Meine Tochter spricht Deutsch, oder zumindest lernt sie es, wie das bei Kleinkindern eben so ist. Ist sie deswegen automatisch "Deutsch", was auch immer das genau heissen mag?
Die Antwort lautet natürlich: Nein, ist sie nicht.
Am auffälligsten dürften die Namen im Kinderprogramm sein: "Bob der Baumeister" kennt Lilia nicht, wohl aber "Bob the Builder". Solange die Namen so ähnlich sind, dürfte sie das auch noch verstehen, aber wenn sie mal eines Tages mit einem in Deutschland aufgewachsenen Kind über die Ducks aus Entenhausen redet, dann wird sie erstmal nicht wissen, wovon die Rede ist.
So gesehen ist meine Tochter eine Engländerin.
Thursday, 20 December 2007
Language and personality
If you live in a foreign country and routinely speak the language, you might have noticed this: you are behaving slightly differently depending on which language you speak.
It's difficult to say what the differences are, really, but you can feel they are there. When I'm in Germany speaking German, I am someone. In the UK, speaking English, I am someone else. And at home, speaking French, I am someone else again.
After all the time I spent far from Germany, I cannot even tell anymore which one is the real me. All of them probably.
But does that apply to a child that has lived in a multilingual environment all her life?
I am guessing it does not, as for her being multilingual is absolutely normal. She does use different degrees of intonation and seems to be more animated in Arabic and German than in English or French. But that might well be a result of her copying how we speak.
I guess we are going to have to wait and ask her one day.
It's difficult to say what the differences are, really, but you can feel they are there. When I'm in Germany speaking German, I am someone. In the UK, speaking English, I am someone else. And at home, speaking French, I am someone else again.
After all the time I spent far from Germany, I cannot even tell anymore which one is the real me. All of them probably.
But does that apply to a child that has lived in a multilingual environment all her life?
I am guessing it does not, as for her being multilingual is absolutely normal. She does use different degrees of intonation and seems to be more animated in Arabic and German than in English or French. But that might well be a result of her copying how we speak.
I guess we are going to have to wait and ask her one day.
Monday, 17 December 2007
Babel - Mixing languages
Does Lilia mix languages in a single phrase? She sure does.
There are patterns, though, she does not do it randomly.
She will mix Arabic and French. That's absolutely normal, given that half of the Maghreb does it as well. She does know that there is a difference, though.
We once had French friends over for a visit. It took Lilia a day or so before she realised that our friends and their children did speak French but not Arabic.
And, when she visits her grandparents in Algeria, she will drop French quickly and speak Arabic exclusively.
She will sometimes mix English and German when she talks to me, eg. "I want Buch lesen". I think she feels that English and German are somewhat close.
And if she does not know a specific word in the language she is currently speaking, she sometimes thinks for a second, then tries words in other languages to see if we understand them. Or, if we are both around, she will turn to the other person and say the word in their language, so the other person can translate.
There are patterns, though, she does not do it randomly.
She will mix Arabic and French. That's absolutely normal, given that half of the Maghreb does it as well. She does know that there is a difference, though.
We once had French friends over for a visit. It took Lilia a day or so before she realised that our friends and their children did speak French but not Arabic.
And, when she visits her grandparents in Algeria, she will drop French quickly and speak Arabic exclusively.
She will sometimes mix English and German when she talks to me, eg. "I want Buch lesen". I think she feels that English and German are somewhat close.
And if she does not know a specific word in the language she is currently speaking, she sometimes thinks for a second, then tries words in other languages to see if we understand them. Or, if we are both around, she will turn to the other person and say the word in their language, so the other person can translate.
Translator, please!
One thing that's often said about multilingual people is that they are bad translators or interpreters. I am not so sure.
Lilia often says something to Souad in Arabic or French, then turns to me and repeats it in German (or sometimes English). Or the other way round.
She does not do it all the time, and we have not yet found a pattern. But she surely can translate and interpret.
Lilia often says something to Souad in Arabic or French, then turns to me and repeats it in German (or sometimes English). Or the other way round.
She does not do it all the time, and we have not yet found a pattern. But she surely can translate and interpret.
Songs & Chansons
We have a book of French songs and rhymes for children. The book comes with a CD with 30 of those songs.
For some reason, the CD ended up in a CD player in the kitchen, and whenever we are in the kitchen, Lilia wants to listen to it. Of course she started to learn how to sing the songs herself.
When Souad & Lilia started to go to a local Mum's & Tot's group, Lilia was introduced to her first english song: "Hokey Cokey"
They also sang other songs in English, and Lilia also picked up some of the theme tunes of her favourite shows on CBeebies.
Essentially, she has been singing French chansons and English songs all her life.
