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Do you think it is necessarily to teach your children Russian?
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Posted by: ElenaK

I want to address my question to R/W married couple who has children that were born in the USA (or some of you who are expecting a new additional to your family or maybe just making plans to become parents). Do you think it is necessarily to teach your children Russian language or acquaint them with Russian culture? If yes, name a reason or two why.
What is the best age to start training?
My Elizabeth is almost 21 months. I try to speak to her both languages, English and Russian. I noticed that she catches English words much faster and easier. No wonder, only my Russian against everybody else’s English. The best way would be to submerge her into the Russian speaking environment, which is very hard to realize though. But it is possible by means of mass media, Internet and books. From other hands I am afraid to hurt her English by interfering too much with the second language right now. I do not want to confuse her or miss the moment.
I’ve heard many different opinions concerning this subject. Could you share your experience with me?
Best regards, Elena

Posted by: ira156

Quote:

Originally Posted by ElenaK

I want to address my question to R/W married couple who has children that were born in the USA (or some of you who are expecting a new additional to your family or maybe just making plans to become parents). Do you think it is necessarily to teach your children Russian language or acquaint them with Russian culture? If yes, name a reason or two why.
What is the best age to start training?
My Elizabeth is almost 21 months. I try to speak to her both languages, English and Russian. I noticed that she catches English words much faster and easier. No wonder, only my Russian against everybody else’s English. The best way would be to submerge her into the Russian speaking environment, which is very hard to realize though. But it is possible by means of mass media, Internet and books. From other hands I am afraid to hurt her English by interfering too much with the second language right now. I do not want to confuse her or miss the moment.
I’ve heard many different opinions concerning this subject. Could you share your experience with me?
Best regards, Elena

Great thread Elena......YES YES YES. Firstly kids can pick up language much quicker than us oldies. Second your Elizabeth is part of YOU....and should know and understand all aspects of her roots. To have a second language is simply put more education....something you can never have too much of. Does your husband speak Russian?? I have been learning ...(very slowly i might add ) but will continue when i get Nat over here. If we have a child i will not only encourage Nat to teach it Russian...but i will join in on the lessons...make it a family affair.

So many westerners say in later life " i wish i could speak another language ". And the thing with Russian is that you dont only repeat the words you need to actually "think Russian" an invaluable thing for your young Elizabeth.

Posted by: I/O

ElenaK I can't give you direct advice, but this is a subject quite dear to my heart and I have done a little "Straw Polling" of others to gain some insight.

My situation being engaged to a Russian lady with a 3 y/o son and we plan to have another together later. When we are together, I speak to him in English and she speaks to him in Russian, but we speak to each other mostly in English.

I have adopted this policy as a result of advice from others. Certainly in an English speaking environment, the child will learn English more strongly, but from the experience of others, you certainly won't confuse the child by using both and in my view it is never too early.

One couple laugh greatly about their 4 y/o now because Momma has spoken to him always in Russian and Papa has spoken to him always in English. They speak to each other in English and when they fail to understand each other the child chips in as interpreter.

In a modern world, any child of an international couple has a distinct advantage in so far as they have direct access to second language and culture teaching. I think this is one of the luxuries these children enjoy.

I would strongly urge you to persist in teaching both languages, but it might be better if one parent teachs one language and the other parent the other language. You may also consider at some later time as part of the education, the child could perhaps spend an extended period or maybe 6 months to a years studying in the other country. (Perhaps a non critical time such as mid primary or early secondary school)

FWIW

Posted by: Khashyar

Quote:

Originally Posted by ElenaK

Hi Elena,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and concerns about teaching your daughter Russia.

I can relate to the question because I used to speak fluent Farsi (the Persian language) until I was about 4 years old (when my Persian father and American mother moved back to the U.S.).

My dad felt like it was important to speak English to me (so that I would learn English well), but he did not speak to me in Farsi.

As a result, I lost most of my Farsi speaking ability.

