霜降りるのヘブデン・ブリッジ A frosty day in Hebden Bridge

It's become very cold recently. We've had snow and frost and some beautiful clear blue skies.
My daughter is loving her new nursery. There are some other bilingual kids there too, Italian/British and Mexican/British. She adores her teachers and her English is getting so good. We hope she will be able to continue there. The results of our application will be given at the end of April. Fingers crossed!!!

最近寒くなっている。雪が降って、霜も降りて、青空が広がるの最近の天気。
娘が新しい幼稚園大好きみたい。そこに、バイリンガルの子供達がいる。その子はイギリス・イタリアそしてイギリス・メキシカン。娘が先生たちのことをとても好き。英語も段々上手になっている。今のようちえん・小学校　（nursery and infant school 3-7 years old only) に続けるようにお願っている。申し込みの結果は四月末に出る。お願い！！

（イギリスのnursery(3-4歳）のはどこでもほとんどう申し込みが必要でわない。4歳になった年の9月から小学校の申し込みしないといけない。4歳から5歳のクラスはReceptionというクラス。5-6歳は小学校の1年生です。It's a bit confusing and odd procedure!）

Moving to Hebden Bridge!

My daughter has to apply for primary school (actually it's reception class just before year 1 starts)  this month. What a panic that brought us when we found out just a few months ago!! So considering her future, we decided to move somewhere a bit nicer than where we are now, with better schools and a better environment.

My daughter's English is now better than her Japanese. In just six months, she has flipped from using Japanese as her main language to English. It is totally fascinating. Now we have to make sure she doesn't lose her Japanese...or should I say, her Osaka-ben??!!

Bilingual kids at my primary school

I've been working as a Teaching Assistant at a primary school for 3 weeks now.
At my school there are children from  lots of different backgrounds...English, European, Pakistani, Carribean. They are encouraged to use their languages in the morning and afternoon register, calling out "Good morning!" or "Good afternoon!" in their own languages. Even children who are English but are familiar with another language use what they know too. It makes everyone's background feel appreciated and included.

In my class we are helping a foreign girl who has few English skills. She is older than the rest of my class, but by playing with other kids and studying basic phonics and math, we hope she can pick up some English. I'm interested in how she will go on.

三週間経って、小学校で働いている私。その小学生は色んな違う素性がいる。イギリス、ヨーロッパ、パキスタン、　とかカリビアン。先生が朝と午後の登緑で生徒の言葉でおはようございます！とかこんにちわ！を言わせる。　あるイギリス人の子供達もちょっとだけでも知っている言葉を使って、たとえばドイツ語で、"Gutten Morgen", "GuttenTag"を言ったりする。みんなの文化と言葉が学校で大事をしているのはすごく感じる。

私のクラスで、英語を話せない子供が最近入ってきた。私のクラスより年上だけど、簡単な数学とフォニックスを勉強したり、遊びながら、英語を段々身につける。どういうふうに行くのは興味持っている。。。

私のバイリンガル・キッズ

私のバイリンガル・キッズ
娘は二歳半です。週に一回、半日だけ保育園に通っていたが、日本語がすごく上手になって来ました。短い間に、急に話せるようになっています。それだけでなく、テーブルをセッティングしたり、飲み物を配ったり、掃除をしたり、変な顔を作ったりします：）
家で英語と日本語を両方使いますし、たまに同じ単語を二つ言葉に言ったりします。「おいで、Come on!」とか「Look!見て!!」を結構言いますね。自分の世界に二つ言葉があると気づいています。その上に、私と英語を使う方が多くなっているの気がします。
でも彼女の普段の言葉は日本語。お父さん、友達、先生、ベイビーシッター皆日本語を話していますから。私は頑張って英語で話さないとダメと思うけど日本は長いで、普段私も日本語を話しています!! そういうわけで娘は英語と日本語を混ぜたりします。でもイギリスに引越すと英語が上手くなります。その時から日本語を忘れないようにしないと！


My Bilingual Kids
My daughter is two and a half and attends a Japanese day care for half a day, once a week. Her Japanese language is coming on in leaps and bounds! Even just for this short period of time we have noticed a great improvement in her speaking skills. Not only that, she is doing so much more....setting the table, pouring drinks, cleaning up and pulling faces to name just a few!!
She uses English and Japanese at home, sometimes saying a word in both languages to express herself. Often she says, 'Come on, oide' or 'Look! Mite!' I have a feeling that she is starting to realize that there are two different languages in her world now, and that she has started to use English more with me now.
However her dominant language seems to be Japanese, as all her play friends are Japanese along with daddy, her teachers and baby sitter. Mummy has to try, try, try to keep her own language in English, but after being in Japan for so long, I often use both.
And so that's why she mixes up her sentences in English and Japanese. I'm sure it will sort itself out once we move to the UK. Then we hope she won't forget her Japanese!