Raising Bilingual Kids - Any success stories?

[MrPinaC]

Hi Guys,

Just wanted to hear about any success stories with raising fully bilingual kids in Japan. While I imagine that this is relatively easy if the kids attend 100% international school, I am more interested to hear from those parents who have not sent their kids to International school, yet have had, or seem to be having success. Would be really great to get some tips, tricks and ideas!!

For the record, my kids are 2.5yrs and 0.6mths. My wife is Japanese and I am Australian.
Currently I speak to my son in English and my wife speaks Japanese to him. The conversation between my wife and I is mixed.

Cheers and Merry Christmas!

Rob

[ume]

what do you mean by "success stories?" like full grown up adults? Or just kids?

My daughter is 3 years old, has never attended any kind of English school, and has the same speaking ability in English as any other kid who is 3 and speaks English. Actually, her speech is actually slightly advanced in English. Her Japanese is also native level, and she attends a Japanese hoikuen full time. She can also read numbers up to 20 (in both languages) and some hiragana, and all the alphabet letters, but not any words yet.

I personally think that it works because Im her mother. And that kids will naturally pick up their mothers language.

I also think that, if your a working daddy, who is not home all the time and then speaks Japanese at home, then you need to be doing a lot more than just speaking to your kid. You need to be doing a lot of educational games using english, and reading books etc. Apologies if you are already doing these things.

another tactic that will help is to pick a language you will all speak together and STICK to it. If your wife speaks English, its probably better that you just pretend to your children that you don't speak Japanese. If you speak to your kids in English but then they are stronger in Japanese, and they see you talking to your wife in Japanese, it would be very easy for them to give up in English.

I have heard of families which have a rule that "english at home, Japanese outside." BUT this probably would not work if your wife speaks Japanese to them during the day. Of course my kid will say stuff to me in Japanese sometimes, but I usually don't answer, or tell her "ask me in English" and she is able to. Unless its a word she doesn't know of course. But ... she is not even 3 yet. . .

Just my experience, but my kid is already bilingual - in that she can communicate equally in both languages. I think consistency is the best thing to achieve. After that the kids will naturally pick up both.

[MrPinaC]

Hi Ume-san, thanks a lot for your reply.
Yeah, your right about the dad having to work harder (if he only speaks the minority language!).
English at home/Japanese outside would be good I guess, yet my Japanese might suffer a little!

Unfortunately for me, if I ask my kid to say something in my language, sometimes he gets upset.
I need to be very careful about this,... as it freaks me out!

Are you planning to send your child to any additional language schools?

Cheers!
Rob

[robatsu]

We started off in Wash DC. English was obviously the dominant language, but Mom always spoke to our son in Japanese, plus a fair amount of skyping w/relatives and about 3-4 weeks/year in Japan w/grandparents.

All (and I mean every single bit) TV watched by our son in the U.S. was Japanese language. We were fortunate to have a Japanese grocery locally that had hundreds of kids videos to rent.

About 1 month before 1st grade started, we relocated to Osaka and dumped our son into the the deep end of the pool, enrolled him in the neighborhood public school. He's had no problems, linguistically or culturally, to date.

Now, he is finishing 2d grade and his Japanese is now somewhat out in front of his English, so I'm thinking maybe having an English only TV rule here.

[rich dude kryptonite]

My kids are bilingual, the eldest two are in elementary school and fully biliterate. I don't feel at all the way Ume does. I'm the mother and the speaker of the heritage language, and we have to work very hard to get this way.

We have an English-only media rule in the house. That means that there are no Sunday morning fighting shows in Japanese, and no DS games, etc. Daddy watches Urawa games in our bedroom.

We do a half an hour to an hour of English work every day. I have an American exchange student from a nearby university come in to teach my older two writing skills twice a week. He's happy for the extra money and I'm happy to be able to spend time with my kids doing something else, but this is definitely possible to do yourself with good materials. We do spelling bees as well, the kids are competitive and get into this, daddy plays along too (and usually loses!).

When my kids are familiar with the alphabet and showing other reading readiness skills I use the Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons book. http://amzn.to/uoHVCk It's pretty amazing, it works quickly.