On the otherhand, I know of many Persian-Americans who speak fluent Farsi, because they were surrounded by Farsi in their homes, and in having Persian friends.

I would speak with your daughter AS MUCH as you can in Russian, and even find some Russian friends for her to play with, and eventually even send her to a Russian language school for supplementary Russian language practice.

You could even find some children DVDs in the Russian language that you can play for her so that she hears more Russian language and is immersed more in it.

Also, you can take some trips to Russia when your child is old enough, so she can become immersed in the Russian language and culture.

Good luck

It shows a sense of caring for your daughter's future that you are thinking about this issue now.

Khashyar

Posted by: Thorburn

It is much better for your child to be fluent in 2 languages.
1. You will not create any problems with her English by learning Russian at the same time. In the long term your child is more likely to be BETTER at English than if it was the only language she knew.
2. From age 18 months to 6 years is the best time to become bilingual. If you try to teach her after 6 years it will not have such good results.
3. A person fluent in 2 languages has a healther brain than other people.
4. A person fluent in 2 languages from early childhood has a more holistic view of the world. They are more likely to see opportunities where others see problems and theya re more likely to be curious about the world.
5. A bi-lingual person finds it much easier to learn a new language and do other complex mental tasks in adulthood.

The above points have been proven in scientific studies.
So without even discussing her special heritage, etc. It is good for your child.

Enlist your husband to say a few words in Russian to her as well. It will make a big impression on her if she hears it from him.

Posted by: markgm

Elena teach your children both languages as soon as possible it will not affect the way your child will speak English. I know many couples in Aus that have done this and there children speak both languages perfectly with no accent.

Posted by: EasyTarget

ElenaK:
By all means speak as much Russian as you can to your daughter at this critical age. She you will NOT hurt her ability to learn English, she will be surrounded by English and will learn it with no problems.

I would strongly suggest getting Russian childrens DVD's, childrens songs on CD, and childrens books. Everything you can do to help be fluent in Russian will actually aid her learning in the future.

Posted by: bobjf

elenak by all means teach your daughter russian,it can only be an advantage to her later .
my stepdaughter speaks both languages quite well & has even taken to useing some aussie slang
our son born here is now 1 but dosen't as yet talk but will be taught both languages,he may never learn to read or write russian but will learn to speak it & maybe i'll pickup a bit too lol

Posted by: sidney

My wife speaks to our 4 YO in russian and I use english. When he was just learning words he would choose which language was easier to pronounce. He underrstands russian but mostly refuses to speak it now. He will spend a summer with grandma and needs to understand and speak russian because grandma only speaks and understands russian. They are fast learners at this age and I don't think there will be any problems.
Sid

Posted by: inlove

Quote:

Originally Posted by ElenaK

Hi Elena,
I have a 13 year old son, who was born in Russia, but has been living in the US since he was 5. Unfortunately, his Russian is nowhere close to where it should be if he was still in Russia. His English is perfect, of course. He understands Russian fine, can read and write it, but almost does not speak. To some extend I blame myself that we did not keep up with his Russian the way we should have done, but the reality is, unless you provide your child with the social environment where Russian is spoken all the time, most likely she is not going to be completely fluent.

So, what I think can help in this situation... First of all, there is no age limitations when you should begin teaching your child the language. The earlier the better. Small children can differentiate between the languages very well, so don't worry about the confusion. if you are persistant in speaking to her in Russian only, she will learn very quickly to communicate with you in Russian. Leave English to her father and others. Let her speak to them in English.

Get some Russian DVDs with cartoons and children programming, read her russian books - all of this helps a lot. But the most important thing, get in touch with other russian mothers (and fathers) in your area with children of a similar age and organize a russian spoken play group. Children need communication with other children in order to develop the language. Without that your child is not going to "make the language her own", so to speak.

Good luck.

Posted by: ElenaK

Thank you so much for all your responds! I appreciate it a lot. Promise I will not give up on my daughter’s Russian

.
Elena