tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15580543.post5076696200808844221..comments2023-08-27T08:48:48.466+00:00Comments on MULTI TONGUE KIDS: Juggling four languages daily (how to stay zen when a pink flamingo becomes a pink Flemish!)Clohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02889575085247948050noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15580543.post-1221980702234329622011-12-09T22:36:58.408+00:002011-12-09T22:36:58.408+00:00Hi Clo, very nice and funny post, thank you for sh...Hi Clo, very nice and funny post, thank you for sharing. It reminds me when a salesgirl in a Lush shop in the centre of Rome was struggling to speak English to my daughter, just because she had heard the little one speaking English to me. After a while the girl turned to me - I was talking in Italian to the cashier - and, panicking, she asked if the child could understand Italian, heaving a big sigh of relief when I answered that certainly she could! But I wonder: we where in the very centre of Rome, where tourists from everywhere are a lot more than the residents, shouldn't it be mandatory to speak at least enough English to sell a bar of soap??<br />AAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15580543.post-41642514203220691582010-03-26T19:08:21.652+00:002010-03-26T19:08:21.652+00:00sounds like a conversation that my friend and I ha...sounds like a conversation that my friend and I have with our kids. She is Dutch, I'm American and we are married to Italian men. We speak to our husbands in Italian, to each other in English and our children speak in a mix of English and Italian using whatever word comes to mind first. (and my daughter's friend even tries to speak Dutch to us from time to time). The locals in our small town think we are nuts! <br />Loved this post!HeatherVhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03670305365898082622noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15580543.post-78256469411867674062009-11-26T14:22:31.696+00:002009-11-26T14:22:31.696+00:00I bet the real fun is when the kids do produce the...I bet the real fun is when the kids do produce their perfect [insert language here] against all expectations. It always amuses me when someone I know switches mid flow from foreign to colloquial accentless English.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15580543.post-40244896202101058932009-11-19T21:17:40.991+00:002009-11-19T21:17:40.991+00:00Nice nice post!
I start to feel more or less the s...Nice nice post!<br />I start to feel more or less the same when our family goes out. People's reactions are weird. But what puzzles me most and really puts me in a confused state is when some outsider, looking at us, approaches us in a different language than the one I expect him/her to speak. For instance today in Paris while I was talking to Aislin and Marc(my dutchy) in her creche, the father of one of the children turned and started talking italian with a big smile... I was so distracted and puzzled I could barely answer, it took me at least 10 seconds to formulate an answer cause I couldn't chose which language to use anymore and for some weird reason my brain stopped working. I presume you know the feeling pretty well...giovannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08643223886213182983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15580543.post-14064440491558226342009-11-18T14:16:47.888+00:002009-11-18T14:16:47.888+00:00i'm so impressed with your family and their mu...i'm so impressed with your family and their multilingualism. forget the crazy looks, your kids will thank you later when they speak 4 languages more or less fluently. and in the end, if they're missing a word or two in one of the languages, they can certainly improvise by using another word or describing it. kids are resilient and their little brains are like sponges. i wouldn't worry about them being confused. bravo to all of you!Rachelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15580543.post-10648025672075248982009-11-18T02:11:44.111+00:002009-11-18T02:11:44.111+00:00I loved that post! I wish I were there to hear suc...I loved that post! I wish I were there to hear such conversations. I agree with Jan. Your family seems to have it under control and doing so with great success for the goals you have set. We have similar types of "mixes" but only with two languages, so I assume you are having more fun! ;) <br />Eve<br />www.bloggingonbilingualism.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15580543.post-87666338546167902642009-11-17T11:36:26.526+00:002009-11-17T11:36:26.526+00:00I'm pretty sure the kids have no trouble at al...I'm pretty sure the kids have no trouble at all keeping up with 4 languages. Adults might, but not children.<br /><br />The conversation sounds a lot like what we have, and we also get a lot of weird or interested looks in public.<br /><br />Also I think "pink Flemish" is pretty close to reality, isn't it :-)BabalDadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12462472771197361179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15580543.post-36108885428672988732009-11-17T11:18:55.786+00:002009-11-17T11:18:55.786+00:00There's actually a gay activism club called &#...There's actually a gay activism club called 'les Flamants Roses' in the north of France ;)<br /><br />I'm impressed by how well your kids are doing with their 3, almost 4, laguages. No wonder they amaze people around you!aellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06098885274468558015noreply@blogger.com