We are very lucky to live in Japan in the Amazon age, it's just as cheap to buy English books here as in my home country. The kids have reading games on their DS consoles and fun games in English too. The LeapPad is a popular request from Father Christmas this year. They go to Japanese school and speak Japanese perfectly but they know hometime is English time.

I think the key to raising bilingual/biliterate kids is consistency. They need to see this is something you value as well. And if they see you speak the majority language, they will always opt for it, so don't show them.

[YokohamaTommy]

We are very lucky to live in Japan in the Amazon age,

Post-information age please. Amazon is a for-profit company. Not an age of humankind.

I think the key to raising bilingual/biliterate kids is consistency. They need to see this is something you value as well. And if they see you speak the majority language, they will always opt for it, so don't show them.

I agree.
My boy who is 5 in a few days can speak English as well as a 5 year old in the states as well as native Japanese at his level.
In my case however, he strives to speak English not because he is forced or structured to;
But (in his own words)
I love my Daddy and and I want us to talk perfectly to each other.

That stuff makes me cry.

[Effected After]

I've only spoken English with my boy since he was born. I've used almost no Japanese with him ever. The only exceptions are a couple of times when I've just forgotten to switch language, or when we are out and about and meet a Japanese adult, and we are all part of the conversation.

He's 3 1/2 now, and while his English isn't as good as his Japanese, or as good as a native speaker's English, it's still coming along at a good steady pace. Every couple of days I hear him introduce new grammar patterns into his lingo, and it always makes me a little proud. Recently he's started reporting speech - "Mommy said 'no tv lunch time'" (doing the translation from Japanese on his own).

Some things I have found that are important:
1) Don't switch to Japanese when things get a little difficult, unless his/her immediate safety is in threat. By switching to Japanese when it gets difficult, kids can get the impression that English isn't a 'serious' language, and that Japanese is the serious language.
2) Reading is important. Get some books, read regularly to your kid. Kids get all sorts of vocabulary from books that they won't get from the spoken word. Start reading when they are tiny babies, and continue it as they get older.
3) Get some English movies/video games for them. Let them watch the movies a million times.
4) If you have a smartphone/tablet, there are tonnes of educational apps (at least for iStuff, I assume this is true for Android and 'other' as well). My boy literally taught himself the alphabet using a couple of apps I downloaded. I never taugh him any of the alphabet, and one day in the store he starts spelling out a word on a sign. I was blown away.
5) Spend 'chatty' time with your kid. I go for a 30min - 2hr walk with my boy every day. We go to the park, and talk lots. I point out animals and we count stuff, and learn words for things we see. Besides the fact that it's awesome to spend time together, he seems to learn a lot faster this way since we are out experiencing, rather than just looking in a book.
6) When they start speaking, if you are in Japan, Japanese will almost definitely come first, and come faster. Many minority language parents give up at this point because they don't want to be left behind since the kid is communicating with the Japanese parent more than the foreign parent. This is definitely NOT the time to give up - if you have been speaking English to them up until this point, it's all in there in their head, it just takes longer for it to come out. But it will come out, just give it time - and keep speaking English. This is probably the most essential point in a bilingual kid's journey.
7) When they are first starting to speak, you can probably let them get away with using Japanese with you (make sure to reply in English, but as they start to get bigger, start enforcing 'English only' when you are together (or in whatever situation you have deemed to be English time). You don't have to freak out or anything, but any time Japanese is spoken to you, say something along the lines of 'speak English please', and don't answer them until they have attempted something in English. Or you can help them with the English if they really don't know how to say anything even close.

[Shakes Spear]

Post-information age please. Amazon is a for-profit company. Not an age of humankind.

You do realizeshe was referring to the for-profit company right?? Or do you just have something against Amazon?
Personally I'm with her. I absolutely love having access to so many western products through Amazon, and Rakuten for that matter.

[Shakes Spear]

I've only spoken English with my boy since he was born. I've used almost no Japanese with him ever. The only exceptions are a couple of times when I've just forgotten to switch language, or when we are out and about and meet a Japanese adult, and we are all part of the conversation.

