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Thank you marietta, plaidpanties!, pamela, helen, sylvie and sandra. I
found your own varied experiences really helpful. Sandra
you're bang on the nail that I hoped my son would respond in French.
The decision I've come to for the moment - and it's flexible - is to
continue speaking French, to my son, and as often as possible, to my
husband, whose French is high-intermediate. When it gets difficult, we
shift to English. I abandon all hope that he speaks back in French and
this exchange with you all has made me more respectful of his
preference whereas before I felt irritated and scornful every time he
spoke English. But it's not ideal. I think monolinguism is ideal! As
someone said, people who just speak one language may well speak it
better. I myself find that as my French gets more fluent my English
gets corrupted and vice versa.

I have a baby girl so it's been hard to make time - usually my husband
takes over looking after my son, which is why English has suddenly
become dominant. That's been a bit of a shock to me. My son also
sounds absolutely gorgeous when he speaks French. He uses a different,
more natural voice, perhaps because that's his mother tongue. I also
think French enables both of us to express
better emotions. I've noticed that when he does something annoying
and I respond indignantly in French, he responds better. It's like a
way through. I think when I speak in English, I can get cross more
easily and I don't know why. I get cross in French too but I can bend
the crossness and make it more indignant, less hostile.

Anyway, I am making extra time to read him stories in French - I have
a few story books he's keen on. While I read them he does a strange
babble, neither French nor English. So no, he's not particularly
against French, he just finds it increasingly difficult.

Yes, I'd be interested to do a weekend visit. I have family in France
but spend more time trying to avoid them than anything else.
Thanks again for the help, which has been good guidance.

Sandra Dodd

-=-I felt irritated and scornful every time he
spoke English. But it's not ideal. I think monolinguism is ideal! As
someone said, people who just speak one language may well speak it
better. I myself find that as my French gets more fluent my English
gets corrupted and vice versa.-=-

While I think knowing more than one language makes people
appreciative of languages in general and gives them the opportunity
to be philosophical about the differences in language, it's not magic.

I know some people who are trilingual and who seem to think very
little in ANY language, but live kind of flat, boring lives.

I know some people who are monolingual and they spark with thought
and words and ideas.

Sandra

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