lahdeedah
29 Sep 2009
Life / Polish Kids - Polish speaking? Bilingual? only English? [56]
Well, YOU can speak Polish to them you know... That's really the only reason I know Polish: because my parents spoke it to each other and to my brother and me at home. Sure, I mixed in some English words here and there, but it's hard not to when you hear English all around you. But today, I speak Polish fluently and well, albeit with a accent. And I absolutely HATED it when my parents spoke English to me (which they did when they had company over, and out of respect for the non-Poles they would speak in English if they wanted something). But I couldn't stand my parents speaking English to me (yes, even in my rebellious teen years) because I felt like they were "putting on" something. It just didn't feel like my parents speaking to me. So if you cultivate an atmosphere at home where you only speak Polish, and you get your children to equate the Polish language with the close parent-child relationship, I think it will be easier for them to keep the Polish language.
Well, YOU can speak Polish to them you know... That's really the only reason I know Polish: because my parents spoke it to each other and to my brother and me at home. Sure, I mixed in some English words here and there, but it's hard not to when you hear English all around you. But today, I speak Polish fluently and well, albeit with a accent. And I absolutely HATED it when my parents spoke English to me (which they did when they had company over, and out of respect for the non-Poles they would speak in English if they wanted something). But I couldn't stand my parents speaking English to me (yes, even in my rebellious teen years) because I felt like they were "putting on" something. It just didn't feel like my parents speaking to me. So if you cultivate an atmosphere at home where you only speak Polish, and you get your children to equate the Polish language with the close parent-child relationship, I think it will be easier for them to keep the Polish language.