Wow, your children speak awesome English! I'm surprised, because I've never seen this before with "mixed blood" kids in Japan. It's great, though!
However, all the kids I know are from families with a Japanese mom and an English speaking dad. I guess it makes a huge difference if the mother is the one speaking English.
i think it is different when the mom is the native speaker of english. it can also depend on how well the japanese mother can speak english and if she can help create an english only environment at home. and for us, my husband speaks japanese really well, and speaks only english at home, and will frequently speak english out and about, too.
so far my kids haven't had any huge problems growing up bilingual. it can be a source of interest from other kids but so far (knock on wood), they haven't been made to feel bad or embarrassed about it. my eldest is in first grade, though, so we'll see what happens within the next couple of years.
just a bewildered american woman stuck in japan with a husband, a boy, a girl and another little boy. if you find my sanity, you can keep it. i don't think i would know what to do with it now!
4 comments:
Wow, your children speak awesome English!
I'm surprised, because I've never seen this before with "mixed blood" kids in Japan.
It's great, though!
However, all the kids I know are from families with a Japanese mom and an English speaking dad.
I guess it makes a huge difference if the mother is the one speaking English.
Is growing up bilingual tough for them?
i think it is different when the mom is the native speaker of english. it can also depend on how well the japanese mother can speak english and if she can help create an english only environment at home. and for us, my husband speaks japanese really well, and speaks only english at home, and will frequently speak english out and about, too.
so far my kids haven't had any huge problems growing up bilingual. it can be a source of interest from other kids but so far (knock on wood), they haven't been made to feel bad or embarrassed about it. my eldest is in first grade, though, so we'll see what happens within the next couple of years.
sorry, i meant to say my husband speaks ENGLISH really well, not japanese. of course he speaks japanese really well!! lol
I'm glad to hear that.
It's surely interesting and I keep following your blog to see what's going to happen - if you don't mind! ^-^
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