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Categories > Your Questions — General > Help foreign language dad !
 
 


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Dragan
  Posted   Reply with quote  #1 
I am really confused

I am serbian living in Israel , my wife is Israeli and we speak Hebrew with each other. In fact i barely even think in my mother language anymore.

But , i would really like to teach my son to be fluent in Serbian. And wish to talk with him in my mother tongue.

Problem is , i dont know how to start :S

He is 2 years old now and has really good language skills for his age, and great memory.

But he gets real angry on me when i speak Serbian with him , telling me ” “No no no , father stop !”


Please. I dont want to miss the opportunity.
Give me tips. Or links to books i can buy (amazon)

Thanks a lot
 
John Kay
  Posted   Reply with quote  #2 
 Dragan, maybe you could use cartoons that your son likes but in Serbian. There are many versions of the same cartoons on Youtube. And children’s books in serbian too.  Do you have Serbain songs on CD or the radio.  Don’t give up because time is on your side. What ever activities your son enjoys doing, talk to him in Serbian while doing them with him. These are just suggestions, I’m British and live in South Korea. My wife is Korean, she talks to our daughter in Korean. My in laws speak in Korean to my daughter. On the English side, there is only me, some TV shows on the BBC (Cbeebies), a few English language DVDs, and me. Yet my daughter (4 years old), who has only visited the UK once is fluent in English and korean. As fluent as a 4 year old can be. Occasionally my daughter chats with her grandparents via MSN in English.
 So what I’m trying to say is that if you can surround your son with Serbian or opportunities to speak Serbian that are fun and relate to his interests; and if you just keep speaking to him in Serbian he should start to pick it up. And his understanding will come before speaking.

                                Good luck Dragan.  
 
Sandra
  Posted   Reply with quote  #3 
I know how you feel.. My native language is swiss german and I live in the USA.. I try so hard to teach it to my kids..but its almost a never ending battle..
Are there any other serbian people in your area.. maybe some meet up, or books.. can you skype with your family back in Serbia.. ?
 
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