Hi everyone,
I’ve been following this sub for a while now! I’d love a bit of advice/ someone to calm my nerves.
I amAmerican and I am married to a Spaniard. We live in a very small Spanish (Galician) city, just north of Portugal.
We are currently following OPOL, so I speak to my (8mo) old daughter only in English, and my husband speaks to her in Spanish.
Her books are in English and Galician language. I have fluency level (C1) in Galician and even higher fluency level in Spanish (have lived here and spoken in Spanish with my husband for 9 years.) I read to her daily, in both English and Galician.
I am concerned my daughter will not have enough English exposure. She has daily English lessons at nursery, but they’re only 15min. All my interaction is ONLY English, but some days I work a LOT and only get to speak to her maybe 1-1,5 hours a day. No one else speaks English to her, as my family is back in the USA. I have been trying to convince my SIL or FIL to also use English with her, as they’re both fluent and English teachers themselves.
Am I silly for being concerned? Everyone around me says she will be just fine, but she absolutely HAS to be a native English speaker as well. How else would she communicate with my family?!
Oh, my husband also only plays English music for her (currently on paternity leave.) In the future, TV and movies will also be in English.
Thanks in advance!
Edit: I’d like to specify that I also want her to be proficient in the Galician language, though it’s less of a concern. She will learn all 3 languages at school naturally, but neither my husband or I speak Galician in a home setting. I had to reach fluency in Galician to become an English teacher here, and I did so by reading in Galician and watching Galician TV. My rule was only Galician and English books for myself, so I want the same for my daughter.
My husband and I speak Spanish at home. He can speak English well enough, but it’s not our language together. I learned Spanish starting at 5 and went to bilingual schools, so that combined with now living in Spain for nearly a decade has made it so some people do not realize I am not Spanish.
I’ve been following this sub for a while now! I’d love a bit of advice/ someone to calm my nerves.
I amAmerican and I am married to a Spaniard. We live in a very small Spanish (Galician) city, just north of Portugal.
We are currently following OPOL, so I speak to my (8mo) old daughter only in English, and my husband speaks to her in Spanish.
Her books are in English and Galician language. I have fluency level (C1) in Galician and even higher fluency level in Spanish (have lived here and spoken in Spanish with my husband for 9 years.) I read to her daily, in both English and Galician.
I am concerned my daughter will not have enough English exposure. She has daily English lessons at nursery, but they’re only 15min. All my interaction is ONLY English, but some days I work a LOT and only get to speak to her maybe 1-1,5 hours a day. No one else speaks English to her, as my family is back in the USA. I have been trying to convince my SIL or FIL to also use English with her, as they’re both fluent and English teachers themselves.
Am I silly for being concerned? Everyone around me says she will be just fine, but she absolutely HAS to be a native English speaker as well. How else would she communicate with my family?!
Oh, my husband also only plays English music for her (currently on paternity leave.) In the future, TV and movies will also be in English.
Thanks in advance!
Edit: I’d like to specify that I also want her to be proficient in the Galician language, though it’s less of a concern. She will learn all 3 languages at school naturally, but neither my husband or I speak Galician in a home setting. I had to reach fluency in Galician to become an English teacher here, and I did so by reading in Galician and watching Galician TV. My rule was only Galician and English books for myself, so I want the same for my daughter.
My husband and I speak Spanish at home. He can speak English well enough, but it’s not our language together. I learned Spanish starting at 5 and went to bilingual schools, so that combined with now living in Spain for nearly a decade has made it so some people do not realize I am not Spanish.