I am a native French speaker and have always lived in France. In February 2016 I gave birth to my son. When he was a year old, I decided to speak to him in Esperanto, and I have only spoken to him in that language since then. I think I am the third person on this forum to use Esperanto with a child!
My son has just turned 3 years old and I am currently thinking a lot about bilingualism and what I want. He understands the language perfectly passively and often spontaneously translates what I say from Esperanto into French orally. He sometimes uses a few words in Esperanto but without any conscience. He does not yet seem to understand the concept of "language".
Thank you very much for all your writings on bilingualism and childhood! And thanks also to the people who post messages, always interesting, on this forum.
Hi Nelli! Welcome to the Zoo!
Thanks for introducing yourself. You're the first person I know about who speaks Esperanto to their child, but I'm glad there are more!! Starting a blog seems like a good idea, especially when there aren't many families speaking it; it should help all the families who are in your same boat.
I remember when my daughter had just turned 3 and had no idea what "English" and "Spanish" were (our ml and ML respectively). She understood it shortly after, so your son may do the same.
I hope Adam's book can help you decide what your goal is.
Hope to see you around, Nelli!
Thank you very much for your messages. I have already read many previous posts from you, and your experiences are really exciting!
Starting a blog seems like a good idea, especially when there aren't many families speaking it; it should help all the families who are in your same boat.
My partner learned it at the same time as me but has not practiced it for years, except when we meet people whose only common language is English (less than once a year). He does not want to talk to our son because it requires too much effort and stresses him. However, we will still try again to say that I only speak Esperanto at home, even to him.
This might be an opportunity for him to practice. A language us something you live. If you don't it simply slowly dies.
He could help by reading ml books or having ml dinner times to start with. Before last summer, my youngest had a clear preference for my ml (ml2) so I stopped translating ml1 books to ml2 as I read them. She was surprised but eventually it tilted the balance and she started using much more ml1. Now, I would be at a loss to tell you her preference.
If I have learned something from my my own journey is that as in anything, kids look at us as an example. If they see both parents making the effort to us with the ml, it seems to have a real impact on them.
Wishing you a lovely day from sunny Paris.
I fully understand your point of view, and your suggestions are very judicious! However, I also understand that the father of my child does not put bilingualism first: it is his choice, and I have no particular problem with that. But I will still try to increase the daily exposure to Esperanto a little bit, by speaking only in Esperanto until my child is in bed too when I talk to his father.
Nelli, welcome! To whatever extent you decide to emphasize your son's Esperanto side, you have already succeeded in the sense that this early exposure to the language will surely provide him with a valuable foundation in this language which can then be advanced even further as he gets older.
And at that point, perhaps your partner will come to feel a stronger desire to make greater use of his own ability in Esperanto and engage with you and your son more actively in this language, too. As long as you keep the ball rolling through these early years, it's possible that Esperanto could eventually become an even more present and active part of your family's lifestyle in the future.
So I wish you the very best with your efforts and I look forward to following your bilingual journey! (In fact, I've long been interested in learning Esperanto myself, though I've never taken that first step yet!) And I hope my book--as well as this forum and my blog--can be sources of support and encouragement to you as you move forward, day by day.
And Nelli, I think it's great that you've begun a blog about your experience. As I stress in Challenge #7: Write About Your Bilingual Journey, when we write about this adventure, it not only serves as fuel for our own efforts, thus propelling our own success, it can be a very useful source of ideas and inspiration for others on their journey, too. So keep at it! I'll be cheering for you!
Thank you very much for your answer and your enthusiasm. I have finished your book, it is the third one I read in English on the subject, and it is the one I found most motivating - in French, unfortunately, to my knowledge we have no book with such motivating content! I particularly appreciated the importance you attach to the question of the objective we set for ourselves, without any value judgment associated with the parents' choices. And your message is also an illustration of this.
Thank you again and see you soon.
Nelli, you're very welcome and I'm happy to hear that you found my book motivating. Along with some knowledge of "best practices" when it comes to raising bilingual or multilingual children, motivation is absolutely crucial for driving effective daily efforts and long-term success. My hope is that the resources I offer can be both informative and encouraging in these ways (and even, to the extent possible, entertaining).