I'm Just Speaking French

8 months old and proudly Canadian

I grew up in the US where Spanish was the second language of choice. I did well in Spanish class and later taught the language to children in preschool. Then I married a Canadian and moved to the north where my Spanish skills have gone to waste. Instead, I've been shown over and over again the advantages of having a working understanding of French.

With IntelliGent at an impressionable age, I want to introduce him to foreign language. From experience, I know how quickly children can pick up on new words and a new language. But I don't know French. In honesty, I don't have an ear for the language at all and to this point have shunned any opportunity to learn.

That prejudice is changing with Dr. Dad's example and encouragement. While I have not found a curriculum suitable for helping IntelliGent learn French, we have started watching his favorite shows in the language. He loves it.

Today he brought me Curious George. "Let's watch it in French, Mommy." 

And so we did. 

Later, after the movie was finished. IntelliGent came up to me and started muttering something I didn't understand. I asked him to repeat, which he did, but the words were still unintelligible.

"What are you trying to say?" I asked after the second repeat.

"I'm just speaking French," IntelliGent replied.

Photo by Dawn Scott

I can neither confirm nor deny if he was indeed speaking French. However, I think it might be time for me to take a look at that Rosetta Stone program Dr. Dad has been using. I can't let my language prejudices get in the way of IntelliGent's learning.