Pampers and Paklava

Du lait s’il vous plait: milk in another language

by

du lait

Du lait s’il vous plait.” Milk please,” my daughter requested at school yesterday. In French. Unprompted.

Baby Bird has been attending two half-days of French preschool. She has only been to preschool six times and is already asking milk in French. Not that I’m surprised. Language is her strong suit. She LOVES books and reading, and this is a skillset Big Papa and I encourage. Plus, Baby Bird spent the first year of her life hearing Armenian being spoken, so her brain is already wired with the capability to acquire another language quickly.

I don’t have many regrets in my life, but one is that I wish I was fluent in another language. I know a bit of French and Dutch, and a handful of Armenian words and phrases.

When I was in school, we didn’t have the option to learn a language until high school. By then, the idea that “milk” is called milk, is pretty well solidified in one’s brain. I studied French during my junior and senior years, which has helped me read menus, ask for directions, and order meals at restaurants when in France. But what I’d really like to be able to do, is have a conversation.

du lait boxMy junior year in college, I spent a semester in Amsterdam. In the six months I lived there, I was able to speak (and understand) more Dutch than I ever managed with French, even though I had studied it for two years. Being immersed in the culture, seeing and hearing the same words and sounds every day, fostered a much quicker acquisition of the language. This is one of the reasons why I enrolled our daughter in French school: I wanted her to have the opportunity to learn another language, and begin as soon as possible.

Baby Bird’s language immersion is also an opportunity for me to dip my toes back in the water. Her preschool also offers French language classes for parents and I plan to sign up. I know I am at a disadvantage, trying to pick up language skills later in life. And to be honest, I’m a bit envious of my daughter, being able to start at two-years-old. But, I still want to try to learn as much as I can.

The other reason why I enrolled our daughter in French language school, is that I also hope she will learn to speak Armenian, the language of her birth country. Our local Armenian church offers language classes for children (and adults), beginning at age six. I know that if her brain learns to speak and understand both English and French, that picking up Armenian will be much easier. My set-in-its-ways brain will have a much greater challenge, but I intend to give it a go.

In a world that is increasingly global and multicultural, I am still amazed (and disappointed) that here in the U.S., learning another language isn’t viewed as a necessary skill. In many countries, children learn at least one additional language, and they begin their studies at a very young age. And while more public schools in the U.S. have begun to offer a wider choice of language classes (such as Japanese or Russian), I still believe we don’t start soon enough.

I know that becoming a multilingual society isn’t going to fix all the world’s problems, but it’s one step forward. Because once we comprehend that milk isn’t always called milk outside the U.S., the greater the likelihood we’ll be able to understand the nuances behind the words, and the lives of the people that speak them.

Vos enfants

Take the road less traveled, Beth

Want to learn about du lait and more? Check out Wanderfood Wednesday!

Ten ideas for exploring cultural heritage in adoptive families

by

Exploring heritage is important for all adoptive families, not just those who adopt internationally. Whether a Caucasian family adopts an African-American child domestically or a family of Western European descent adopts a child from Eastern Europe, chances are that your adopted child will have different cultural roots. Exploring heritage is one way to learn about the country and culture where your child was born, and is also an opportunity for your child to gain a deeper sense of his identity.

There are so many meaningful (and fun!) ways to explore heritage. Language, religion, food, holidays and celebrations, clothing, music, literature and the arts, travel: there is so much to learn about. I have heard of a number of ways that adoptive families explore, and embrace, the culture of their adopted child. Here are ten:

  1. Celebrate a new holiday: In my opinion, there’s always room for another reason to celebrate.  A blog I follow by a mom with two adopted daughters from India writes about their Diwali celebrations with immense pride and joy. Several families I know with children from China make it a point to attend Chinese New Year celebrations every year.
  2. Make a dinner with food from your child’s heritage: Whether it’s black-eyed peas and collard greens, mango lassi, or pelmeni, cooking is a fun (and tasty) way to incorporate your child’s heritage into daily life.
  3. Learn a language: Take classes, buy a dvd or find native speakers in your community. I know a few families who have taken language classes together which means you can practice with each other.
  4. Travel to the country (or region in the U.S.) of your child’s birth! Whether your child was born in another part of the United States, or in another country, go there! There is no better way to get a sense of history, architecture, food, language and people.
  5. Decorate with culture: Display maps of the country your child was born in, or purchase dolls in traditional dress.
  6. Attend a cultural festival or program: Every year at the Seattle Center, there are many different cultural festivals: Asian, Irish, Iranian, Croatia, Mexico and West Africa to name a few. Festivals like these are a fantastic chance to sample food, listen to music, watch dance and learn about another cultural heritage.
  7. Sing a song or play a tune: As a college exchange student, I lived in Amsterdam for six months. My Dutch host grandmother taught me a children’s song and said, “You may forget everything else, but you’ll remember the song.” I can still this song thirty years later! Or, if you’re not musical, buy a CD.
  8. Join an adoptive family group that shares the cultural background of your child: In our area, I’ve met several local families who are members of FRUA (Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption, Including Neighboring Countries), which is a national organization. My sister, and her daughter who was adopted from China, attended family gatherings sponsored by her adoption agency. They are a great opportunity for kids to interact with other adopted kids who share the same cultural heritage.
  9. Read bedtime stories that are folk tales common to the region or country, OR make a book about your child’s country: I’ve seen some wonderful books of Mayan folk tales, Russian folk tales and folk tales from just about every country on the globe. Or create your own book with pictures of the flag from your adopted child’s country, animals, maps, costumes and photographs.
  10. As adopted children grow, there are increasingly more opportunities for them to investigate their birth heritage on their own, from the internet to heritage camps to travel in the country of their birth to enrolling in service organizations like the Peace Corps.