I started another project, and this one is one that will last a lifetime. We had a baby! And we are trying to raise him English/Chinese bilingual.
Everything I’ve read about raising bilingual children recommends one of two strategies: One Parent One Language, or Minority Language at Home. The problem is that my husband and I are both more fluent in English and speak English to each other at home, and we live in an English-speaking country. So instead of using these two tried and true strategies, we will be approaching this in a rather haphazard way, and I thought I’d document it here.
What we are doing:
- Our nanny will speak Chinese to him 9 hours a day M-F
- My parents will speak Chinese to him when we visit, once per week for a few hours.
- We will speak Chinese to him ~25% of the time and English the rest of the time
- We will read Chinese and English books to him
- We will sing Chinese and English songs
Our baby is 8 months old, so not talking yet. The only observation I’ve made at this point is that he does seem to prefer Chinese poems and songs, perhaps because they are more rhythmic in nature. He especially enjoys Tang dynasty poetry, which he will stop what he’s doing and listen to, and this has really motivated me to work on memorizing my Tang poems!
Etymology Adventures 