We decided that we wanted to raise bilingual children. However, we were up against many obstacles: We both were native English speakers living in the United States. Through my studies in Language Acquisition I became convinced that we could raise our children in a language that was foreign to us. We decided that we would both speak German to the children and English to each other. We felt that the children would have enough exposure to English from friends, relatives, church, school and from hearing us speak English to each other. We decided that we would speak German to the children in the home and English outside the home and any other time non-German speakers were in our presence. The reason for this was to teach our children to be polite and speak the majority language when others could not understand. I also wanted to make sure that I didn't make them feel singled out and different from their peers. In other words, we decided on distinct language boundaries: German within the family or home and English outside the home.

 When our son, Benjamin, was born, we found that it felt strange and unnatural to speak German to him. It wasn't until Benjamin started responding a little more, around 8-10 months, that we started to feel more comfortable with the German. I memorized German lullabies and nursery rhymes, which helped significantly. By the time Benjamin started talking, we felt extremely comfortable speaking German with him. In fact, it felt very unnatural to speak English to him. When he first started talking, about half of his utterances were English and half were German. We continued to encourage the German words. We read only German books at home and I started collecting German children's videos and children's music cassettes. It was important to me to have as many examples of the German language as possible, since we knew that our German was imperfect. I really feel that these resources (especially the videos) made a big impact on Benjamin's acceptance of German. The first 4 years of his life, German was his first and best language. At first he occasionally mixed English and German. But, as he approached the age of 2, he was better able to distinguish between the two languages and would rarely mix them. As parents, we were amazed at his ability to acquire complex grammar structures. All of our efforts were finally paying off.

 By the time he was 3, his German was noticeably better than his English. His German was very fluent and he had a near-native accent. He was very aware of who spoke what language and that he was able to speak both German and English. Usually, when he found out that someone spoke German, he refused to speak English with that person. He accepted the language boundaries we had set up and never refused to speak German with us. In fact, he preferred German over English. When I read him an English book, he usually discussed the pictures with me in German. He spoke English with his friends and with us when his friends were around. His English even had a German accent and he often used German constructions in his sentences: "Where go we?". However, we felt strongly that once he spent more time outside the home, his English would be indistinguishable from other native English speakers.  

We now have 5 children. Ben, our oldest, is now seven. His twin sisters are five years old. We also have a three year old son and a baby daughter (not yet one year old). We have continued to use German in our home. When the twins were younger, they spoke exclusively German with Ben. However, as Benjamin is now in 1st grade in an English speaking school, he speaks more English at home. As a result, our children usually communicate with each other in English. Because the majority language is English and most of their friends speak English, they find it much easier to discuss certain topics in English. When Ben gets home from school, I talk with him (in English) about his day. We then do his "English" homework together (still speaking English); and then once his homework is done, we switch to German. The switch comes quite naturally, since we do our "German homework" (reading/writing in German) immediately after he finishes his English homework.

The children's English has not suffered one bit from this whole experience. Ben's English became completely native-like, by the time he was almost 6 years old. His English was good at ages 4 and 5, but he still had slight accent and occasionally used German constructions. The younger children have been exposed to more English at a younger age than Ben and, therefore, have had fewer problems.

All of the children enjoy speaking German and, so far, none have refused. We still maintain a "mostly German" home. We often find that conversations are started in English and finished in German. It feels uncomfortable to maintain a lengthy English family conversation. The children usually address us (the parents) in German. They address each other in German, when we are present; otherwise they usually use English with each other. However, I have noticed that when Ben is at school, the younger children often communicate with each other in German. Sometimes, they even get after each other. If one child is using too much English, another will blurt out "Deutsch sprechen!" (speak German). 

I am so grateful that we decided to try this "German thing" seven years ago. Our lives have been so enriched by the whole experience. There are times when I am simply amazed at their ability to speak two languages. As I listen to my 3 year old (who's a very late talker) construct his first complicated German sentences, I feel awe-struck. "How odd," I think, "that our kids speak German. I'm amazed this whole "German-thing" actually worked...and worked so well." It just proves once again that if you stick with something, you're guaranteed to get results :-)