Quote:
Originally Posted by hadron
that is lovely  but why separation? i think in your situation i would prefer talking all languages by everyone, without any strict rules. maybe stick with one as a main family language, and that should probably be the one used in place where you gonna live for next 20 years (during the childhood) so kid does not have to switch language when home and when going outdoors  |
The reason for separation is that without any firm rules there is no way for a child to know which language is which and to use them separately. Using them in a mixed jumble will leave the child with
one language - a mix of the two that isn`t a real language and that would be of little use outside of the family environment.
As for using the language of the location you are in... That is the opposite of reason in this situation. If you are using the same language inside and outside of the home... How is the child going to learn the other language? They`ll be monolingual - no different than children with monolingual parents.
In general, the main successful patterns seem to be one person, one language - and one location, one language.
One has individuals always speaking a single language to the child, giving the child the chance to associate one language with one person and keep the two separate. The other has one location always having the same language environment - this one tends to work best when both parents fluently speak the language that is different from that of the "outside world". For example, using 100% English in the home while living in Japan.
As long as there is a firm rule that is not broken, a child will be able to learn both languages distinctly.
In my case, neither traditional pattern would work for my family, and there were things I was completely unwilling to sacrifice for the sake of that second language - so my son is monolingual Japanese.