Frenglish? - should I be concerned?...

[Music-dad]

I'm not sure whether or not I should be concerned about this, and I do plan on discussing it with Kayleigh's teacher/school. K is in a French Immersion Program. I thought it was best, as her mom was french, as well we live in an area that is about 70% french speaking (about 10% do not speak english).

Lately I've noticed she is speaking what we call here Frenglish, the combining of both French and English. For example:

This morning she is on a kick about how big she is getting, and she said:

"Daddy, I have grown out of <U>deux</U> pairs of my tights." (deux means two)

And she will often refer to an object in french, while the rest of the sentence was english. She is not yet speaking full sentences in french yet, they are only focussing on nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives.

I have yet to correct her on this as #1) I usually understand what she means and #2) This may just be part of the bilingual learning process.

Any advice or insights would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Mindy]

Music-Dad, this is just one of those things that will get better with time, but you will just have to grin and bear it until she is bilingual. BTW kudos for sending her to French immersion.

My goddaughter is 2 and speaks the same way... It's pretty crazy. But we don't mind, because we know how important it is for her to learn BOTH and particularly French when you are as young as possible.

It's just one of the joys of growing up with the main adults in your life, speaking different languages than each other

I think it's a sign she's really learning and understanding what she is being taught in her second language... She is demonstrating what she is learning by the words she uses in French. Verbs, adverbs, nouns etc.

It sounds to me like she's on the right track to being bilingual which an amazing gift to give your daughter!

 

[Mindy]

LOL if I am with people who are both French and English, I STILL do it. But not one word here or there.. 2 sentences in French, 2 in English etc...

 

[Music-dad]

Thanks Mindy, I though that I'd have to expect a bit of cross-over between the 2 languages. Her recent report card was exceptional (better than any one I've ever got - hehe). She really loves to roll her R's and does it beautifully, I really hear her mother in her voice when she does it. The rolls even make it into her english words sometimes. She's trying to teach me to roll, but I simply can't do it no matter how hard i try.

 

[Mindy]

LOL chances are if you didn't learn to "roll" as a young child, it will be difficult for you to learn. That's why it's so important she's doing it now!

Ok, this is going to sound weird, but to "roll" you need to place the tip of your tongue underneath your tongue if that makes sense lol Not sure it's something I can just show you in words, but I bet with a little practice, you COULD do it.

Try practicing with the word "Rouge" RRRrrouge LOL

 

[Mindy]

Also if you ever need help with any of her homework I would be more than happy to help.

I remember how helpless mom and dad used to feel when I would need help with my homework (they speak no French at all)

 

[Music-dad]

Thank you for your offer to help with homework, that's very kind, and I'm sure I will be consulting you.

Oddly enough, when I was in public school, I couldn't get the rolls either - hehehe, and silly me in grade 7, we were given the option of scrapping french and taking a spare (no brainer for me). I remember handing the teacher the slip to cancel the class and thinking "when am I ever gonna need french?"...I guess the joke was on me when I fell in love with and married a french girl.

 

[Mindy]

Ok I was just "doing it" to see...

The rolling comes from not just putting the tip of your tongue under your tongue (like you would do when pronouncing L) but from the VIBRATIONS you need to create... the rolling sounds effect comes from the tip of your tongue vibrating against under your tongue... Try vibrating it and making the R sound at the same time... Almost sounds derogatory lol, and that probably doesn't help either.

I think it's a disgrace they allowed you to do that! (I would have done the same if I was a small child) (drop French) and it only hurt you in the end I guess... I mean you don't just ask kids if they WANT to do something, they should just have to Same thing happened to my dad BTW.

 

[Music-dad]

Luckily, I did have a few years of french before the option to drop it came up...when I have get togethers with my MIL and family they speak french about 80% of the time, and I am able to pick up about 40% of what they're at this point, and with my "mini french teacher" Miss Kayleigh, I'm getting better all the time

 

[Mindy]

You will be amazed how much you learn having a child who speaks it

 

[Music-dad]

You will be amazed how much you learn having a child who speaks it

Miss Kayleigh has taught me well so far, and she's just getting started.

(best teacher ever!)

 

[ivybendorf]

I spent most of my grade school in Japan, in English speaking schools, but I saw this a lot. Some children would switch back and forth from English to Japanese schools, and they would use the oddest combination of the two languages. By 5 grade or so most of they had it figured out. It will be quicker with French, Japanese was a very odd language to incorporate.

 

[Music-dad]

I would agree Ivy, isn't there over 600 letters in the Japanese alphabet or something like that?

 

[ivybendorf]

And three different alphabets, according to the subject and formality. Kanji is the most common, the most informal and the simplest with only 35 (36?) characters, and it is actually Chinese in origin. They still use it in China! The more formal alphabets have over 500 characters and are used in government and business.

Plus the grammar system is totally different, sentences go on forever, certain characters have the same sound but are used differently according to subject and formality... People say English is hard to learn, but I am blown away by Japanese!

 

[Music-dad]

Wow, that is amazing, thanks Ivy.

 

[meow_173]

i don't think its a problem, kudos for her for actually putting together like that! i can hardly speak any french any more......i dropped it after gr.9 LOL.......Bonjour!