japanese and English. I have worked as a teacher for eleven years and at my current school there is a day care. I have observed many children who are a similar age to my son and the majority do not speak as much as my son does. I don’t think he is a “linguistic prodigy” or anything like that, but I have a few ideas to why he speaks so much.

First of all, my son is always surrounded by language. Simply put, my wife talks to him a lot. She speaks to him and very importantly, listens and responds to him. Although I am not an expert and haven’t studied the topic a great deal, from my many years as a teacher I have noticed that the children who have the widest language bases, seem to have parents who engage them a lot linguistically. Many of the children I have met who speak very little, have parents who tend not to speak to them much. Also, I have noticed that many children who struggle even with their native language have parents who “talk at them” ns not “ to them.” They simple command them around and never really have conversations and listen to their child’s responses.

My wife is doing a great job at engaging our son. I try my best as well when I am home, but sometimes my work schedule doesn’t allow me to be at home as much as I would like.

Another thing that has been working very well is the fact that my wife is always actively teaching and asking questions to my son. She is constantly asking him, “What’s this?” Whether they are looking at a storybook, magazine, television or outside of the house in the “real world”, she is constantly engaging and teaching him. I basically try to follow her lead. Her form of teaching seems to be working well so I’m going with the flow!

It has become very clear and to know surprise that Japanese has become my son’s first language. When he does speak in Japanese I just translate in my brain and repeat what he said in English. In doing this I have realized that my own Japanese level is very low and I have to begin studying again so I can attempt to keep up with my son.

I’m hunting for more English dvds for my son as well. I realize that listening to any English is good, but I am hunting for ones that can help him learn meaningful language. Of course, watching English television is not the best option, but some weeks I work six days and a dvd is better than nothing.

At the moment I am home for the next eight days. This is a great chance for me to speak a lot to my son. This is a great opportunity for me to engage my son in English.

I better get going, he’s awake now. Time to talk!

Here is a video blog I shot yesterday morning. It's an unusual style for me. You can follow my son and I during our morning together.

Raising a Bilingual Child in Japan

Parenting is something that is never easy. Being a first time parent is even more difficult since you basically don’t know anything. You can of course read books on the topic, scan blogs and talk to friends and family with children, but at the end of the day, the best way to learn is by doing. Trial and error seems to be how most new parents make their way through the complicated world of raising a child.

As parents, we are concerned with all aspects of our child’s development (or at least we should be). How are their gross motor skills? How are their fine motor skills developing? Do their vision and hearing seem to be good? Are they developing problem-solving skills? How is their language developing?

Language development is something parents around the world think about on a regular basis. I suppose parents in my situation think about it even more than some.

My wife is Japanese and I am Canadian. We come from two very different countries and cultures. We also grew up with two distinctly different languages. My wife is a fluent English speaker and since we met many years ago outside Japan, English has been our main language for communication.

Our son is of course half Japanese and half Canadian. Before he was even born, my wife and I decided that we would raise him to be bilingual. I have had friends in the past who were half Japanese and they were never taught Japanese. Many years later, as adults, they had regrets and even some anger that they were denied the opportunity to be raised bilingual.

So, how are we doing it? How are we raising a bilingual child here in Japan?

To be honest, the trial and error approach I mentioned before is how we are coping with it. We have also talked to other international families who find themselves in the same situation.

It is pretty simple I suppose. My wife speaks to our son in Japanese and I in English. When we are together as a family, the main language used in the house tends to be English. My wife is a stay-at-home mother so the majority of my son’s day is spent in an all-Japanese environment. During a regular weekday, while I am at work, his day is probably about 80% Japanese. The moment I walk in the door at night though, my wife only speaks English. She realizes that that really isn’t enough English exposure so throughout the day she tends to use some English with him.

Some of my son's picture books.

Throughout the day, my son watches some Japanese children’s programs on television, but also watches English children’s television. We realize that television or DVDs are not the best approach (actually using real language with real people is the best approach), but we have to use what we can.

When my son first began to develop speech, we noticed that he was learning English words. Words like “clock”, “car”, “truck” and “duck.” He seemed to understand Japanese far more though. My wife could give him relatively complex instructions in Japanese and he would understand them. The same instructions given to him in English just left him confused.

My son is now a few months away from his second birthday and in recent weeks has had an explosion of language if you will. He is speaking more and more each day and learning new vocabulary like a sponge. Although he continues to learn more English words, his Japanese is quickly overtaking his English. Now he bobbles around the house babbling in a mix of Japanese and English. Often, my wife has to explain what he is saying since it is really a form of Japanese baby talk.

I have quickly come to the conclusion that my years of “not” studying Japanese while in Japan are coming back to haunt me. Within weeks and months, I will have a great deal of trouble following a conversation with my son. I have recently cracked the Japanese books again and have to make studying the language myself a priority.

We are still not sure what our future has in store for us. I am interested in returning to Canada to work and live, but there may always be a chance that we will stay here in Japan. Either way, we will have to work very hard as a team to ensure that my son can learn and maintain both languages.

Raising a child is a challenge. Raising a child to be bilingual poses additional challenges. I am definitely not an expert on this. I am a parent learning as I go. One thing my wife and I both want is for our son to have a deep appreciation and understanding of both his cultures and the opportunity to speak both languages.

If you have any advice or ideas that might help, leave a comment below.

You can follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev