Our Multiple Language Learning Journey
We are a bilingual home, I am a native Arabic speaker so we prioritize second language exposure to our kids while we homeschool. Although...recently my daughter has shown interest in adding French...
Most you know that we homeschool and I cannot begin to emphasize how HELPFUL homeschooling has been in teaching my kids a second…potentially third language. The most obvious reason is that I get them all day… they’re not in a regular school so we can read books in Arabic, practice a good chunk of the day speaking in Arabic and visiting grandparents that speak Arabic! It has been amazing seeing the quick growth and understanding in their little brains.
One incredibly unexpected helpful tool that I came across with second language acquisition has been the Charlotte Mason Books. Her tools for acquiring second language are so timeless and so helpful. For one she definitely pushes treating a second language like a first language. So that means making it a part of their daily habits. We do read-alouds daily and you know what? I started adding living books in Arabic to our daily read-alouds. We do Bible time daily, so we would read a verse in English and then in Arabic. When I started teaching my kids how to recite the Lord’s Prayer, I also began teaching it to them in Arabic. Is it Hard Work? Yes! But like all good things in life…they don’t come easy. Hard work is a necessity.
Which brings me to my third topic that was exciting and shocking at the same time. My daughter overheard me discuss the subject of French with a mommy friend. I had told the mom that I learned a good bit of French from my previous studies in High School and College. I told the mom that I had stored away old French books for kids. A long time ago I realized that I couldn’t teach English, Arabic and French to my kids…. I had to prioritize Arabic over French because it matters more…since we have family here that I wanted them to communicate with. We get in the car after that conversation, my oldest daughter asks me “what’s French?” and I told her that it’s just another language people speak in another country. Just like English and Arabic. She then asked me what it sounds like so I told her some simple words like ‘un, deux, trois” and “une pomme” for apple “la maison” for house, etc.
We came home and she continued talking and asking questions about French and I told her, “you know what? we can get down mommy old French books”. I get them down and she was absorbed in the books. I sat there for what must’ve felt like an hour reading them to her. She begged me to learn French.
Well I was in a pickle… because I honestly didn’t have the capacity to add a third language. Arabic has been challenging enough to keep up with. But I didn’t want to say no. Also she was the only one that had the interest…her brother didn’t. I also had no reason to force the language on them. I realized though…it’s a hobby. We have to treat it like one. An elective if you will.
I got her the books she would find interesting. I also added Le Petit Price to our audiobook hour and some French music alongside our usual playlist. I don’t typically homeschool on Saturdays but whenever her dad mows the lawn, we do French study hour. Where she sits down with her books and listens to the audiobooks or I sit down with her and we read through them. We also would pretend like were about to eat dinner or breakfast and we exchange conversation about the food. It has been low key and super manageable. Will she want to keep going at it? I’m not sure but while she’s interested, were adding it to our electives/ more artsy subjects. French has also been a huge bonding experience between us. Having 3 little kids gets hard and typically the older one gets less focus and attention from parents. So anything where we can spend enjoyable one on one time together I will gladly take.
Thank you for,
Stopping by Mariam’s
I appreciate this post. I want to make foreign languages more a part of our routine. I didn’t know that CM wrote on this. Thank you for the tips and examples of practical application.
Thanks for sharing how you integrate language study in your homeschool! It's wonderful that you've prioritized reading aloud and doing memory work in Arabic. I can imagine this has shaped your great books study by making available in the original language works that other families read in translation, as well as opening up the possibility of reading Arabic-language classics outside the typical European canon.
I am not fluent in Vietnamese (my kids' heritage language on their dad's side), but I am learning more every day. It's encouraging to hear that homeschooling can be a rich environment for language study.
Good for you for finding a way to add a third language in an enjoyable and low-pressure way. Total fluency doesn't always need to be the goal--any level of language study teaches so much about the world. I would like my kids to learn some Spanish in the coming years since it's spoken all around us in Long Beach, CA, and because my Spanish proficiency is adequate to read to them and work with them.
I hope your school year has gotten off to a wonderful start!