When your child speaks a language you don’t
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When your child speaks a language you don’t
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Re: When your child speaks a language you don’t
#2 Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
Re: When your child speaks a language you don’t
#3[deleted]
Re: When your child speaks a language you don’t
#4It seems there may also be an additional (and potentially larger) cultural element here that goes beyond language, though it would be less pronounced at such an elementary age. Further, it would be interesting to explore how this family's experience maps to first-generation American families in the US.
Re: When your child speaks a language you don’t
#5I kept waiting for the payoff from the title. It never arrived. It's not the language her daughter speaks at daycare, it's that she's at daycare. That's the cause of this. Same thing happened to my son and he went to an English-speaking daycare. They grow apart from you, for a reason.
Re: When your child speaks a language you don’t
#6Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dr…
Just curious why you chose to truncate a few lines away from the finish, rather than simply pasting the poem in its entirety? Was it because the last few lines take a vaguely-religious turn, and you thought the audience here would be hostile? I have no strong opinion either way there, I just find the edit interesting.
Re: When your child speaks a language you don’t
#7Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dr…
Just curious why you chose to truncate a few lines away from the finish, rather than simply pasting the poem in its entirety? Was it because the last few lines take a vaguely-religious turn, and you thought the audience here would be hostile? I have no strong opinion either way there, I just find the edit interesting.
It's not because I thought the audience would be hostile, but I don't like those last few lines (mainly because of that turn), and think it's a better poem without them. Do you think it's better to leave it intact?
Re: When your child speaks a language you don’t
#8I'm German, and speak that with my son. My son's mother is French, and she uses that with my son. She and I speak English when we converse. He goes to a bilingual French/English nursery school, which has mostly French expats' kids in it, and (happily) four kids that also speak German.
We never really discussed this when my son was born - it just happened, because doing it any other way was alien enough to not enter our heads. Seems to be the norm in Europe.
Yes, I struggle with French (his mum's German is pretty reasonable). I have a secret weapon though - I'm also native-fluent in Afrikaans, which I use when I scrape a shin, drive angry, or tease.
Being fluent in three languages never seemed like a big deal - my mother spoke seven. It is a big deal when you speak to a Brit about it, or to an American. I guess when you're used to chicken, beef might seem a little odd.
Re: When your child speaks a language you don’t
#9I'm the kid of parents who didn't speak my nursery's language, and the parent of a kid who also speaks a different language at nursery.
It's really not a big deal. They may speak a little slower, but they get it. I was a little worried a few months ago when my kids wasn't speaking well, but it's come on very suddenly.
One thing I think about is immersion. When I was a kid, there was only one TV station, and it showed stuff in Danish. You couldn't get away from learning the language when you spent all day speaking it with other kids, and then going home and watching TV in the same language. Nowadays, you can get TV in just about any language you like. I wonder if it makes a difference.
Re: When your child speaks a language you don’t
#10I kept waiting for the payoff from the title. It never arrived. It's not the language her daughter speaks at daycare, it's that she's at daycare. That's the cause of this. Same thing happened to my son and he went to an English-speaking daycare. They grow apart from you, for a reason.
No kidding. This article just ends. Very pointless