@seekertruth72 My partner doesn’t speak my language and it’s not the community language. My kids tend yo speak my language to each others when it’s minority language. Don’t give up and don’t hesitate to hire outside help if needed like Italian teacher or Italian speaking baby sitters who would come 1 or 2 hours per week and only speak italian, etc. good luck
@seekertruth72 Me and my spouse also speaks english (despite we speak a type of chinese each. Completely unable to direct translate grammatically words usage all different)
We stick with opol. And it can still work. After a while you know very basic words what the other is saying like brushing teeth or good night. Etc… when we talk we just translate back to the kid if she want to join the conversation. (If we are speaking at the table about something if my kid want to voice something - she’s two she is not going to be able to join a discussion about tax. I still just respond to her in mandarin
Speak only in Italian to them and explain things from scratch in Italian (you know, like explaining anything from scratch in English to kids). It takes time so you have to decide what this is worth.
@seekertruth72 Not too old. It takes a lot of effort though! I would suggest getting them used to some vocabulary first so they feel connection with the language. Start with the words that they'll hear every day, e.g. good morning, foods, love you, bedtime etc. Repeat in English at first until they understand what it means. Then add in basic phrases, move on to sentences. Turn all the screen time in the house to Italian audio, maybe make an except for one hour a week in English. If they want to watch TV, it's now going to be in Italian. If you read Italian books to them, translate to English so they understand the story and they eventually won't need the translation.
