Babylonia (Dec 2024)
How to retain a newly acquired language after returning from a stay abroad
Abstract
Between September and December 2023, Babylonia collected questions from parents regarding their children's language development. This article aims to answer the following question: - My children (German-speaking, monolingual - city of Bern) attended school in France due to our family's stay abroad for several months. They learned to communicate and they all have a great foundation in French (they are 4, 6 and 8 years old). However, I wonder how I can continue to promote their French skills in a German-speaking environment at home. Extracurricular activities are only available quite far away (Biel, Fribourg) and with bilingual families, German is simply spoken, as this is also the school language. Or is this not necessary at all and can I trust that the basics will emerge when French is needed again? Thank you very much for your answer!