He's 3 1/2 now, and while his English isn't as good as his Japanese, or as good as a native speaker's English, it's still coming along at a good steady pace. Every couple of days I hear him introduce new grammar patterns into his lingo, and it always makes me a little proud. Recently he's started reporting speech - "Mommy said 'no tv lunch time'" (doing the translation from Japanese on his own).

Some things I have found that are important:
1) Don't switch to Japanese when things get a little difficult, unless his/her immediate safety is in threat. By switching to Japanese when it gets difficult, kids can get the impression that English isn't a 'serious' language, and that Japanese is the serious language.
2) Reading is important. Get some books, read regularly to your kid. Kids get all sorts of vocabulary from books that they won't get from the spoken word. Start reading when they are tiny babies, and continue it as they get older.
3) Get some English movies/video games for them. Let them watch the movies a million times.
4) If you have a smartphone/tablet, there are tonnes of educational apps (at least for iStuff, I assume this is true for Android and 'other' as well). My boy literally taught himself the alphabet using a couple of apps I downloaded. I never taugh him any of the alphabet, and one day in the store he starts spelling out a word on a sign. I was blown away.
5) Spend 'chatty' time with your kid. I go for a 30min - 2hr walk with my boy every day. We go to the park, and talk lots. I point out animals and we count stuff, and learn words for things we see. Besides the fact that it's awesome to spend time together, he seems to learn a lot faster this way since we are out experiencing, rather than just looking in a book.
6) When they start speaking, if you are in Japan, Japanese will almost definitely come first, and come faster. Many minority language parents give up at this point because they don't want to be left behind since the kid is communicating with the Japanese parent more than the foreign parent. This is definitely NOT the time to give up - if you have been speaking English to them up until this point, it's all in there in their head, it just takes longer for it to come out. But it will come out, just give it time - and keep speaking English. This is probably the most essential point in a bilingual kid's journey.
7) When they are first starting to speak, you can probably let them get away with using Japanese with you (make sure to reply in English, but as they start to get bigger, start enforcing 'English only' when you are together (or in whatever situation you have deemed to be English time). You don't have to freak out or anything, but any time Japanese is spoken to you, say something along the lines of 'speak English please', and don't answer them until they have attempted something in English. Or you can help them with the English if they really don't know how to say anything even close.

Excellent advice here. It's also refreshing when someone actually is honest (and objective!) about their child's accomplishments too! Speaking of which, my 5-year-old was recently awarded the Pulitzer Prize for literary achievement.
He's also getting 100,000yen an engagement for talks at local yochiens. When he's not writing and speaking, he can usually be found at the local soup kitchen handing out meals while giving English lessons.
A real "chip off the old block" if you ask me.

BTW EA, I've only spoken English with my boy since he was born too. It seemed pointless to start any sooner than that!

[YokohamaTommy]

You do realizeshe was referring to the for-profit company right?? Or do you just have something against Amazon?
Personally I'm with her. I absolutely love having access to so many western products through Amazon, and Rakuten for that matter.

Yeah, I know. I do like Amazon's services as well.
Maybe I was being too harsh.

[YokohamaTommy]

Excellent advice here.

I second that!

[shigusan]

Really interesting how everyone has their own way to make their kids bilingual. Some great tips for me in the future :-)

Although no kids yet my plan is to: read English books to them starting as a child, talk to them in english etcetera at home (with wife speaking Japanese) - mixed Japanese/English tv shows games, movies etcetera. I think if your kids see you watching something in English they'll naturally be interested enough to come and watch with you.

School:. Kindergarden to Grade 7 Japanese regular school (with a focus on taking English courses), Grade 8-9 Send to Australia to live with my brother on exchange (no japanese spoken there). Grade 10-11-12 International school in Japan. University - Japanese Uni

While they may not be perfectly bi-lingual they should be quite effective in English at least to a business level, with Japanese being the predominate language.

If you have the cash and can fork out the money to send them back to your home land for a good year or 2, they'll have absolutely no choice but to speak English. (assuming your family overseas doesnt speak Japanese) haha. Well thats my theory.

