Which language would you choose?

[weddell]

So I have a dd who is 5.5 and a ds who is 2.5. We are American but decided to move to India for 2 years (dh's company has an office there). We arrived here in Pune, India in February. I've been homeschooling kindergarten, but we want to do some cultural immersion for dd and she will be attending a school here starting in July. DS will be home with me.

 

I have always wanted to teach the children a foreign language, but have never been sure how to go about it. I took Spanish in high school and then some Mandarin Chinese in college, but I'm not fluent in either. DH took Spanish in high school and college and then studied abroad in Costa Rica and was fairly fluent at the time (over 10 years ago) but has forgotten a lot.

 

So I'm really feeling like I need to be doing SOMETHING to teach them foreign language. The school dd will attend uses English to teach. In her first year at school they do no foreign language. In the following grade they do both French and Hindi classes. Apparently the Hindi classes are largely writing since many of the children already speak Hindi and those who don't tend to not get much out of the class. I know nothing in either language.

 

So my choices for language are:

 

Spanish: I have access to some Spanish language songs and children's books. I know enough to read along (even if I don't know the meanings of words, I could pronouce them correctly). I could remember enough to teach some words and a little speaking. The con is that we don't have a fluent teacher and here in India there is no where outside the house to practice. But once we return to the U.S., this is probably the easiest language to find tutors in.

 

French: I know no French. I would have to rely on getting a curriculum and using the computer and digital things for correct pronunciation. The only real plus to French is that dd will be studying it eventually in school.

 

Hindi: I know no Hindi (although I do have a copy of Rosetta Stone Hindi that I haven't used). In the city where we are people speak a regional dialect and not Hindi (although many people also know Hindi), so while Hindi would be useful for getting by, it's not the language spoken on the street. We have a cook/babysitter who comes everyday who is fluent in both English and Hindi. She could speak to the children in Hindi and basically be their teacher. Plus dd would be studying Hindi in school eventually. Many of the children in DD's school will also speak Hindi, so she would probably be able to practice with other children. The main cons to Hindi are that neither DH nor I know any and it is of limited usefulness once we leave India. On the other hand, while we are here it is probably the language the children have the best chance of learning.

 

So what would you choose if this were your situation? I know they will be able to study a language at any time, but those early years are so good for language learning and I feel like we will lose them if we don't do something.

[Whereneverever]

I would do Hindi. You have the best chance of really surrounding them with it for a few years. Cross the bridge of how to keep it up when you come it it. :)

[regentrude]

I would do Hindi. Your kids will pick up the spoken language, and the writing instruction will be very helpful. It will be useful for them to communicate there.

 

I would add another foreign language after the kids are proficient in English and Hindi.

[Laura Corin]

What language do you think you could continue? Children lose languages very fast. Hindi sounds great, but you'll have to work hard to keep it going. We have been back from China for almost three years now, and with weekly Chinese lessons, the boys are only just holding on to their Chinese.

 

Laura

[MorganClassicalPrep]

I would probably go with Spanish. If you were going to be in India longer, I'd say Hindi, but two years of language study isn't much, and the children would lose the language fairly quickly once you left India. You'd have to find a way to keep it up on a regular basis.

 

With Spanish, you could begin to teach them the basics, and when you return to the US there are plenty of resources for studying Spanish.

[Satori]

If it was me, I'd be very tempted to do both, but in the end I'd go with Spanish. It's easier to find learning resources and more likely that your child will use it later. Both you and your DH have taken some Spanish, and some of that will come back to you if you start using it.

 

But I'd definitely pick up some Hindi language books while I'm there to try to learn some basics and conversational language, and use it with your dd. She might get more out of the class and being immersed in the culture than you expect, so it would be helpful to learn a little yourself. You already have Rosetta Stone Hindi, so I'd give that a whirl for yourself.

[weddell]

 

But I'd definitely pick up some Hindi language books while I'm there to try to learn some basics and conversational language, and use it with your dd. She might get more out of the class and being immersed in the culture than you expect, so it would be helpful to learn a little yourself. You already have Rosetta Stone Hindi, so I'd give that a whirl for yourself.

 

Oh, I know I should and I already bought the books and installed Rosetta Stone. I am good at "book learning," I can memorize vocabulary, grammar, new kinds of writing all with no problem, but I'm bad at the oral communication part of learning a language. I just think about learning a language and I just don't want to do it! Actually that's why I would really like to teach a language to the kids while they are young, so that they can do it while they will have an easier time and focus on communication rather than the book work aspect.

 

Thanks for everyone's imput :)

[Miss Tick]

I would do Hindi while you are there and have relatively easy access to fluent speakers. The Hindi your dd learns in year one will be supported by school study in year two.

 

We are studying Spanish here in the States, but finding opportunities where we get good, conversational practice is difficult. It would be nice to go somewhere where we are surrounded by Spanish speakers for a while.

 

I thought I forgot a lot of my studied Spanish, but when I started speaking it again in conversation (my side being mostly appropriate vocabulary and poorly conjugated verbs) a LOT came back. So I think even if they "lose" the language by not speaking it regularly on your return a lot will still be in there, dormant, waiting to be accessed again.

 

The children I know who are bilingual in Spanish often refuse to speak to their parents in Spanish - but when Grandma comes, who doesn't speak English, suddenly they are fluent. I don't know if this is a confidence thing, or a feeling silly thing, or independence thing, or what. So, it may be that even when it is "lost", it is not gone.

 

My last thought is that it seems to me intuitively that learning a language helps you learn other languages, so that even if you spend two years learning Hindi and then never speak it again, the time is not lost.

[Mommy to monkeys]

If you think you might possibly stay longer than two years, or may return someday, I'd say Hindi.

 

If you're pretty sure you'll stay in the US after this, I'd probably focus on Spanish. . . .

 

No matter what, I'd learn SOME Hindi, it's just that maybe your future plans would dictate how much you focus on it. . .clear as mud? lol

[Lady Dove]

I would do Hindi while your in India, then switch to Spanish when you return to the states. Children can learn more than one language quite easily and I think the transition wouldn't be so hard. I really enjoyed taking two languages in high school (French and Spanish). I teach my children Latin which is a pretty easy language to learn.

[Matryoshka]

I'd pick Hindi for now because of the immersion aspect. If your kids get conversational before you leave, you might very well be able to have them continue it in the States at one of the Indian language schools - I know there are lots around here (they often teach more than one Indian language, as there are so many).

 

You could always get some songs in Spanish and teach colors and number and such, and start teaching it more formally once you're back in the States.