My husband is Saudi, so Arabic is his first language. I am -trying- to learn Arabic and have recently gotten more serious about it. I know how to read and write the alphabet, but without any vocabulary that really doesn't do me a whole lot of good.We want our son (9 months old presently) to be bilingual Arabic/English. There is NO Arabic speaking community or school programs around here, though, so it's all on us. AND my husband's at work all day so a lot of the responsibility to teach our son goes to me....but I don't know Arabic! How can I teach my son a language I do not know?
It's very important to my husband because his mom doesn't speak English, and he feels that he can better say what he wants in Arabic, so he wants our son to be able to speak his childhood language. It's important to me, too, because it will help him learn about Islam, and I think it's super important for him to cherish his arab culture while growing up in America. (also, it really is beneficial for children to be bilingual...believe me, I've studied it extensively in college for my minor)
Has anybody else tried or succeeded in raising a bilingual child? Is anyone planning to raise their (future) children bilingual?
I'm reading a book called "Raising a Bilingual Child," and it keeps stressing the importance of making the minority language accessible to children. For this reason I've bought a lot of Arabic children's books, flashcards, and workbooks. I ordered a lot yesterday from online-Islamic-store.com.
Here are the items I ordered for my son:
An Arabic alphabet floor puzzle,
Arabic alphabet/word flash cards,
An Arabic workbook,
Magnetic Arabic letters (that have ALL forms of each letter which is GREAT),
and another Arabic writing workbook.
And I bought the following for myself from the same site:
Books on Reverts (I eat these stories up),
and an Arabic book for me.
My dad and sister have complained to me about how I buy my son only Arabic books and flashcards (we have hundreds of English children's books at home from my childhood). I try to explain that he will learn English AT SCHOOL and simply because it is the community language. Arabic has to always be a constant effort for him to feel comfortable. They drive me nuts. They complain about Islam, as I understand because they're Christian, but what do they have against the Arabic language? I have no doubt that my son will speak, read, and write English. But with Arabic it all depends on mine and hubby's effort to implement it in our lives.
3 comments:
I'm going through the same thing kind of. My brother and sister are half Pakistani, and they do not know anything but English. I think its so sad because they are cut off from a very important part of their heritage. They don't have any family that they are around who speaks Urdu, except their father. Anyway, because of this I'm really worried about when I have children because of the same reasons you are. Which means...I am learning Arabic too. Inshallah, I hope that we both succeed in becoming fluent in Arabic! Ameen!
I am a bi-lingual child - raised in England by Turkish parents, learnt Spanish at school (although my spanish is quite bad!)
My grandparents don't speak English - and so as a child I naturally picked up both languages. Children who are in a certain environment will pick up language as they grow -teaching is not really neccessary.
How do you teach what you don't know? You cant! Maybe a year in an Arabic speaking country will do the trick?
Peace and blessings,
Jasmine x
I am bilingual (well, tri-, if you count my I-can-get-by-if-ever-lost-in-a-Spanish-speaking-country Spanish...I forgot the French I used to speak). My mom is American, my dad Palestinian...I was born and raised here in the U.S. My mom never learned Arabic but my parents tried what you did...keep Arabic books around, well, more like a couple books (hard to find at the time) and a chart with the letters and a picture and word starting with that letter. When and where I grew up, there weren't Arabic-speakers much less Muslims. My dad would speak to me in Arabic when he was home. It was weird because I could understand but couldn't respond.
I ultimately learned from total immersion...spending a summer in Jordan when I was about 9. I didn't need the whole summer. I was rambling off in a couple weeks, literally. Had to because kids there didn't start learning English until 4th grade. We ended up living there a year but the private school we went to had no idea how to approach ASL (?) so my dad would teach us the alphabet/basics after school along with whatever homework while my mom would peek her head in while cooking dinner. It was fun (but hard--late nights) and a great way to spend time with him. I also used to go back many summers with my brother. I now speak with a flawless accent and can read (although cannot always understand everything I am reading...wish we had classes at my university).
You are doing great! :) Your drive will definitely transfer to your kid (my mom's did, although she didn't learn but a few words). Get your husband involved too...lol, which can be hard. (My dad lasted that year until he left it up to us.) Make it about the family and make it fun.
I too love languages and sooo want to get my add-on ESL certification. I currently teach HS English and am a grad student.
Sorry to ramble on! Hope this helps. :)
Post a Comment