[Shakes Spear]

Really interesting how everyone has their own way to make their kids bilingual. Some great tips for me in the future :-)

Although no kids yet my plan is to: read English books to them starting as a child, talk to them in english etcetera at home (with wife speaking Japanese) - mixed Japanese/English tv shows games, movies etcetera. I think if your kids see you watching something in English they'll naturally be interested enough to come and watch with you.

School:. Kindergarden to Grade 7 Japanese regular school (with a focus on taking English courses), Grade 8-9 Send to Australia to live with my brother on exchange (no japanese spoken there). Grade 10-11-12 International school in Japan. University - Japanese Uni

While they may not be perfectly bi-lingual they should be quite effective in English at least to a business level, with Japanese being the predominate language.

If you have the cash and can fork out the money to send them back to your home land for a good year or 2, they'll have absolutely no choice but to speak English. (assuming your family overseas doesnt speak Japanese) haha. Well thats my theory.

Curious why you would ever want to bring your future kids back to Japan for their high school years, unless preparing them for a work/life balance of about 98% to 2% is your goal.
I have no idea what schools are like in Oz, but if they're anything like other western cultures, your future kids will hate you if you reinstate them into the culture here.
Then again, perhaps it's not their futures you're interested in so much as you being able to hobnob with the other international school/uni parental socialites.

[shigusan]

Curious why you would ever want to bring your future kids back to Japan for their high school years, unless preparing them for a work/life balance of about 98% to 2% is your goal.
I have no idea what schools are like in Oz, but if they're anything like other western cultures, your future kids will hate you if you reinstate them into the culture here.
Then again, perhaps it's not their futures you're interested in so much as you being able to hobnob with the other international school/uni parental socialites.

If my kids wish to stay in Australia after their 2 years there they are more than welcome to and I will obviously support them financially till after uni. After that they would be on their own. Obviously on their own in Japan living with their parents like most kids now do until they are in their mid 20's is better than having to pay their own way in a foreign country.

Secondly everyone in my family line has been raised with a business-entrepreneurial mindset in mind, everyone has started their own business in some way shape or form, and this will be no different from the way I raise my kids. Giving my kids the opportunity to study overseas / ensure that they are forced to speak English is an advantage in terms of global business rather than being confined to a single country.

By the way I can tell you right now I was born and raised in Australia and i prefer the way of life in Japan. Yes working massive amounts of hours is definitely not a positive. But if you know what your doing (start your own business, have good networking skills, have any skills in IT or finance. You can choose your own working hours.) I personally believe for me atleast there are alot more things i prefer in Japan than Australia. No country is perfect obviously and there will be no one 'best-place' to live.

And speaking from personal experience - when I was younger I had a huge amount of 'exchange-students' stay with with me, Chinese, Taiwanese, Europeans, Japanese, Taiwanese, Hong Kong, South American etcetera. I can tell you from all the students who have have stayed with us (from about 60 or so exchange students over 4 years) I know of only 1 or 2 who actually stayed in Australia and decided to move there. (All the rest went back to their home countries).

But back to the bilingual part - in my opinion there is no better way to force someone to learn a new language quickly than to put them into an environment where no one speaks their mother language.

[jrp]

Curious why you would ever want to bring your future kids back to Japan for their high school years, unless preparing them for a work/life balance of about 98% to 2% is your goal.
I have no idea what schools are like in Oz, but if they're anything like other western cultures, your future kids will hate you if you reinstate them into the culture here.
Then again, perhaps it's not their futures you're interested in so much as you being able to hobnob with the other international school/uni parental socialites.

Hmmmm. So do you mean he shouldn't send them overseas to school for a year at all, or do you mean that once he's sent them overseas he should not let them back in to Japan to live with them?

[shigusan]

Also I couldnt care less for that kind of socializing. My idea of socialising is joining a outdoor circle with fishing, hiking, camping etcetera. Doing a bit of travel off the beaten track with family, jumping in the car and driving in a direction through local country towns in Japan, up mountain trails, setting up the tent in the nearest campground, sitting with the kids around a fire roasting marshmallows (Ahh i can see it now) Thats another great thing about Japan you dont need to drive hundreds of kilometers to find amazing nature - drive 200 km's in Australia and the scenery is practically the same as were you left haha.

