When and how to tach English to a toddler who speaks Turkish in Australia?

[The.cupcake.tree]

Sorry about the 'tach' in the title, saw it after i posted it.

My daughter is 2 years old and we live in Australia. We speak to her in Turkish and she speaks to us in Turkish, but she watches English childrens programs in TV and i speak both Turkish and English to my husband so she hears that, too.

I intend on homeschooling my kids and so the idea that 'kids learn English when they go to school' is not really valid. Is it best to ease into it and add a few English words here and there, for example is she says 'kopek hav-hav' I would say 'dog woof-woof'? Or is it better to wait till she is 5 and teach her formally as if she had just started school?

I want her to be fluent in both languages so I don't want to risk losing the Turkish in order to learn English, if you know what i mean?

When should I teach her English and how should I go about it? Thanks!

PS. When I start homeschooling should the 'lesson time' be in English exclusively or in both languages?

 

[Plugged]

Not a teacher. Just take care of letting your children aware they need to differentiate in their brains what is Turkish and what is English. Other than that, teach! The sooner they can learn, the better. The worst case scenario is they don't learn a lot (for some, they always will), there's nothing to fear.

 

[Barb_D]

I am NOT a teacher, but I urge you to start talking to you daughter in both languages. She will not be confused or forget one in favor of the other, even if she sometimes will create a sentence with the grammar of one and some vocabulary of the other in the beginning.

If you want her to be truly bilingual, speak both languages at home -- don't wait until she's five and formally teach her. Let her pick up English the way she has picked up Turkish -- naturally, natively, and from her parents.

 

[emsr2d2]

I totally agree with Barb! The opportunity to be totally bilingual is one that shouldn't be denied to a child. I think she should hear 50/50 Turkish and English (in my opinion) so she is equally comfortable and fluent in both.

I'm very jealous of her!

 

[The.cupcake.tree]

Thanks for the replies so far guys, you've told me what my intuition has been telling me. Now my only problem I to rid of the awkwardness I feel when I speak to her in English. Since i've always spoken to her in Turkish it feels strange but I gotta do what I gotta do!

More replies would be appreciated!

 

[SoothingDave]

Definitely the earlier a child is exposed, the easier it is to learn a language. I've read where small children have the capacity to make all of the sounds used in languages, but the sounds that are reinforced are learned, and the others forgotten.

How many have trouble with the "th" sound in English because it is not native to their first language? Or, the other way around, English speakers, like me, have difficulty learning to roll the r in Spanish.

But, taught as a child, the sounds are natural.

I wonder if it might be useful to have your child in some sort of play group with English-speaking children (once you have prepared her some). Another way that language is learned naturally (besides from parents) is from peers.

 

[Raymott]

If you want your child to be fluent in English, I think you should seriously reconsider your decision not to send her to school. You have a marvellous opportunity here for your child, that posters from other countries can only dream about.

 

[The.cupcake.tree]

I understand where you are coming from, but I should have mentioned in my original post that I am studying a primary education degree with a major in English so God willing, that will be sufficient enough.

 

[The.cupcake.tree]

Plus i was born in Australia so you could say Turkish is my second language. My English is definitely better than my Turkish, no doubt. I use Turkish when I need to but I definitely prefer English as my choice of expression and I my mind thinks in English, so that is my mother tongue.

 

[emsr2d2]

I understand where you are coming from, but I should have mentioned in my original post that I am studying a primary education degree with a major in English so God willing, that will be sufficient enough.

If you're majoring in English, I'm sure you know that "sufficient enough" is tautology! :-D:-D

 

[Tullia]

Wow, I'm so jealous of your little one, I would have loved to have the chance to grow up bilingual!

If you are worried about remembering to speak to her in English, why not try having "English days" and "Turkish days" and alternate between the two? I have two friends who went to an International school and they had an official system with days where everyone spoke English, and days where everyone spoke French. (It always reminded me of the Chalet School series of stories!) Their French, despite not speaking it at home, is near-perfect, and they have a range of technical vocabulary in both languages as well because they did lessons in both.

In terms of home schooling, I support the decision; I am very interested in home schooling generally, but I would encourage you to reach out to home schooling groups in the area too - I'm sure you have already thought of much of this, so forgive me if I'm teaching my grandmother to suck eggs.

It's important for children to have some social life and contact with their peers, and you are right that it would be good for her language skills. It doesn't have to be school though! Many home schooling support groups run "meet-ups" so their children can socialise together, or even pool parental skills and organise some small group lessons if one parent has a special area of expertise like music or art.

I know Scouting is big in Australia too and I think that's a great thing for any child to do. It's not just social but teaches great skills and values to the children. What about your local church? (or mosque/temple/insert appropriate religious building) Most churches (or whatever) have youth groups, and again that would be a way for her to meet more children.

Home schooling doesn't have to mean isolating the child, and there are lots of ways to avoid it - I really support your decision and wish you lots of luck with it! I hope you come back and keep us informed of how it goes.

 

[cubezero3]

In the province I live now, there're many ethnic groups. Many of my friends were born in early 1980s. At that time, people would either go to public school or stay at home. Since teachers have always been required to speak chinese madarin at schools, I am quite sure these friends of mine learnt their languages from their parents and the only form of tuition would have been through talking to each other.

At the end of last year, I saw a three-or-four-year-old boy on a bus. He was speaking in madarin with his mother and cantonese with his grandmother. I am still very envious of that young boy who could speak two language fluently at such a young age.

I think you only need to talk to your kid in both languages. As he grows older, you can switch to speak turkish more with him. He will have plenty of mates to speak to, in English.

:-DI really wish I could have had the same opportunity.