I am a homeschooling mother of three. I've been a lurker on the blogs of others who are raising their children bilingual or multilingual, and I've been jealous. I'm not bilingual myself. Although I live in a country that professes bilingualism, I've found resources for teaching my preschool children French to be very hard to come by.
I lacked confidence in speaking French myself, and for many months left it up to videos and books on tape or CD.
I continued to lurk, and I began to wonder. Maybe the easiest way to offer my kids French was to learn it myself, and pass it on.
When my son approached kindergarten age, I began to waver on the homeschooling issue, even though I'd been committed to it since before he was born. Was a bilingual education better than what I could offer him? My commitment to homeschooling won, but I still felt I was shortchanging him. I wanted him to have French.
And so, I began my own journey to learn the French language. I'm using Michel Thomas and Pimsleur, and anything I can get my hands on to teach myself French, staying one step ahead (une étape en avant) of my kids.
It's working. Step by step, we're learning--all of us. The other night we had about 50% of our dinner conversation in French. At one point, my daughter turned to me and said something that proved to me it was all worthwhile:
"You're speaking a lot of French tonight."
"C'est vrai."
"You're doing very well."
"Merci beaucoup."
"De rein...You're learning, and we're learning too."
I couldn't have been prouder. Is there a better example to give my kids than that life is about always learning?
Je ne pense pas ainsi.
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