Then again, perhaps it's not their futures you're interested in so much as you being able to hobnob with the other international school/uni parental socialites.

In relation to 'future' of kids - allowing your kids the experience of living in another culture is invaluable in the business world. It opens up the mind of a person and shows them that their home country is not the 'only' country in the world. In my opinion a global mindset is going to be a significant positive for an individual in Japan for the next 50 or so years (but thats a completely separate topic)

[Shakes Spear]

Hmmmm. So do you mean he shouldn't send them overseas to school for a year at all, or do you mean that once he's sent them overseas he should not let them back in to Japan to live with them?

Don't think I said either of those. Sending your kids overseas to acclimate them to and immerse them in English and western culture is a good idea since, for better or worse, that is what global industries have migrated to.
My point is that bringing them back after they've grown accustomed to that style and then subjecting them to the sorry excuse for a system here is just asking for trouble on many different levels.

[Shakes Spear]

Also I couldnt care less for that kind of socializing. My idea of socialising is joining a outdoor circle with fishing, hiking, camping etcetera. Doing a bit of travel off the beaten track with family, jumping in the car and driving in a direction through local country towns in Japan, up mountain trails, setting up the tent in the nearest campground, sitting with the kids around a fire roasting marshmallows (Ahh i can see it now) Thats another great thing about Japan you dont need to drive hundreds of kilometers to find amazing nature - drive 200 km's in Australia and the scenery is practically the same as were you left haha.

In relation to 'future' of kids - allowing your kids the experience of living in another culture is invaluable in the business world. It opens up the mind of a person and shows them that their home country is not the 'only' country in the world. In my opinion a global mindset is going to be a significant positive for an individual in Japan for the next 50 or so years (but thats a completely separate topic)

I agree with you on all points. As I said, I'm not familiar with Australia. I can only base my opinion on what I know (unlike a lot of folks on here!).
Where I grew up you didn't need to drive anywhere to do all of the things you mentioned. We did them in our backyard.

Unfortunately, if you live in Tokyo you're looking at at least an hour to get far enough out to do those things. If you intend to send your future kids to an international school (big mistake IMO) there are very few options in a rural setting.
I believe there is a new school opening in Karuizawa that would be an option, albeit a 4,000,000yen per year option. There is also HIS (Hokkaido International School) which is about the only place I would ever consider.

Everyone has different ideas about what they feel is the best way to raise their children so I'm not going to tell you yours is wrong or won't work. I'm just giving you my take on it.
I plan on letting my son attend here through elementary school, but after that I will be taking a long hard look at what's next. I totally agree that living outside Japan is very important and I personally feel it should be done for junior and senior high school. Again, everyone's different, but I can't see myself sending ours to stay with someone else when the time comes. I fully plan to make the move myself as well.

[shigusan]

I'm looking at living slightly north of Otsu, so still within reach of any Int High schools in Otsu city, Kyoto, osaka, Kobe.

[ume]

My kids are bilingual, the eldest two are in elementary school and fully biliterate. I don't feel at all the way Ume does. I'm the mother and the speaker of the heritage language, and we have to work very hard to get this way.
.

What do you mean? that i find it easy?

I guess I kind of ... do? Im a single momma living in Japan, so for me there is no "competition" of language at home. When I get home from work and she gets home from nursery, we speak in english. of course its not "easy", but I think its going just fine .... I hope! I think shes still young enough that it could all totally go tits up at a moments notice... no doubt in a few years i will be regretting saying that its going well

I dont think i will ever need to send her to an international school - she just does not need to go, but as rich dude kryptonite does, i will probably get someone in to get her up to speed in reading and writing. As i said, she can already recognize letters, but i think, being by myself, its just too much to keep her up to pace (as in native level) in terms of reading and writing all by myself.

She also speaks a little bit of french and italian too, but that is WAY WAY behind her English and Japanese. But I want to keep trying anyways ...

[MrPinaC]

Hi All, some really great ideas here! Thanks!
Very interesting to hear everyone's unique situation and approach.

I think we should be heading for the "only English at home" rule. So far we are enforcing this with TV and iphone apps, and of course my conversation with my child, but conversation with my wife remains mostly Japanese (although she can understand and speak English). I like the idea of home as English time, yet kind of afraid that my Japanese will suffer, alas,.... I am starting to think that this is the best way,...

