Well... she did it.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

My wife has a part-time job working with my aunt doing clerical office work. It's a nice start. Katya can read English just fine, and can understand quite a lot, especially if you talk slow ; but the rigors of a 'real' job are a bit daunting for her. Working with family is nice, because they are willing to email her requests or repeat things for her that other jobs might not. Her language confidence will grow.

I've had family tell me; and I'm certain I've read the same thing here: I should have made her go cold turkey and 'quit Russian' altogether. No Russian TV in the house, just American. I haven't done that, and won't do it; simply a personal decision on my part. But, because I haven't done it, Katya's English hasn't grown the way our son's has. Granted, a child is a sponge and learns quicker than an adult. But still, he's been thrown into the shark pit that is kindergarten without his consent; and he's better for it already. We play those godforsaken Lego games and I can ask him questions filled with English slang; and he'll answer me in English just fine. With all that said, Katya has realized that she may need to tone down the Russian language shows and start watching more English language shows. I haven't yet asked her why the change; but if she's wanting to do more American stuff; I've got Netflix ready for her.

Until she's comfortable with her English, she'll be stuck in 'menial' jobs. She has a better education than I do; she should have more potential for work than me.

Alla wanted nothing to do with Russian when they first arrived. English only! Pasha learned very quickly and now speaks as well as any teenager and better than most and with little accent. NOW Alla uses Russian at home and 80% of the conversation in this house is Russian now, but now that they both learned Emglsih well and have PLENTY of English use every day, Alla did not want Pasha's Russian learning to stop at age 13. I don't blame her, I agree. But at first it was "English Only" Alla is now finishing her Masters as an ESL teacher and that is the rule there also...English only.

[eekee 182]

I think it's ok to watch/read in Russian... gives the brain a rest. Having friends who speak English is a far better way to get better at the language IMO, but I know it can be difficult to find.

[Jonathan Matthies 1]

Alla wanted nothing to do with Russian when they first arrived. English only! Pasha learned very quickly and now speaks as well as any teenager and better than most and with little accent. NOW Alla uses Russian at home and 80% of the conversation in this house is Russian now, but now that they both learned Emglsih well and have PLENTY of English use every day, Alla did not want Pasha's Russian learning to stop at age 13. I don't blame her, I agree. But at first it was "English Only" Alla is now finishing her Masters as an ESL teacher and that is the rule there also...English only.

One of Katya's biggest concerns was Denis 'losing his heritage' for lack of a better phrase. Denis is smart as a tack, we just had a PTC meeting Thu. where the teacher reiterated that. I'm hoping this past year has shown her that Denis can do both languages and thrive. I don't know how/if we will teach Russian more 'book smarts' like grammar or what-have-you; it's not on the radar yet. But I know I won't be stifling his Russian; nor will I let anyone else try to do so. I want to see him develop both languages further.

Many conversations I have with him revolve him wanting something. He'll ask me in (increasingly less-broken) English; and I usually defer to mom. This is immediately followed by him screaming in Russian asking for the same thing; followed by an English response of "mom said Yes!" even when I heard her say no. Damn kid.

I think it's ok to watch/read in Russian... gives the brain a rest. Having friends who speak English is a far better way to get better at the language IMO, but I know it can be difficult to find.

Yeah. Katya's friends are all Russian. They all speak English well enough to talk to any of the husbands without hesitation, Katya included. But that's in a relaxed environment. Get her in a different environment, her comfort level goes down; and her understanding still fades.

Edited March 4, 2011 by Jonathan Matthies

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

One of Katya's biggest concerns was Denis 'losing his heritage' for lack of a better phrase. Denis is smart as a tack, we just had a PTC meeting Thu. where the teacher reiterated that. I'm hoping this past year has shown her that Denis can do both languages and thrive. I don't know how/if we will teach Russian more 'book smarts' like grammar or what-have-you; it's not on the radar yet. But I know I won't be stifling his Russian; nor will I let anyone else try to do so. I want to see him develop both languages further.

Many conversations I have with him revolve him wanting something. He'll ask me in (increasingly less-broken) English; and I usually defer to mom. This is immediately followed by him screaming in Russian asking for the same thing; followed by an English response of "mom said Yes!" even when I heard her say no. Damn kid.

Yeah. Katya's friends are all Russian. They all speak English well enough to talk to any of the husbands without hesitation, Katya included. But that's in a relaxed environment. Get her in a different environment, her comfort level goes down; and her understanding still fades.

Being at least comfortable with at least two languages is just something I think every adult should do. Call me silly. You should absolutely continue his Russian education. I am of the belief that YOU should speak ONLY English to him and your wife speak ONLY Russian. then he learns from a native speaker for each. It is amazing how much LESS accent Pasha has than Alla, yet he spoke very little English when he arrived.

[Brad and Vika 129]

I've had family tell me; and I'm certain I've read the same thing here: I should have made her go cold turkey and 'quit Russian' altogether. No Russian TV in the house, just American. I haven't done that, and won't do it; simply a personal decision on my part. But, because I haven't done it, Katya's English hasn't grown the way our son's has. Granted, a child is a sponge and learns quicker than an adult. But still, he's been thrown into the shark pit that is kindergarten without his consent; and he's better for it already. We play those godforsaken Lego games and I can ask him questions filled with English slang; and he'll answer me in English just fine. With all that said, Katya has realized that she may need to tone down the Russian language shows and start watching more English language shows. I haven't yet asked her why the change; but if she's wanting to do more American stuff; I've got Netflix ready for her.

