Look out – there’s a Chatterbox in the house!

We’ve been suspecting it for sometime, but now it’s official.  We have a chatterbox in our midst and it comes in the form of our 4 year old daughter, Frankie.  Don’t get me wrong, up until this point our house has been far from quiet.  She has 4 very boisterous older brothers and when they are home there is no peace.  But the boys noise is different (accordingly to my husband). 

My husband is not known for his chat, he’s more of the strong, silent type.  On the rare occasions we talk (usually about 10 minutes in bed in the morning with a  cup of coffee in between interruptions from the kids), we mainly talk about the business (have you ordered this or that, did you remember to phone so and so, don’t forget to do that estimate at 4,30 etc etc).  If it’s not the business we’ll maybe discuss something concerning us about the kids or occasionally we’ll have a heavy discussion about how the world is doomed!  He comes from a fairly quiet family, none of them could really be described as chatty people.

I’m happy being quiet and don’t feel the need to talk all the time.  However I think the chatty gene (if there is such a thing), definitely comes from my family.  My Mum is a chatterbox.  She is always talking.  She often wakes my Dad up in the night to talk.  My Dad is not known for being talkative and I think I probably take more after him, although.I can chat with the best of them when I choose!  My Mum’s family are serious chatters.  They really could chat for England.  My Mum had one uncle in particular who used to come and stay with us in the holidays when I was young.  He was always talking.  Not so much to you, but at you.  He would follow us around the house talking and talking and if he thought you weren’t listening (which we often weren’t), he would keep tapping you on the arm to get your attention.  Now that is really irritating!  Once he even followed my Mum to the loo and carried on chatting outside the door while she went in!

Anyway, we’ve noticed more and more how Frankie seems to have inherited this family trait.  She talks a lot and most of the time it has absolutely no point.  And she won’t stop.  She just goes on and on and on.  I don’t like to interrupt her and we always try and let everyone have there turn to speak, but there are limits!  She’s even started the tapping on the arm thing -  oh no!! 

It wouldn’t be so bad, but I think it might be contagious.  My husband was actually telling me something yesterday morning that had absolutely no point whatsoever.  He was mortified, that’s never happened before!  Is it his age perhaps or is our daughters chattiness rubbing off on him?   Whatever it is he needs a remedy quick, or heaven forbid, he might turn into a chatty man!

Mummy, do they say hello or bonjour?

This week I'm linking up again with Windmill Fields Expat Blog Hop. 

This weeks subject is Parenting: bringing up a multilingual- mulitcultural family.   

We are an English family living in France.  Our children are being brought up bi-lingual.  They speak French exclusively at school and speak English exclusively at home.  Is it difficult – not really.  It’s amazing how adaptable children are and how quickly they learn to cope with switching from one language to the other.  We’ve never made a big deal about it and neither have they. James found his own way of asking whether he should be speaking French or English when he used to ask "Mummy, do they say hello or bonjour?".

When we first moved here 7 years ago we did consider whether it might be better to try to speak French at home to help the children adapt at school, but to be honest, our French really wasn’t good enough and I think it would have been more of a hindrance than a help.

Zis is ow to speek english

We were talking at the dinner table this evening about accents and the fact that the French find it difficult to pronounce the sound ‘th’.  I asked my 9 year old son if his teacher ever got him to speak during their English lessons to help the others know how to pronounce the words properly.

'No, the teacher tells us what to say.'

            ‘Well at least when you repeat it they’ll hear how to say it properly.’ I reasoned.

            ‘No, I say it with the same accent as the teacher.’

            I found this quite funny, well really funny actually.  Sorry but imagining him ‘speeeking like zis’ in class just tickled me. When I stopped laughing I asked ‘Why on earth do you do that?’ 

            ‘Because that’s the way they teach us to speak English.’

Although I did find it funny, there is a more serious side.  This simple answer speaks volumes about a fundamental flaw with teaching practices in many French schools.  Children generally are not encouraged to think for themselves or question what they are taught.  It explains a lot about some attitudes in France.  Many times I’ve been frustrated when confronted by situations where functionaries seem unable to think outside the box.  It’s done this way, because it is, and that’s the way it’s always been done!  Or am I putting 2 and 2 together and making 5?

Anyway, now I'm off to make a chocolate cake for my little girl who's 4 years old tomorrow :)

The Problem with English Teachers in France

Of course there isn't a problem with "all" English Teachers in France, just some.  Our 17 year old recently had some trouble with his English teacher and I know he's not the only one.  The problem is that she has been consistently marking him harder than the other native French speakers in the class.  She seems to think it's not fair to mark him the same, as English is his mother tongue.  This would be fine if he is given extra marks in all the other subjects he takes in French (which is not his native language), but no, he is marked exactly the same as everyone else in these subjects (which is as it should be).