Actually, one of my good friends will be organizing a seminar on this topic sometime in late Jan/early feb, as well as the impact of being raised with 2 cultures.
If anyone is interested in joining more info will be posted on this page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/136852236391610/

Anyways, Merry Christmas Folks!

[kanazawaku]

When my children were two or three years old, I probably also would have responded that it was easy. As their mother, it seemed natural that they speak my language.

As my children have gotten older, it has become more difficult. They are 4 and 6 (almost 7) now. Starting elementary school has presented a huge challenge. Up until now, I was able to avoid using Japanese words with my children. (It has always been my policy to speak only English with them.) Once my son started first grade, though, we needed to communicate about things that we don't really have English words for. Not to mention that he has homework every single day. The math part we can do using only English, but if he needs help writing a book report or something in Japanese then it is really hard to keep to the English-only rule. It can be a slippery slope; I've seen it happen to a number of my friends. Their kids speak English just fine until they start elementary school, then they start replying to their parents English questions in Japanese.

Both children are at an age where they need to be learning to read and write as well. We have started to attend an English "Saturday school." My youngest is still at home most days, and it is easy enough for her to do the work that needs to be done. But my son needs to put in 30 minutes or more of English work in addition to his Japanese homework, and even then his improvement is slow. He isn't as motivated about English as he used to be. It doesn't seem as important to him since it isn't the community language.

It may sound cruel, but I ignore them if they try to speak to me in Japanese. If they use a Japanese word in an English sentence, I repeat the sentence replacing the Jaoanese with the correct English word. For my son, I kind of point it out. He might say, "Mom, where's my keshigomu?" and I'll reply, "Are you asking me where your eraser is? It's on the table."

If you really want the kids to be bilingual, then it will be a lot of work for both of you. Reading to them and with them, and engaging them in conversation at every possible opportunity helps. Gotta agree I am an Amazon fan as well. Reading things like "Magic Schoolbus" has introduced vocabulary my kids would have never learned otherwise. (Me too!) Long trips "home" and time with relatives who don't understand Japanese are great.

We also have an "English media" policy (it's not a strict rule,) but that is more difficult to enforce now because the kids want to watch the things their friends watch. I do let them watch "Doraemon" and "Sazae-san."

At this point, the children speak English to each other. The younger one seems to want to "practice" her Japanese with her brotherl I've talked to my son about how important this is for his sister, and he seems to get it. Plus her English is still the stronger language, so they probably resolve conflicts faster using English. I don't know how much longer that will last, though.

It's a lot of effort, and I think it will only get harder as they get older, but I hope they will thank me for it eventually!

[MrPinaC]

Kanazawa-ku, thanks for your post, I can see your honest efforts to meet this challenge.
I have a friend with similar kids to your age and he is facing a similar dilemar.
In fact I dare say that when a lot of foreigners reach this point, it can be a trigger to re-immigrate, even temporarily,...
Which is kind of a shame I guess,.... in that there are no other clear options.

As for your situation, I can see how it would become more difficult over-time, as the kids world revolves less around you, and more around their friends and the community.
That being said, I am impressed that your kids communicate in English together! Why do you think that is the case?
Do you have any friends/families in a similar situation? I have heard that some English playgroups etc. can help,...

Anyways, good luck!!

[Chuck Sickens]

My boy who is 5 in a few days can speak English as well as a 5 year old in the states

You've just recently moved to Japan, so it's hardly surprising. However speaking English 'as well as a 5 year old in the states' ,going on empirical evidence, is hardly something to boast abour.

We speak only English to the family dog and the results have been truly amazing. 'In your box' is greeted with an immediate return to his place of abode. 'Give me your paw' and the little bugger's paw is there. 'Heal' and he prostrates himself on his back.

Truly we have a bilingual dog in terms of comprehension skills. Now the kids are a different problem altogether... but we do have a bilngual dog at least.

[kanazawaku]

If your dog can "heal" rather tuan "heel," Chuck, I think you have much more to brag about besides his bilingual abilities.

