I think it's a very precious gift to be born to parents who speak different languages. As you probably know from my previous posts, I am Czech and my husband is English. As Czech is not one of the most spoken languages in the world, Czechs have always been studying other languages. I think it's great to learn other languages and don't like when people go on holiday and expect the locals to speak their language.
I understand we can't learn all languages in the world, but at least we could learn some basic phrases atto show a bit of respect. I think that English people are very lucky, as English is one of the most spoken languages in the world. On the other hand, I think they should start learning other languages too and not just expect others to speak English. I know they have foreign languages at school, but I don't think they take the studying very seriously.
I started with English at grammar school, but long before that I was learning German and Russian. We actually had to learn Russian, as we were a communist country at that time. Russian was quite easy for me as it is a Slavic language, the same language family as Czech. The most challenging was to learn to write in Russian, as they use "Azbuka". Studying German was not easy, as it a Germanic language and completely different to my mother tongue, but after private tuition and studying at grammar school, I can say I was very comfortable using it and have received grade B ( school leaving exam). Unfortunately as I really loved studying English, I have stopped practising German and can understand, but haven't spoken it in ages. That's a shame and hope to get back to it sometimes.
When Isabelle was tiny, we often talked about which language I should be using when talking to her. I have always been using both, and she hasn't had any problems using both. If I talk to her in Czech, she replies in Czech. When I use English, she responds in English. As I love languages, I would love her to learn some other foreign languages. She loves Dora the explorer, so knows a few phrases in Spanish and also has French at her nursery. I hope when she starts school she will be able to continue learning these two languages and I will be learning with her. Languages are my passion and hope Isabelle will share this passion with me.
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