Broken Record

A little Pictionary of my new life.



I work here.



Fellow teachers Mary-Louise (Canada) and Jeff (US)

Jeff and I got to talking yesterday, and asked a question that I've heard a thousand times.

"How is it that you speak with an American accent?"

People who know me personally know that I speak with an American accent. I sound like a broken record, as I've told the story a million times already, to schoolmates, officemates, and most of my co-teachers. I was raised by my grandparents, who were born during the American occupation and educated under the American educational system. They decided to create an English-speaking household. It isn't hard, I tell them. I was raised on a diet of Matlock, Steve Allen, McGyver, and Sesame Street. It is possible to raise an American-speaking kid in the islands.

I didn't learn my native language, Tagalog, until I was three, when I had to go to school. That resulted in 11 years of hell, when kids picked on me because I spoke English well.

Mary-Louise joins in, "Hey I had a friend whose parents were Polish immigrants. They speak Polish at home, and she didn't learn English until she had to go to school."

"That's just what she said!", Jeff exclaimed. "See, I wonder what would happen if I marry a German. I speak German as well, and I want to know how it would be like for my kid if we decide to use English at home."

I was reminded of a question that has been floating in my head for some time. I speak German, English and Tagalog. I would love it if my kid would be able to do the same. However, I'm scared that I would overwhelm my kid. I could speak Tagalog exclusively to my future children, while Thomas could speak English, even if my English is better than his. Our children could pick up German in school, right?

A little note on trilingualism: Thomas' best friend is half-Greek, half-German, and was born in America. His dad, a university professor, spent a year there on a PhD grant. He holds all three nationalities (shh, don't tell anyone!). He speaks all three languages in varying degrees of fluency. However, he didn't start speaking until he was three!

At first his mom spoke to him in Greek, his dad in German, and both occasionally spoke to him in English. However, because he didn't utter a word in any discernable language, they decided to raise him in one language: German. Then he started to talk.

Because of his multi-lingual upbringing, he is able to pick up languages quickly. He now speaks Spanish as well. I noticed that I share this trait. German is a difficult language, but my progress is better than most of my classmates, who were raised speaking only one language.

I can't expect my children to have the same capabilities as I do. Will I overwhelm my future children if I try to raise them in three languages? Will it work?

Meanwhile, I hope that I still have enough room in my head for Spanish. Thomas and I plan to move to Chile after five years to learn the language. Since Tagalog has a lot of Spanish in it, I hope I can learn it quickly. That's another challenge for my future kid!