Parlez-Vous Anglais?

So one of my neighbours asked me on the weekend if Sam spoke English. Too funny. I don’t know, maybe it’s because I was home with him this crucial year of language acquisition and I know what that specific year meant to Kamryn (a year with my parents and she was jabbering away in English). Maybe it’s because I worried that since he had very little French exposure as an infant he was going to be at a disadvantage. Maybe because he seemed to be having language problems. Whatever the reason I almost exclusively speak French to him. I speak English to Kamryn. It’s just Sam that I’ve gotten into the habit of speaking to this way. Consequently (or maybe despite of) he speaks much MORE French that Kamryn did at the comparable age. On the other hard, it’s also possible that that’s the reason I do it. Dunno.

We’re in a window that with both kids that is about to close with Kamryn, I think (once she starts school). That time where they don’t realize that speaking French is “wrong.” I say wrong because that is what happens here. Kids go to school (and in many cases this happens before school even) and discover the wide world of English and resent speaking French. It’s seen somehow as second best. My boss’s kid told him one day – “don’t speak French; speak Canadian.” Ouch! I have two neighbours with little boys around Kamryn’s age (one 7 weeks older, one 6 months younger) and both kids see speaking French as a chore (they both have one francophone parent in the family like our household but didn’t, like we did, teach their child French from infancy. Both started around their third birthdays.). Right now, Kamryn still sees it as a privilege. I’m not looking forward to the uphill slog that is coming when she doesn’t want to speak it anymore. I already have to work to make sure she speaks French instead of English to Sam.

Today Daniel has to register both kids for summer camp. They will hopefully go two mornings a week. It should help Sam’s language skills immensely (fingers crossed) and hopefully his behavior as well. Both things worry me. When Kamryn started preschool she was 6 months older than he is now. We impressed upon her that they only speak French at preschool (BIG RULE!) and she got it relatively easily. She had an early and somewhat remarkable talent to differentiate between the two languages (many bilingual kids don’t figure this out until much much later). I don’t think Sam differentiates at all (perhaps this is my fault for not speaking more English to him). He finds a word and he uses it – whichever is more convenient. On the other hand he doesn’t use a lot of English words: Go, Car, milk, dog, horse …. Okay those are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head so I’m probably worrying for nothing. Lol His behavior worries me immensely.

1. He is completely incapable of sharing not horribly unusual for a kid his age I guess although it wasn’t a big problem with Kamryn.
2. He is incapable of being distracted.
3. He melts down whenever he doesn’t get his way (see point 1 and 2).
4. Oh and he likes to hit and bash other children with whatever he happens to have in his hand. (see point 1 and 2 and 3!)

Ughhhh…. He is going to be the youngest in the class too. Don’t know if he’ll last the summer before they boot him out and I need him to not only last the summer but continue in the fall. This will be stressful for me anyways. If he makes it, it will be so good for him. Oh please.