Today we are hosted by Olivia and Simon who took some time out between two trips to share some of their multilingual life with us.
- Tell us a little bit about yourselves.
Simon, my husband, our two daughters Ava (5 years old) and Zélie (2 years old) and myself have been living in Singapore for the past 18 months. Singapore is our second expat destination after Sydney where we spent two blissful years. We are originally from Paris but before we got kids, Simon, who works for a bank, used to live in London while I was living in Brussels, and before that, in Moscow during my studies.
- What are your best personal memories of multilingualism?
I have had the chance since I was 10 to be sent by my parents each year to a different country to finish my school year during at least one month (Germany, UK, US, Italy). Despite the fact that all my French friends were on holidays while I was still at school, thanks to my Kiasu parents (!), I have kept great memories of this time of my life. It helped me develop a sense of adaptability to understand other culture’s perspectives and build friendships with people from different origins.
Now it’s my turn to be a Kiasu mum 😉 so both of my kids are going to the Singaporean pre-school and I would like to send Ava to the local system for primary as well. After 2 years in Australian kindergarten hearing her saying to my neighbor: “Good day mate!” while heading to the beach, I now see her comfortable in speaking mandarin to her Lao shi or singing songs with her friends from school.
I am amazed by the ability and facility that kids of that age can have in learning new languages and adapting to new environments. Beyond the language, I wish for my kids to embrace all the cultural diversity they are exposed to in order to grow up, thinking outside of the box and having a tolerant approach to other cultures, religions and traditions.
- What is your children’s linguistic journey ?
Ava was born in France. Her first language is French and she started learning English when she was two after moving to Australia. In Sydney, we used to speak mostly English including at home, so when we left for Singapore, her English was already pretty good.
She then started Mandarin at pre-school at the age of 4. I didn’t realise the first week how many hours of Mandarin she had per day and I remember picking her up from school, asking: “So honey, what did you learn at school today?”. She was mumbling: “I don’t know”. She had given me the same answer every single day since she started pre-school so I started to loose patience and then she said: “The English teacher has been sick all week so we have had the Chinese teacher talking to us all the time” Oops….! Yes, I felt like a bad mother… The week after, the English teacher came back and put a little bit of balance in Ava’s mandarin learning curve. Now she is the first one to ask if she can tell me a story in Mandarin. She asks for Sunny Laoshe’s class every day and when her 25mn Vivaling class is over, she watches the video of her previous class with Sunny Laoshi. I feel relieved, no trauma in Chinese!
- Why do you want your kids to learn Chinese ?
To speak the most widely spoken language in the world, I guess! Mandarin Chinese is a key language to speak with English and Spanish probably. One step at a time… 😉
- What does VivaLing bring you ?
VivaLing is the perfect tool to help Ava develop her confidence in speaking Chinese. At school, she has very few opportunities to have a discussion in Chinese. She hears the teacher speak, repeats the words, writes them but is invited to speak mostly during the “show and tell sessions” while she has to present to her friends a 3mn story from a book she chooses and translates in Chinese. The gap is quite big for her, as she has no occasion at home to speak in Chinese contrary to many of her friends. Now, thanks to VivaLing and to Sunny, she has someone twice a week to talk to in Chinese, to tell about all this part of her schoollife that I am not always capable to follow. She also plays with Sunny, showing her her dollies, telling her princess stories… She is Ava’s Chinese friend from Beijing! Thank you Sunny! Thank you VivaLing!
Next year, I envisage enrolling Zelie. “Zelie, do you want to learn Chinese as well ? Yào”.
Many thanks to Olivia and Simon for sharing their experience. If you too would like to be featured in this series, do get in touch with us!
