French words and I, have had a relation turbulante, we weren't instant friends, we didn't hit it off- and certainment, we weren't musique to each others ears. How do you say complicated? Funny, many French words are the same in English, take for example: Compliqué, just the accent is différent. As my accent in French, is terrible, our relationship is often a bittersweet nécessité.
Learning to speak French was not easy for me. The R and U sounds were difficiles to prononcer. When my daughter was three she told my Mother, "You cannot speak French, because you do not have the lips for it." She said this while puffing her pouty lips towards my Mother.
Growing up in a bilingue household, does not apply the capacité bilingue. I grew up in family that spoke Portuguese, my parents spoke Portuguese to their parents and often to each other... I heard Portuguese constament, I knew a few words: Drawer- underwear- boobs- give the baby some milk- dry chicken- dry fart- Godmother- melon head- big butt..." As you can read I am not fluent. Borderline vulgaire.
Pardon my Portuguese, pardon my French, and well I swear in English way to much. That is what happens when you live in another country, or should I say that is what has happened to me living in a foreign country I butcher the language, forget my own and swear in English.
If you want your children to be bilingue, you have to have more than the lips for it, it doesn't happen naturellement. There will be times you will eat words, drink words and cuss words, speaking two langues at home, and on the street, makes you stand out, makes people stare, it is not for the meek of heart. Répéter is a pastime. Ask my children how many times I said, "Speak English! English only!" Ask them how many times I made them play the game that I made up, "You cannot say YES, you cannot say NO, what are you going to say, I do not know." Then I would ask them yes and or no questions where they had to answer without saying: Yes, no or I do not know.
Oh c'est horrible et fantastique!
My children are bilingual, without a hiccup, nor a slur, never do they mix their words...et moi?!
Do you speak a second language?
(Words that I have slanted are more or less the same in English, though pronounced and written differently.)
