4 years later… 4 thoughts on our bilingual journey
I hope that having a different perspective can help you find your ideal route on this bilingual journey — a route that works for you.
We started this bookshop around the same time we decided to take the bilingual journey seriously. So, that means we’ve been on this bilingual journey for about 4 years now and now we’re raising 4 bilingual children, ages 6, 4, 2 and almost 1. A lot can happen in 4 years!
We’re pretty proud of how far we’ve come since then: the children speak Mandarin Chinese, the eldest two are starting to read characters independently, and the children are still interested and engaged with the language! Now, I still have a lot of questions too, like: how do we actually start them with the writing? When do we introduce Pinyin? Do we need to send them to Chinese lessons and groups?
We will continue to mull over these questions. But for now, we’d like to share what our bilingual journey has been like so far!
So here’s 4 key thoughts that have guided us these 4 years:
We’re in this together.
It’s all about the spark.
Mother Meng was right!
Just take the step — it’s not scary!
We’re in this together.
You’ve probably heard this a thousand times already: it takes a village to raise a child.
And, it’s true! For our bilingual journey, it really wouldn’t have been the same without support from my husband, the children’s grandparents, and the school!
For our bilingual journey, it really wouldn’t have been the same without support from my husband, the grandparents, and the school!
First, my husband. We use OPOL (one-person-one-language) at home and Michal’s husband doesn’t understand any Mandarin Chinese. Of course, it’s frustrating when we sometimes have communication slip-ups but we work through them — and the older children have learned to translate for Dad! Ultimately, through it all, he is still supportive, which is really encouraging for the kids and for me!
Next, we also have the grandparents. Both the maternal and paternal grandparents are very supportive of them learning Chinese. My parents, in particular, provide a huge input into the children’s bilingualism. They always speak to them in Mandarin Chinese — right from the beginning, even before I decided to take their bilingualism seriously. To be honest, it’s because of them that I saw how it’s possible to raise bilingual children.
And finally, it’s their school! When Rui first started going to nursery, the teachers already knew that she was a simulatenous bilingual. To have the school’s support was really helpful because they can understand her situation and her challenges. They know that she may not be getting the same amount of English input at home as her peers. That way, they knew to provide extra support if needed. Plus, also having the other children understand that they are bilingual is nice, too! It’s just accepted as who they are!
It’s all about the spark.
I love learning about the body and getting lost in analysing lab samples. That’s what I do for a living, by the way. But my sister, Delicia, will grimace at the thought of it. She’d much rather be reading a book and analysing it with her tutees.
But for both of us, we do these things because:
It’s practical. (We need to survive on some money lol.)
It’s something we love and are interested in.
It’s the same with the children learning Chinese. Why do they do it? Practicality and interest!
Language helps us explore and express topics of interest and use. So with the children, we focus on the Chinese language that is practical (they can use every day) and interesting (involving things they care about).
Of course, there’s a lot of trial and error. (And children can be a little hard to predict.) But once we saw that they were connecting with certain topics or objects, we tried to hold onto that and build around it.
We focus on the Chinese language that is practical (they can use every day) and interesting (involving things they care about).
Rui (6) loves stories with characters that do things and explore, and funny moments are an added bonus. Because we realised this, we try and always show her that she can enjoy stories like these in Chinese. Recently, she’s been getting into books like Frozen, Chirp the Chick, Little Tinkers’ Playground, and Butt Detective.
Josiah (4) loves cars and finding out how things work in our world. So we hook onto that! We show and encourage him to talk about these things in Chinese. His favourite books are Little Tinkers’ Playground, Car Doodle, On A Trip, and books about the body or volcanoes.
At the end of the day, we just want the children to enjoy their bilingualism. (And it makes it easier for me if I don’t have to force them or remind them all the time.)
Mother Meng was right.
There’s a Chinese idiom that my mum (the children’s grandma) taught me: 孟母三迁 (‘Mother Meng Moves Thrice’). She said, “This is what you’re doing.”
The idiom is about the mother of Mencius (the second sage of China) who moves to 3 different places to find the right environment for her child to grow up. At first, they lived near a cemetery but she was not satisfied there because Mencius would always imitate the funeral rites in his games. Then, she tried a marketplace, full of bustling trade and activity. However, she was still not satisfied because life was only about buying and selling, bartering and bargaining. Finally, she tried living near a school. Here, she was fully satisfied. Mencius would overhear the lessons and he would imitate the students and teachers. He observed the people treating each other respectfully and being diligent and disciplined in their work and study.
TL;DR: my mum was encouraging me to remember that finding (or creating) the right environment can be difficult… but it’s one of the most essential aspects of raising a bilingual child. So we shouldn’t give up before we’re satisfied!
We try to create and tweak our home environment to encourage learning. We always believe that the right environment can empower a child to explore, learn and enjoy. I put their books, toys and reading aids within easy reach. It’s one of the main reasons why Le Le Chinese and Habbi Habbi work so well for us; because the books and pens were always available and they could easily turn it on and read themselves at any time.
When the children are in a comfortable learning environment that puts bilingualism first, they are free to explore — and it makes me so happy to see them do so!
Just take the step — it’s not scary!
We like to call it a bilingual journey. Journeys go in many different directions, there are lots of different routes to the same destination, and sometimes we get lost (but it’s all part of the same journey!). Some parts of the journey are easy and smooth-sailing; other parts are tougher, and take longer.
Whenever I’m worried about something, I remember that I can’t leave things to chance if I want to reach my goal. “Let’s just do it!”, I’ll say to myself. Each step is progress made on that journey.
If you remember from the beginning of this blog, I mentioned that I’m still pondering when will be the right time to introduce Pinyin to the children. I should mention that I have already tried introducing Pinyin to them. I spent a lot of time thinking about it but then thought, “Let’s just do it!” I downloaded an app for them that would teach them the different Pinyin sounds but it wasn’t long before I deleted it. I realised that they still had to be a little more solid with their Chinese characters first and learn more characters without the Pinyin.
This is a classic example of my experimenting. I didn’t want to leave it to chance so I took a step to give it a try. By trying, I knew that I didn’t want them to learn Pinyin yet. And by trying, I reassured myself that I wasn’t just leaving it up to chance.
Closing thoughts…
Goodness, it’s a little crazy to be thinking that it’s already been 4 years since we started this bilingual journey.
Delicia initially thought we should make this an advice/guide blog but I think it’s better like this. We’re by no means experts in this area, and what works for us might not work for you.
What we can share, though, are our experiences and our thoughts along the way. I hope that having a different perspective can help you find your ideal route on this bilingual journey — a route that works for you.
If you ever want to chat, we’d love to talk! Leave a comment below, or reach out to us on IG, WhatsApp or email!