Google+ Raising a Trilingual Child: July 2015

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Monday, July 27, 2015

Bilingual Children Travelling to Minority Language Country. Diary. DAY 1



I am travelling alone with two 3 and 5 years old fully bilingual kids to our family minority language home country - Russia. Sounds interesting? Keep on reading!


Day One.

Here you will find: One parent travelling with two children. Airport and air plane experience. Significance of the trip.


Almost 3.5 hour flight went well. The kids were extremely well behaved (Surprise!). They even were able to negotiate on who takes the window seat without letting the entire airplane know about their discussion.

The moment we approached the boarding area my son commented about people: “mama, they all speak Russian!” and I realised that here is the start point for learning about Russians and Russian culture. The kids were studying peoples faces and were paying attention to other people’s conversations.

The next early encounter with Russia was in the air - kids reaction to the airline food. Russian black bread, butter, cheese … and pasta and chicken dish, which my kids picked.

I was curious to see how my Italian kiddos will react to pasta. The very hungry kids finished all the chicken, but the little one left the pasta and ate all our white bread instead. My sweet tooth girl did not want to eat a cake either.

We landed.

Did you know that such a simple thing like “venik” (a short brush of bound straw) can make a kid happy?

Русский веник


This was one of the most exciting moment for me and my kids. The older child noticed "venik" at the back of a bus that we took to get from our plane to a terminal. His eyes were shiny from happiness. He said “ Mom, this is a "venik"!“ (“Мама, это ВЕНИК! “) .

Right at this moment I understood the great significance of our trip - it is a real life encounter with everything they read about and talked about all those past years.

This first trip to Russia is much much more than just a visit of friends and family. 



Read next post:  Bilingual children Travelling to Minority language Country.Diary. DAY 2.
How playgrounds in Russia look like. Great book for your independent reader and  for reading to your child (available in Russian and English). St-Petersburg's Circus - a must see when you are there! 

Or jump to DAY 3  - Bilingual Children Travelling to Minority Language Country - DAY TREE.
Best place for adults and kids to visit in St-Petersburg --- When music unites the cultures --- Birthday party - how bilingual kids feel encountering other kids speaking their minority language. 


You might also like reading:


Listen to kids' Radio in English , Russian , German , Spanish, French, Polish, Serbian , Slovak , Dutch, Lithuanian, Turkish, Czech, Norwegian, Italian, Greek, Albanian , Hungarian 


Watch Russian cartoons online. 


Best children's books to read in Russian.


Image source: wikipedia

Friday, July 24, 2015

Good Reads: Great Russian book to introduce a famous Russian poet - Lermontov. Age 10 +



I find it somewhat challenging to introduce Russian classic poets, whose language is hard to understand without additional explanation not only for children but also for some adults.
Bookstore in the old Singer building
I have been on a look out for books that have nice illustrations to go along with the text to make them more accessible. And here I was, in a bookstore that is in the old Singer building right in the heart of St-Petersburg Russia, reaching for a book by Mikhail Lermontov. The second I flipped through its pages I knew - this is the one! My two bilingual kids, who just turned 4 and 6 year old, listen very attentively to me reading it and asked questions. Surely some of the poems are still too early for them to read, but the book has many shorter poems that small children can appreciate. I would say this book is best for children age 10 and older.

Mikhail Lermontov is a famous Russian poet and writer , who was born more than 200 years ago and died in a duel at the age of 26. His poetry is filled with poetic images and many of his poems became beautiful songs.

Here are some of them, you can listen them on Youtube:

Казачья колыбельная песня
Выхожу один я на дорогу
Нет, не тебя так пылко я люблю
Отчего ( Мне грустно )
Ангел
Парус
и другие





This book is called “Poems of all times” (“Стихи на все времена” ) - a collection of poems by Lermontov that every Russian child reads during the school studies. You will find all his famous poems there: Бородино, Три пальмы, Песня про царя Ивана Васильевича …, Родина, И скучно и грустно, Мцыри, Смерть поэта и многие другие.

The beautiful watercolor illustrations by Nikolaev ( Юрий Николаев) attract readers and help them feel the magic of Lermontov’s poetry.




If you have already read this book and looking for something else to read, check out  
the list of Russian language children's books and cartoons 
List of children's books in Polish language - Lista książek po Polsku dla dzieci
or stop by to see what other international families and friends of Multicultural Kid Blogs have to recommend in the Read Around the World Summer Reading Series.  This is the second summer, when bloggers from all over the world share their recommendations of great multicultural books for the entire family!

Good reading time!



You might also like:

FREE audiobooks and stories in English. 19 great websites !



7 principles to keep in mind while teaching your child to read.


List of Kids' Radio Stations broadcasting from around the world. Is your kids favourite station listed here?


Can babies distinguish foreign languages?

 

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Good Reads: Great conversation starter - folktale from New Guinea “The Turtle and the Island”. Age 4 and up.



What do you and your children know about Papua New Guinea?

The book “The turtle and the island” is a folktale that tells us in a very poetic way how the island of New Guinea was born and who were the first people living there. It is a great book for young independent readers and can be read to children from age of 4.

I found this folktale available in Russian and English languages. Have you seen/read it in other languages? If yes, in which one?

Book In Russian:

We read the story in Russian. The book is called "Остров и черепаха". It is very well told by Anastasia Brodotskaya (Анастасия Бродоцкая) and accompanied with beautiful illustrations by David Haykin ( Давид Хайкин).




Book In English:

The story “The Island and the turtle” was published in English by Barbara Ker Wilson (Author) and Frané Lessac (Illustrator).


Use this book to start a conversation with your child. Here are some topics you could expand on: You could talk about how islands are formed, introduce more geography, discuss turtles and ocean, talk about biodiversity … and the list does not end here!

If you have already read this folktale, check out the list of Russian language children's books and cartoons  or stop by to see what other international families and friends of Multicultural Kid Blogs have to recommend in the Read Around the World Summer Reading Series.  This is the second summer, when bloggers from all over the world share their recommendations of great multicultural books for the entire family!

Good reading time to everyone!




You might also like:

FREE audiobooks and stories in English. 19 great websites !


List of Kids' Radio Stations from countries around the world


Did you know that by singing songs and nursery rhymes you prepare your child to learning to read?

Have you ever wondered how one can become a multilingual? - learn more from this great Life story: A Journey to Multilingualism.

A family vacation, multilingual style. Are you in?

7 facts that can determine the language spoken between multilingual siblings.

What language should I speak to my child in public? - Multilingual parent dilemma.