Ben becomes bilingual

My decision to learn Spanish and teach my kids some along the way had sort of made me think less about the way we use English in our family. Like I’ve said in earlier posts I’m the one who uses it most with the kids, though by no means one hundred percent of the time. I think my earlier “guesstimate” was 40/60 English/Norwegian. However, I have been more conscious about using English ever since last summer so the usage may well be closer to 80 percent some days.

A few days ago my husband commented on how Ben now switches between Norwegian and English depending on whom he’s addressing. Ben was outside helping his dad clear the snow from our drive and they were chattering away in Norwegian. When Ben was ready to go inside, the moment he opened the front door and called for me he switched to English, calling “Mum?!” I thought it was funny when he mentioned it, and didn’t think much more of it.

Then, two days ago we had a parent-teacher conference with Ben’s teacher and she told us that he is getting on fabulously with English, and even better he uses it when he plays as well now. Most of the Norwegian native-speakers will use English in the classroom and Norwegian for play. For me this shows that he is finding it natural to use English and isn’t doing it to please me or the teachers, but that he himself, probably subconsciously, chooses to use it.

So, yesterday I was in the sofa chatting with him, in English, and he asked me something I couldn’t answer so I said; “Why don’t you ask Dad?” He said “ok”, and turned around calling “Pappa!!”, and then proceeded to ask the question in Norwegian.

This makes me even more motivated to keep talking English to the children, though the other two will rarely instigate an English conversation even if they will answer me back in English if I start. On the other hand, the success with Ben makes me feel more uneasy about the Spanish project. I’m nervous about rocking the boat and have a feeling that I may be asking too much.