Ein paar Tage, bevor wir zur Oma fuhren, wollte ich unsere Tochter darauf einstimmen und ihr erzählen, dass wir frühmorgens zum Bahnhof fahren, dann erst einen und danach einen anderen Zug nehmen, und dass die Oma uns am Bahnhof abholt.
Ich habe also angefangen: “Donnerstagmorgen nehmen wir unsere Koffer und-”

Sie: “Et les fraises!”

Ich habe ihr versichert, dass es bei Oma auch Erdbeeren gibt.

The other day, I showed my little girl some photos of a newborn calf a friend had sent me:

Her reaction: “Oh, c’est mignon !”

Her reaction: “Pirate !”

Notre fille a une manière étrange de compter :

“Un – quatre – sept”

Mais l’autre jour j’ai constaté que cela n’empêche pas un compte juste :
Un couple avec deux grands chiens se promenait dans notre rue. Notre fille, les voyant de la fenêtre, a commencé à compter les chiens :

“Un, quatre – il y a deux chiens, maman !”

Pendant le long week-end, on est allés voir des amis en Allemagne. Le deuxième jour, nous sommes rentrés d’une sortie et avons garé la voiture devant leur maison. Ce qui nous a valu ce commentaire de notre fille :

“C’est pas ma maison. C’est toujours la même maison.”

Over the long weekend, we went to see friends in Germany whose son is the same age as our little girl.

The two hit it off right away, but for the first day and a half our girl used the method of “if he doesn’t understand me, I must repeat and speak more loudly”.

“Viens, viens!”

On day three, to my utter delight I overheard my daughter asking her new friend in the staircase:

“Komm hoch!”

Later the same day we visited a farm. The farmer welcomed us accompanied by a big dog. When the dog didn’t come all the way to the cows’ stable, my daughter commented:

“Il kommt pas.”

And in the stable nursery, she greeted one of the calves:

“Hallo petite Kuh!”

She also repeated words and sentences her new friend and his parents would say, which she mostly doesn’t do with me (though she likes to echo her dad or the nanny speaking French). And since our trip to Germany, her “dan-” or “dank-” have become

“dankeschön!”

We just spent a long weekend with monolingual German friends who have a son almost exactly our girl’s age. (More on the effects on that on our little girl’s bilingualism later.) These friends are clearly unfamiliar with the concept of bilingual families, but the question they asked proved interesting. It was fairly simple:

Why German, why not English?

That French would be part and parcel of our daughter’s upbringing was clear to them, given we live in France. But, they asked, wouldn’t it make more sense for her to become bilingual with English, which is such an important language in today’s world? (Yes, I know, we’ve all heard it before.)
To a bilingual parent, the answer seems obvious. But when someone actually asks the question, I find myself struggling to find the right words.

German is my mother tongue. It’s not just a language. It’s a culture.  It’s part of who I am, and I want to share that with my daughter. I want my daughter to understand me when I speak my mother tongue. (Let alone, communicate with Granny.)
And besides, being bilingual makes learning other languages easier later on.

Convincing? Hm…

This weekend, we had a German friend staying with us who doesn’t speak French. Yesterday evening, our little girl wanted to play with her and asked: “Jouer ballon.” (play ball)
She repeated her request several times, even though our friend told her (in German) she didn’t understand and I suggested she ask in German.
In the end she went off and came back with the ball.

You know they say in writers’ circles, “Show not tell.”
Yes, but…

Last night, Daddy read our little girl a bedtime story. Unlike with my stories in German, when she listens to one in French, she will repeat the sentences or their final words.

Settle down for Carolus et Rolf le Terribleand listen to the “echo”!

Story from: Les plus belles histoires du soir – éditions Fleurus – ISBN 9-782215-048619

Il y a deux jours, notre petite fille (34 mois ou presque 3 ans) nous a donné une belle énigme, en répétant le mot suivant :

“un para chon”

Deux jours pour trouver ce qu’elle disait (réponse ci-dessous).

Today Daddy remarked to me, “She’s talking really well,” after another full sentence from our girl.
I couldn’t help but sigh “If only she did it in German.”
Whereupon Daddy turned to her and said, “Tu parles en allemand à maman ?” (You speak German with Mommy?)
Her answer: “Non.”
Daddy: “Pourquoi pas ?” (Why not?)
She: “C’est Mickey parle allemand.” (Only Mickey [Mouse] speaks German.”)

Explanation: She is allowed to watch episodes of Mickey Mouse, but only in German.

Daddy and I looked at each other and shrugged.
Me: “Aber Oma spricht auch deutsch.” (But Grandma also speaks German.)
And unthinkingly, Daddy added: “Oma parle comme Mickey.”

Oops…

(Let’s hope my mom doesn’t read this…)