Dear Elena, Laura, Annick, All,<br><br>I have been reading the recent messages on bilingualism with great (largely personal) interest. My personal interest concerns my grandson who is now 4 and soon 5. I can give an answer relating to pronounciation, accent. <br>
<br>Elliot, my grandson, has heard English and German at home from birth. His mother is German, his father British. He speaks German fluently. The usual home language is English (they live in London). My daughter (his mother) spoke in German and English to him for some time - about his first two years. And German is spoken between my daughter and me when I visit, usually once a week (both native speakers of German). As with Laura's son Elliot's first words were German, but when he started with English and went to nursery from 2 1/2 he did not want to speak German any more, sometimes also complaining when my daughter and I speak German. <br>
<br>Last summer I did a German course for Kindergartners from Goethe Institut with him. He enjoyed that and remembers the words and phrases very well. I did not think he would. But he still does now although we have not practised them.<br>
<br>What is very noticable is that he has almost no English accent in his German. He has always been able to pronounce Umlaut and "ch" - the usual difficulties English people have. As regards the schwa at the end of words which is "a" with an English accent, he does this sometimes, but when I repeat the word or answer him in German, and he repeats the word it become the German schwa immediately. His pronounciation - if it does show English influences - become native German in no time. I relate that to the fact that he has heard German from baby onwards.<br>
<br>I am at a bit of a loss how to continue with his German now, and I would be grateful if anyone has an idea. <br>He has started school - as they do in England at the early age of 4 years. That means they do some form of writing. Elliot enjoys it. If I continue with the Goethe Institue German course for primary school children, it would require writing. But children don't start school and writing till 6 in Germany. I do not want to confuse Elliot's phonological - graphological system. The relation between sound and letters is pretty straightforward in German, whether there are any regularities in English and what they do at school, escapes me. (They seem to start with some regularities. How English children learn the relations between sound and letters escapes me, too). However, Elliot wants me to write words in German, and it does not seem to confuse him. He particularly likes the "eyes" on vowels with Umlaut. So, I may be able to continue.<br>
<br>What my daughter and I do now is that we create situations - i.e. having breakfast, playing with forest animals in a forest and speak in simple German sentences. Elliot tends to answer in English, but does say single words in German. He understands the actions. I also read from an attractive book with pictures: first a phrase in German, then in English. As he enjoys the characters and stories in the book, he likes this and answers to simple questions in German by pointing or answering in English.<br>
<br>Regarding a total immersion, it would be possible next year in the summer. But then he will be six. Just possible for Kindergarten in Germany. But would it work at the age of 6?<br><br>Elliot definitely understands quite a bit of German. But he has a reluctance to speak except for single words.<br>
<br>Does anyone have any ideas what to do? I would be grateful. <br><br>Elliot has a baby brother now, 7 months. My daughter wants to start with German again and attend a German play group in London, once a week. We think Elliot might join in (in some form) if we speak German with his little brother, as he likes him a lot.<br>
<br>Regards,<br>Gisela<br><br> <br><br><br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Feb 22, 2013 at 9:58 AM, Elena Lieven <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:lieven@eva.mpg.de" target="_blank">lieven@eva.mpg.de</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<font><span style="font-size:10pt">I am interested in what
these children's accent was like in the language that 'suddenly
switched on'. Do they need to have produced it to sound
initially like a native speaker? One child I know also refused
to speak English, though she was spoken to exclusively in
English by her father who was the main carer from 1;0 - 3;0. But
the family lives in Germany, the mother spoke German to the
child, the child went to German daycare and both parents are
almost native speakers in both languages. She understood
English perfectly but only started to be willing to speak it
around the age of 5 or 6 - and she had, and to some extent still
has, a German accent in English<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br>
<br>
elena lieven</font></span></span></font><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
</font></span></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
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</font></span></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Prof Gisela Szagun PhD BSc<br><br><a href="http://www.giselaszagun.com" target="_blank">www.giselaszagun.com</a><br><br><br>Vertraulichkeitshinweis:<br>Diese Nachricht ist nur für Personen bestimmt, an die sie adressiert ist. Jede Veröffentlichung ist ausdrücklich untersagt.<br>
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