when and how did you train your little one to speak in english?

[chixilog]

kami tagalog sa bahay
pero nung nagschooling na anak namin
hayun dun na natutong magenglish
ngayun hirap na magtagalog

[tiff_xi]

Share ko lang I'm pregnant kasi right now and my husband and I talk about things like this already. My parents made me and my siblings go to really good local schools so we all speak english well. So gusto ko my kids will be the same. But we grew up in a household na hindi naman english, so I don't think that's an issue in terms of how they well they will speak english when they reach college or when they start working (which is when I think it really matters).

Napansin ko sa mga kids na english lang ang alam from a very young age: nahihirapan sila with tagalog if yung household nila puro english lang. My brother studied in La Salle Zobel and a lot of his classmates live in Ayala Alabang, so rich kids, though Filipino parents mostly. Marami sa kanila are smart kids but they're having a really hard time in school kasi sa Filipino subjects. Sayang. One of the kids dapat may honors pero mababa grade sa Filipino. The parents of those kids like my brother a lot kasi he speaks tagalog and urges him to talk to their sons in tagalog para matuto daw (hehe), kasi naman pati yaya english rin. Hay.

To each their own, pero opinion ko lang based on my own upbringing and first-hand observations: we live in the Philippines. When we start working, we use both English and Filipino extensively. English for business communication and Filipino for social communication. I think the English being taught in good schools are enough to teach kids this language, mas konti pa nga Filipino subjects that focuses on proper usage eh. I think kasi assumed na kids are being exposed to it in the household. For me, I will teach my kids Filipino first, kapag kaya na nila mag-express properly verbally, then slowly I will speak in English. Some kids that are exposed to a multi-language household kasi minsan gets confused. Frankly, I would admire a kid who speaks well in any language rather than a kid na putol-putol na english magsalita kasi confused ang language sa household.
I'd rather focus on teaching them how to express themselves and how to listen, how to think properly and articulate verbally.

I'm just thinking that being in the Philippines, speaking in English is well and good. I find English-speaking kids so cute!  I know the advantages of this skill since it's opened a lot of opportunities for me because I can speak it well. But I also think that not knowing Filipino well can also be a big disadvantage for a child and I don't want that for my kids.

Just my two cents As I said, to each their own

[nikki]

^hi sis!  i really like your opinion on the matter and somehow reassures me too, given the circumstances at home. 

i don't remember my parents talking to me and my siblings in english. but i remember growing up and liking english, reading/comprehension subjects.  i like reading books as my grandma would bring home lots of books from the US (we had a mini library at home).  i also remember talking in front of the mirror trying to imitate news reporters as i wanted to be one of them when i was young.

i may not have the "twang" when speaking english but i speak good business english being in the corporate world for many many years.  anyway, i guess I'm resolved to being ok for the house help to speak to our baby in tagalog.

[viellemacey]

^^got the point sis. i remember my OB's son, super fluent sa english as in american accent kahit na both parents are pinoy. yun nga lang nahihirapan rin sa filipino subject kasi hindi marunong magtagalog and he can't even understand.

the reason why i want my DD to learn english this early kasi i've seen sa mga cousins ko yung impact of not introducing them to the language at early age. they're at the best school here sa province so english speaking zone talaga yung school ayun medyo nahihirapan sila kasi most of their classmates are good na so while they're learning others are just enhancing te skill already.

[can_dice]

Ma-english kasi ako kaya I think kaya natuto si Kailee mag-english.

Pero in fairness, she understands and can speak tagalog.  Yun lang, talagang english ang first language niya...

Practice lang I think...

[euwie]

I don't have kids yet but i'm on the way hehe. My mister and i decided to teach english to our kid. From my experience with my nephews and niece, sinanay namin sila mag english as in when they were born nasanay na kaming english sila kausapin, though nahirapan sa youngest kasi exposed sya sa labas. Nung una, natatawa kami sa bahay kapag kinakausap namin ng english yung eldest ,pero nasanay na rin up to now na 15 na yung eldest, we still speak to them in english. Nakakatuwa sila panoorin nung bata pa sila kapag may kalaro na tagalog ang salita. Pero eventually, nung exposed na sila sa ibang tao, natuto na sila magtagalog. Tsaka naririnig rin nila kami mag usap ng tagalog. Yung 2 nephews ko, may nakakatawang eksena. It was my mom who tutor them when they were small. E meron sa filipino book about mga sounds ng animals. Sabi ng mom ko, "ano ang huni ng aso?". Sabi nung eldest, "woof woof!" yata or "arf arf!" Haha! Tapos yung 2nd nephew ko na when asked anong huni ng palaka, ang sabi, "ribit! Ribit!" Super laughtrip kasi pikon, nagsumbong sa dad ko. Ngayon, magaling naman silang magtagalog, we converse with them both in english ang tagalog. Ang challenge lang sa amin, paano sila sanayin gumamit ng po at opo. Madali namang ituro ang language sa bata, ang mahirap, ituro ang subjects lalo na kapag lumalaki na. 

[kookie420]

spoke in english to my child since she was a newborn and now she's 3.5, she can speak fluently. just helps that we're not in the Philippines or else she'd be like her dad, who failed in Filipino subjects  di naman sa English speaking husband ko, just that he was not good in Filipino at all. Now we're teaching her how to speak Ilonggo. I think the possibility of teaching her Tagalog/Filipino is very far out because I'm from Davao and my husband is from Bacolod and we don't speak in Tagalog at home, only Ilonggo and Cebuano/Bisaya. So my kid/s would be speaking in English or Ilonggo or Cebuano. 

If we're in the Philippines, she's probably still going to speak English more because in our families (mine and husband's), nobody speaks Tagalog 

[Dyewel]

1yr 4mo ang baby ko (and we're in the province), binabasahan ko sya ng books regularly (english and tagalog) at wala ding conscious effort na turuan syang mag-english sa bahay. Paminsan-minsan kinakausap ko at inu-utusan sa english (simple commands, ie. get your slippers, quiet, get your milk, etc) naiintindihan naman.

Visaya ang tagapag-alaga ko, ini-encourage ko rin na kausapin ng visaya si baby.

Wala naman sigurong masama kung matuto syang mag-visaya at madami namang successful na pilipit ang dila sa english. Para sa akin ang mahalaga naiintindihan nila ang language (unless, you dream your child to be a public speaker, to be in call center business, or to be a news anchor etc.)

Pilipino tayo kaya normal lang na Filipino ang maging 1st language ng baby natin.

[jjqxiv]

My 10-year old daughter grew up speaking English fluently since she learned to talk, she has an american accent before but it wasn't really intentional, but since she became fond of Disney shows etc, she got the accent. Akala nga nung iba sa States nya lumaki, pero yung older daughters ko nman fluent in both Filipino and English languages.

We had a problem when she entered grade school, hirap sya sa Filipino subject nya and she almost fail. We needed to get a Filipino tutor para matuto sya ng tagalog, and eventually naging okay na din (with the help of hubby too, sya yung mas magaling mag-tagalog samin plus tagalog yung social language sa previous school nya) although slang pa din sya pero hindi na msyadong nahihirapan sa Filipino subject nya. She's in Poveda right now and their main communication language is English.