But back to bilingual humans....

I kept my son out of preschool the first year, (sending him from 4 years of age rather than 3,) and I think that made a world of difference for his English as well as establishing English as the "sibling" language. I'm doing the same with my daughter now, so I think next year when she starts Japanese preschool full time will be a critical period for her. That being said, though, most kids that age are at school and the days can be very long with only Mommy to play with.

Also a family emergency required us to spend a total of about three months in the states last year. At that time, my son's Japanese had become the stronger language, but after all that time spent with family and neighbors, his English rebounded.

We attended an international playgroup for a number of years, and as I said earlier, the kids are now going to a "Saturday School" class. That has been great. We've made lots of friend's there, and I try to arrange lots of "English play dates" for them (and me!) when school is out.

Forgot to mention that Jiji and Baba live very nearby. They have both recently retired, so until recently we have only seen them on weekends. If they had been around and in our faces constantly when the kids were smaller then I doubt we would have had as much success with English. We've had a lot of luck, I guess.

[Chuck Sickens]

In the end, most of these posters who are trying to make their kids bilingual, while staying in Japan, are Canute fighting against the tide.

HERE the essence of being accepted, is to be no different from the herd, which means to be as nationally chauvinistic as the rest.

Japan may change into a multiracial society, where tolerance of difference will become the norm, in the next 10-20 years.

And I might grow a 12 inch d!ck.

I know which statement I'd put my money on coming true, if I were betting man.

[Ken44]

I guess a lot depends on how much English is spoken at home. I grew up in California and had Chinese friends (whose parents spoke no English) that were fluent in Chinese (or at least as far as I could tell.)

Much harder to do in Japan esp. if one of the parents isn`t a native speaker of English. I know one American couple that had children born in Japan. Their children were bilingual but this was largely because both the mother and the father only spoke English. The kids who went to a Japanese grammar school were of course fluent in Japanese.

[MrPinaC]

Ken44, I agree.

So far the most impressive bilingual kids I have seen are either from families such as;
a) Only speaking English at home (regardless of whether one parent is Japanese or not) or
b) When one of the parents does not speak/understands very little of the minority language (which could also result in situation a)

Outside of these conditions, as already mentioned is seems to be an ongoing struggle for the minority language,.... but a worthwhile challenge!
Among other things, so far I have learnt the following;

- Read, read, read to your child in the minority language
- Chat with your child in the minority language and ask open-ended questions (not just yes/no answers)
- If they repeat in Japanese, ask them how to say it in minority language or repeat it for them
- Allow them to watch DVDs etc. in minority language when you are not there
- Maintain rules (as much as possible); such as English only to papa at home, all TV/media in English
- Make language learning fun!; such as asking them how to say things in "Mamas kotoba and Papas kotoba", teach Mama how to speak Papas kotoba etc.
- Encourage your child and be careful not to make speaking the minority language a burden, no damaging to their self-esteem
- Be patient and expect that naturally the minority language develop slower than Japanese

Anything I missed, please add!
Cheers!

[Chromedome]

IHOMO.

If living in Japan the home language should be English and the mother should speak English to the kid all the time.
They'll pick up Japanese easily enough.

[Since1990]

IHOMO.

If living in Japan the home language should be English and the mother should speak English to the kid all the time.
They'll pick up Japanese easily enough.

What if the mother's English is grammatically wrong half the time?

[Chromedome]

What if the mother's English is grammatically wrong half the time?

That would put her ahead of most native speakers.

[Effected After]

Haha! 12345

[Shakes Spear]

That would put her ahead of most native speakers.

Sooooo true!!

[Kabochya]

While I can't speak for various regions throughout Japan, Tokyo has an increasing number of community learning programs, workshops, etc. that focus on integrating international communities ("international" which INCLUDES Japan!), promoting new types of community development, social learning, etc.

One such example:

www.internationalterakoya.com

International schools aren't always in the cards (or an appealing option) for everyone, so these such programs have been popping up in an attempt to serve those needs of international/bilingual kids and families, providing kids with options outside of school to integrate into more diverse communities.

[Call_It_Like_Eye_See_It]

Thank you, spamchya. And I speak for all of GP!