Three languages, can’t do OPOL

[fayanth]

We speak Russian at home. We live in the US but daycare is Spanish. Our 15 m.o. hears English at the pool, doctors’ offices and when we visit friends. We don’t know Spanish and all the books we have are in English (we read a lot). Current set up is - we speak Russian, read English, Spanish at daycare and English everywhere else. What are the pitfalls and do we need to correct anything? I speak English well but my husband doesn’t so speaking English at home feels unnatural to me. Should I make an effort to speak English to her?

Edit: I know we’ll be in the US for another year but I don’t know where we’ll be after that.

 

[mamckay41]

@fayanth Why sont you just speak Russian at home ? They'll learn English at school anyway

 

[fayanth]

@mamckay41 We do. I just read English because of availability of books

 

[godmadegorillas]

@fayanth I think what a lot of parents do (including myself) for kids who don't know how to read yet is "read" any book in the language of our choice, even if we're making up a totally different story than the original one, as long as the pictures make sense, so it might be an option for you too!

 

[pterinochilus]

@fayanth I collect books in our target languages. You'd be surprised at what's available in Russian, especially if you locate ethnic enclaves. And if it's not available, and the book is simple enough AND your penmanship is good enough, get a good pen and translate onto the page.

 

[jmz]

@fayanth If you live in the US, there's no reason to worry about speaking English at home. They'll pick it up. You'd probably be better served by the Minority Language at Home model.

After all, OPOL and MLAH are both heuristics to make things easier for parents. There's nothing magic about OPOL that makes it work better than other methods. If the kids are getting enough exposure to the languages, they'll learn them.

 

[jellyball]

@jmz Second this. I wouldn’t let any English into the house if you’re trying to teach them Russian and Spanish while living in the US.

If you move away from the US in the future you can then start using more English in the home.