Personally, I think that you made a good decision. Vika started out watching Russian programs on the computer, and really didn't spend much time with English language programs or music of any kind. After she started ESL classes and made some American friends that started to change by itself. Now she is watching American TV, but music is still tough. The point is that had I pushed, she may have come away feeling forced to immerse in English, and as a result resisted.

Yeah. Katya's friends are all Russian. They all speak English well enough to talk to any of the husbands without hesitation, Katya included. But that's in a relaxed environment. Get her in a different environment, her comfort level goes down; and her understanding still fades.

We see the same thing here. Again, the ESL, and now American History etc. help quite a bit. She says her comprehension at normal normal conversational speed had to improve to grasp the lectures. She was pretty fluent before, and even better now. I imagine work would have the same effect on language skill.

[ONA 133]

I am of the belief that YOU should speak ONLY English to him and your wife speak ONLY Russian. then he learns from a native speaker for each.

Right. I was giving a presentation about raising a bilingual child just yesterday, and one of the points was that this method proved to be the most effective. The only problem is that when kids see their parents talking to each other using the same language, they might start thinking that one language is some extra knowledge they don't need. It takes a lot of effort.

It's easier though to keep Russian in the family, if kids used to live in Russia - they already speak Russian, all they need is just keep using it, so they don't forget it.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Right. I was giving a presentation about raising a bilingual child just yesterday, and one of the points was that this method proved to be the most effective. The only problem is that when kids see their parents talking to each other using the same language, they might start thinking that one language is some extra knowledge they don't need. It takes a lot of effort.

It's easier though to keep Russian in the family, if kids used to live in Russia - they already speak Russian, all they need is just keep using it, so they don't forget it.

Could be for younger children. Our youngest was 13 when he arrived. He also had the advantage of being in school with other kids his age all day and all his classes were in English, of course. Russian is by far the most often spoken language in the house, but everyone has the opportunity to speak English most of the day.

Alla is/was a Russian language teacher and is very particular about how the language is used. She is always correcting Pasha and I (ad nauseum) She is one of THOSE mothers.

[blahblahbl.. 1]

Congrats to Anna on landing a great job. Working with money is excellent experience and lends credibility to her resume!

[Jonathan Matthies 1]

Could be for younger children. Our youngest was 13 when he arrived. He also had the advantage of being in school with other kids his age all day and all his classes were in English, of course. Russian is by far the most often spoken language in the house, but everyone has the opportunity to speak English most of the day.

Alla is/was a Russian language teacher and is very particular about how the language is used. She is always correcting Pasha and I (ad nauseum) She is one of THOSE mothers.

Katya has started to harp on Denis' pronunciation of Russian words more so in recent weeks. When he first came over he was saying "Satchi" to me all the time. She didn't correct him until I started saying the same - incorrect - word to both of them. The word he wanted was Smatri (look at this). He still can't say it, but she let him go for a good 6 months with saying Sa-tri. We would both try to correct him; but it has yet to stick. Now he's being corrected more frequently for common mis-pronunciations like Mnye, Smatri, and others I can't think of right now.

His grasp of the English language is such that we can harp on both languages, with me doing english and her Russian; and force him to fix his silly little errors.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Katya has started to harp on Denis' pronunciation of Russian words more so in recent weeks. When he first came over he was saying "Satchi" to me all the time. She didn't correct him until I started saying the same - incorrect - word to both of them. The word he wanted was Smatri (look at this). He still can't say it, but she let him go for a good 6 months with saying Sa-tri. We would both try to correct him; but it has yet to stick. Now he's being corrected more frequently for common mis-pronunciations like Mnye, Smatri, and others I can't think of right now.

His grasp of the English language is such that we can harp on both languages, with me doing english and her Russian; and force him to fix his silly little errors.

lol... poor kid...he's getting it from both directions and in two different languages.

[Jonathan Matthies 1]

None of the Russians in my family can pronounce my dog's name: Theo. Not the boy, not his mom, not their grandma who's been here in the US for 11 years. Poor dog!

The Speech Therapist at Denis' school says that they don't even worry about speech in kindergarten; they wait until 2nd grande and then take notice if speech hasn't corrected itself. But mom is not an English Language Speech Therapist; and she's wanting him to change. Plus I think he's just being lazy with some words (like Mnye). Poor Denis can't say thirty. It sounds like forty, and damned if it isn't confusing. Ten, Twenty, Furdy, Foordy, Fifty... wait what? He knows the difference, he just can't say it.

But he goes around proclaiming "No money, No honey!" often; so it's all good.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

None of the Russians in my family can pronounce my dog's name: Theo. Not the boy, not his mom, not their grandma who's been here in the US for 11 years. Poor dog!

The Speech Therapist at Denis' school says that they don't even worry about speech in kindergarten; they wait until 2nd grande and then take notice if speech hasn't corrected itself. But mom is not an English Language Speech Therapist; and she's wanting him to change. Plus I think he's just being lazy with some words (like Mnye). Poor Denis can't say thirty. It sounds like forty, and damned if it isn't confusing. Ten, Twenty, Furdy, Foordy, Fifty... wait what? He knows the difference, he just can't say it.

But he goes around proclaiming "No money, No honey!" often; so it's all good.

See-oh. That was easy.

[Jonathan Matthies 1]

It's usually Fee-o or Tee-o around ere. Though Katya does pronounce think as sink sometimes.

[slim 1,525]

None of the Russians in my family can pronounce my dog's name: Theo.

That's a trick word!

Katya does pronounce think as sink sometimes.

When my wife goes off on me it's hard for me to take her seriously. "Why you event not sink about zis stuff?" I can't help but smile. - Which just pisses her off even more.