Today we get to meet Fanny and Alex.
- Tell us a little bit about yourselves.
We are a family from the South West of France, expatriated to Singapore since last year. We wanted to discover the world more than just by one-off trips!
Singapore is our first expat experience but Alex and myself (Fanny) have been on the road forever, going solo, or as a couple, then with our two kiddies as soon as they were a few months old. We have roamed over Europe, on the roads of Mexico and India, from Lebanon to Indonesia with stopovers in New-Zealand, Malaysia, Morocco, Japan, North America…
For us, travelling is essential to understand differences (and we experience differences in our daily lives with our younger son’s disabilities), to open up to others and to build today and tomorrow. More importantly, this should take place through the eyes of our kids on the world: they are the future and they must get sensitized from today.
- What are your best personal memories of multilingualism?
The best memories, for Alex, are work-related : participating in trade shows, speaking in turn French, English, Spanish and Italian, to the point that, at the end of the day, he felt like a native speaker of each language !
We have numerous personal and family memories of all the opportunities granted by foreign languages: discovering more, going beyond barriers, understanding others better during each of our trips.
More recent memories are our requesting our son to teach us the basics of Mandarin – so that we can immerse ourselves better in local Singaporean life – and the smiles of Singaporeans when we talk to them in Mandarin!
- What is your children’s linguistic journey ?
Our kids had never studied English before coming to Singapore. In Bordeaux (France), they used to go to a school which had traditionally welcomed many immigrants of Hispanic origin. So they started their linguistic journey with learning Spanish from kindergarten onwards. In parallel, at home, we have spoken sign language for several years until our younger son was able to speak verbally.
Today, Nathanel (9 y.o.) studies English and Mandarin at school and with VivaLing. In spite of his difference, Eliaz (7 y.o.), is getting sensitized to English at school and with VivaLing with immense pleasure; he will very soon start attending a special needs school in Singapore.
- What does it mean to you to see your kids learning languages ?
Nathanel had vowed never to learn or speak English or any language other than Spanish ;-)! Today, seeing him chat with Singaporeans, with a big smile on the face, switching between English and Mandarin, is a real treat! For our older son, learning Mandarin is first and foremost a desire, a pleasure and an deep interest in a language that he describes as so subtle and singing. Seeing him thrive with other words and open up to a new way of addressing “others” and communicating, to a different culture, is key in the upbringing that we have chosen for our kids.
As for Eliaz, even at the « other end of the world », with the notion of « different languages”, he can benefit from a schooling system that is suitable to his needs without language being an obstacle. He can thus give free rein to his every day indulgences in meeting others and exchanging.
Foreign languages are a personal and professional asset for them. For us, the world manifests itself through Exchange and language is one of its main channels. The more spoken languages, the less barriers to discovery and meeting people.
- What does VivaLing bring you ?
The opportunities given by VivaLing are great from all perspectives!! A customized organization (perfect when your kid’s agenda looks like the Prime Minister’s), the possibility of adjusting to the kid’s rhythm while complying with the parents’, the convenience of sessions at home and even the rates. The interactivity is easy and perfect.
But above all, beyond the language itself, VivaLing enables to cross borders again and put our kids in touch with coaches from all over the world and all walks of life! In addition to language, our kids also learn how it is to live elsewhere. In our case, conversations shared with their coaches take our kids to the Czech Republic and Texas, USA.
Many thanks to Fanny and Alex for sharing their experience. If you too would like to be featured in this series, do get in touch with us!
