Adopting. What should I do?

Question

I am adopting children from India. I want to adopt them between the ages of 6 and 11. I am a little worried though because I do not speak their language and they obviously don't speak English. Any suggestions about schooling them? How would not speaking English affect their social life. How would I communicate with them? Any suggestions?

Answer 1

You should be learning their language NOW. They are going to have to leave their country, leave their people, leave their culture and eventually learn an entire new language, do you think its too hard to learn their language to help them transition? If your answer is yes, maybe you should reconsider adopting from India.

Answer 2

My wife and I adopted from India.  Our daughter was 8 months old when she came to us (weighing all of 10 lbs) and while she wasn't speaking Hindi or anything at that young age, she only understood Hindi.  When she cried she didn't respond to any of our words to sooth her so we had to learn the appropriate Hindi words.  Lucky for us we were living in India at the time so we just taped some local resources and learned what to say.

My advise to you is to get in touch with the local Indian cultural organization in your area.  Hopefully there is one and I have no doubt in my mind that they would jump at the chance to help you.  They are wonderful people and want to see those from their culture thrive in situations like this.  

Also, if there is no Indian cultural organization where you live I suggest you put an ad in the paper or online asking for support.  I'm sure that someone will come forward.  

You have a very long and exciting journey ahead and I'm sure you will do fine.  Just communicate as best you can, through smiles and caring tones and the rest will come in time.

Contact me through my profile page if you have any questions.  I'd be pleased to help with any other advise if I could.

Answer 3

oh my goodness my family is totally for adoption! i have been to India twice the children are beautiful! and schooling is easy Rosette stone worked great for me! i had to learn Hindi to go to India and it  was great! i am so happy it is a great thing your doing! i have three adopted sibling and i love them so much! adoption is such a great thing. god will bless you in many ways. have fun and give them a BIG hug for me! GOD BLESS YOU AND THE CHILDREN!!! i will be praying for you and them! adoption is great and you are doing a great thing! god bless! i am so excited for you!

                         BH

Answer 4

Adopting a child is a very special thing. There is one language that everyone will understand, and that is a loving parent with a great big smile. If you can do that all else will fall into place. There are enough governmental services out there to help you out with any language barriers or other difficulties that may and will arise. Good luck.

Answer 5

I suggest you look into the language they speak and try to learn it ... the school can deal with how they learn their at home you can teach them and they can teach you but you should at least know some of what they speak ... and LOTS of people in India speak English ... did you know that when you call a call center for most companies the call center is in India ?

Answer 6

well  try  to  ask  the  people  that  have  the  website  so  they  can  tell  u  some  ideas  for  the  children

Answer 7

Like an exchange student, they will learn english quickly once placed in the US school system. You might want to learn some of their language, but ideally your main focus should be to teach them english so they can communicate with their friends at school.

Answer 8

Try to find a speaker of the child's native language to help translate for you, in addition to you learning the languages.  Some of the nuances of the language may be "lost in translation."  Check with a local college or university.

I think it's great that you are learning to speak Indian.  You will also be surprised how quickly the children will learn English (faster than you will learn their language!)  Adoptions with language barriers are challenges, but according to many adoptive parents of international adoption, not an insurmountable one.

Look into ESL assistance for schooling (English as a Second Language).

Good luck!

Answer 9

Two of my daughters were adopted from China at older ages....one was four, and the other was ten.   Neither spoke a word of English when I met them for the first time.  

I learned a few key phrases in Chinese before going to bring them home...."Are you hungry?"  "Thirsty?"  "Cold?"  "Do you need to use the toilet?"   By the time we left China two weeks later, both were already saying some phrases in English.

They were placed in school when they came home, and received ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) instruction in school.    Both were conversational in English within three months.  Academically, it takes much longer.  But my oldest daughter is 17 now, has been here 7 years, and is an honor student in high school, taking advanced classes.  My 6-year-old has been here two years and is 100% fluent in English.  It's an amazing process!

Answer 10

WELL,IT REALLY NICE OF YOU TO DO THIS.......I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU MEAN....IN MY OPINION I THINK YOU MIGHT WANT TO TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF CLASS TO LEARN THEIR LANGUAGE BEFORE ANYTHING SO THAT WHEN YOU ADOPT THEM YOU CAN BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THEM AND THEY CAN UNDERSTAND YOU AS WELL.... AFTER THAT YOU MIGHT WANT TO PUT THEM IN SOME BILINGUAL CLASS SO THEY CAN LEARN AND YOU WONT HAVE TO HAVE ANY MORE PROBLEMS......GOOD LUCK!!!

Answer 11

I agree with Gershom that these children will be experiencing more trauma at their tender ages than many people experience in a lifetime.  I can't even begin to imagine someone coming from another country and taking me to a strange land where I can't understand anyone, and they can't understand me.  Yes, love is a universal language, and I'm sure you'll "speak" lots of that.  But they will be leaving a huge chunk of who they are far, far behind.  In addition to learning as much of the language ahead of time as possible, also plan ahead and make arrangements for them to bring as much of their "lives" with them as possible.  Pictures, journals, anything that will help them have a concrete connection to their past.  It doesn't magically go away, and neither will the emptiness they will feel at the loss of it.  Even with all the love you shower on them, a huge part of them will always be in India.