The only thing missing? German songs, Lieder. That's mainly because I do not like singing to her for some strange reason that I do not understand ;-)
For some reason, the CD ended up in a CD player in the kitchen, and whenever we are in the kitchen, Lilia wants to listen to it. Of course she started to learn how to sing the songs herself.
When Souad & Lilia started to go to a local Mum's & Tot's group, Lilia was introduced to her first english song: "Hokey Cokey"
They also sang other songs in English, and Lilia also picked up some of the theme tunes of her favourite shows on CBeebies.
Essentially, she has been singing French chansons and English songs all her life.
The only thing missing? German songs, Lieder. That's mainly because I do not like singing to her for some strange reason that I do not understand ;-)
The Languages
How multilingual is Lilia's environment?
First of all, we speak French at home. We met in France, and for Souad, French is like a mother tongue. We have just continued to speak French when we moved to the UK.
Souad uses Arabic and French when she speaks with Lilia while I use German. Lilia spends a couple of weeks with her grandparents in Algeria and a couple of weeks with her other grandparents in Germany every year.
Lilia started to pick up English while watching CBeebies, the BBC's channel for toddlers. She also started to go to a pre-school group recently, where everybody speaks English, obviously.
First of all, we speak French at home. We met in France, and for Souad, French is like a mother tongue. We have just continued to speak French when we moved to the UK.
Souad uses Arabic and French when she speaks with Lilia while I use German. Lilia spends a couple of weeks with her grandparents in Algeria and a couple of weeks with her other grandparents in Germany every year.
Lilia started to pick up English while watching CBeebies, the BBC's channel for toddlers. She also started to go to a pre-school group recently, where everybody speaks English, obviously.
The Main Characters
The persons you will see mentioned in this blog are:
Lilia - our daughter
Born in March 2005 in the UK. Has lived all her life in the UK, except for 4-8 weeks she spends in Algeria every year, and a couple of weeks she spends in Germany.
Souad - mother to Lilia
Born and raised in Algeria. Moved to France in 1999 to finish her studies, then stayed there and did a PhD thesis. Met Jan in 2001 and subsequently moved to the UK in 2004.
Jan - father to Lilia
Born and raised in Germany. Moved to France temporarily in 1998 to finish his MSc. Ended up staying there until 2004, when he had to move to the UK because there were no jobs in France.
Lilia - our daughter
Born in March 2005 in the UK. Has lived all her life in the UK, except for 4-8 weeks she spends in Algeria every year, and a couple of weeks she spends in Germany.
Souad - mother to Lilia
Born and raised in Algeria. Moved to France in 1999 to finish her studies, then stayed there and did a PhD thesis. Met Jan in 2001 and subsequently moved to the UK in 2004.
Jan - father to Lilia
Born and raised in Germany. Moved to France temporarily in 1998 to finish his MSc. Ended up staying there until 2004, when he had to move to the UK because there were no jobs in France.
"I know!"
Lilia picked up her first English phrase from CBeebies: "I know!" I think Postman Pat keeps saying it. The one thing that made the phrase interesting, though, was that her friend Amine (who is 4.5 years old and trilingual himself) used it a lot.
For days on days, she would walk around while playing and exclaim "I know!" This lasted for roughly two weeks, maybe.
I tried to find out whether she actually understood what she was saying, but to no avail.
She has since stopped doing it, fortunately.
For days on days, she would walk around while playing and exclaim "I know!" This lasted for roughly two weeks, maybe.
I tried to find out whether she actually understood what she was saying, but to no avail.
She has since stopped doing it, fortunately.
Sunday, 16 December 2007
Bed time stories
For the last couple of months, our daughter has asked us to tell a specific story before she goes to sleep. Souad was the first to tell it, in a mixture of French and Algerian. A couple of days later, Lilia wanted me to tell it, so I did it in German.
We have told her the story at least 20 times by now, and she surely knows all the words and characters. But every now and again, she will ask us to translate certain words in the story, like this:
J: Also sagt die Mama "Dann hol' ich halt die Kuh!"
L: Wassmou Kuh? [what's the name for ...]
J: Weiss ich nicht
L: Vache!
J: Ach so. Und die Mama sagt zur Kuh ...
She does this in both directions: when I tell the story in German, and when Souad tells it in Arabic. It is, however, the only story that she does it for.
We have told her the story at least 20 times by now, and she surely knows all the words and characters. But every now and again, she will ask us to translate certain words in the story, like this:
J: Also sagt die Mama "Dann hol' ich halt die Kuh!"
L: Wassmou Kuh? [what's the name for ...]
J: Weiss ich nicht
L: Vache!
J: Ach so. Und die Mama sagt zur Kuh ...
She does this in both directions: when I tell the story in German, and when Souad tells it in Arabic. It is, however, the only story that she does it for.
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