Do You Speak a Second Language?

Gabriel stood by me in the kitchen and asked if I could have some "Siri-O-O-O." As I didn't have a clue what he was talking about, bending down to his level, I asked him to repeat what he said. Still, I could not figure it out. So I asked him to show me what he wanted. He went to the cupboard, opened it, and pointed to the cereal.

Okay, I like that word Siri O-O-O. I am not going to correct him!

He usually asks if I have chocolate crunchy cereal (that I buy just for us: COCOA PUFFS!) and used to use the French pronunciation for chocolate and cereal. Although, since he started speaking English to me, he just said it in a cuter version without meaning to be cute.

Yes, Gabriel has started to speak English to me. It is the beginning, and darling to hear him structure his sentences and find his words.

Gabriel speaks only French to everyone else, even his Mother, who has never spoken French to him. He told her, "Maman, you no longer need to speak English to me. I know it now and will speak to Vavie." He said that in French.

Oh, raising bilingual children is an adventure. Even though when Chelsea and Sacha were young, and I did not speak French, it was challenging to have them speak English together. 

xxx

 

 

Comments

[Jeanne]

Languages are a beautiful thing.
My grandson can speak several languages and I am proud of that
I love to hear your stories
Love Jeanne

[Kathie B]

So when are Gabriel and Olivia going to learn Portuguese?

[Susan in Zurich]

Love this, it's sweet that Gabriel is using his English with you. Olivia will no doubt do the same when she's ready.
Having an ear for languages would be a blessing, sadly it's something that I lack.
I agree with Jeanne, I love your stories!
❤️

[Judyo]

Just precious…”I know it now”.❤️

[TracyH]

Soooo sweet that little one.

[Kathy]

I do love your stories. Thanks for the smiles. Sweet, sweet boy.💕

[Bev S.]

My children were raised bilingual (Portuguese and English) until we moved back to the States from Brazil. Even though we would only speak English to them, they often responded to us in Portuguese while we lived abroad. Our daughter maintained her Portuguese but our son lost it all.

[Carol]

Special Cocoa Puffs! Love these sweet stories!❤️

[Myra Koch]

I am fascinated by these language posts. When I "met you" here, I was flabbergasted that you married a man, although yiu didn't speak each other's language. Then your disclosure that you didn't speak French to Yann after you learned. I just cannot imagine this. So brave...so exotic...I love these stories!

[Alan]

My dad grew up in a home where German was spoken, but did not pass it on to us. Even my grandmother stopped speaking German. Possibly WWII had something to do with that. I do a little bit of Spanglish having lived in South Florida for twenty seven years. Many places in Miami people do not speak English at all.

[marilyn]

I have wondered how your little ones would do with two languages.
I love Gabriel's attitude in life in general and this is so sweet.
How I wish I grew up speaking two languages.