Do you teach your adopted child their native language?

Question

To all the parents who have done an international adoption do you make an effort to teach them their native language? Some parents only expose them to the culture: food, music, people, and history.

Just wondering.

Answer 1

I'm learning my eldest son's native language with him, we go to classes twice a month, and have since he was two years old.  

My other two children (sibs) were adopted older and so as they've learned English, they've taught us their language. I have to say, we're not proficient. We use a lot of their words instead of English to at least keep the vocabulary up.  Since our kids speak a very uncommon dialect, we made sure to buy lots of music and videos while there.  We made  videos of their family and people in the village speaking to them. When the kids first came home we made movies of them singing all the songs they knew. So although we haven't found anyone local who speaks their dialect, we're hoping to save some of their language for them.

We plan on bringing all our children back to see their families as finances allow, so we want them to keep as much of their language as possible.

Answer 2

Not adopted or have an adopted child. But my sisters friend was adopted from Mexico. They had next door neighbors that were also hispanic and from mexico. They offered free lessons and to show her things about Mexico and Hispanic history in general, She rebelled. That ended that they never pushed her again. *She was five-eight or so when they first asked and she is 10 now* But her parents have agreed to taking her if she wanted to. She was adopted as a baby so it isn't like it was bad past. Let the child chose what he or she wants.

Answer 3

This is one of hte reasons (as well as costs and moral/ethical implications) that I chose to not adopt internationally.  I would insist they learn their language, but in Canada we are bilingual and to get best chance of success they need to learn two languages already and I don't want to put pressure.

Answer 4

Yes they will have weekly lessons as soon as they are old enough.  We will be taking them with them so we can speak both English and Mandarin at home.

Answer 5

English is the native language of Liberia.  It's certainly not American English, or even British English, but it is English.

If you watch the movie Blood Diamond, there is a short scene with Leonardo Dicaprio selling guns to someone and they revert to a very accented speech that requires subtitles.

I didn't need the subtitles to understand what they were saying.

Answer 6

Yes, my daughter is 2.5 and is already having lessons in Mandarin.  I felt it was really important that she started learning as young as possible but beacause of her age we specifically chose a program that would teach in an age appropriate way (lots of  songs, games and play) rather than the more formal classes.

Technically Mandarin is not my daughter's native language as the area she comes from spoke a dialect called Min (actually, a dialect of Min) however we chose to teach her Mandarin because:

a) We never would have found someone to teach her Min.

b) We don't actually know what the orphanage workers spoke to her as some spoke Cantonese, some spoke Mandarin and some spoke Min.

c) Most people in China speak some Mandarin even if it is only as a 2nd or 3rd language.

d) My husband's family (who are Chinese and speak Cantonese and English) strongly encouraged us to teach her Mandarin as they felt it was "the way of the future".

The down side of this is that we don't really speak Mandarin at home because my husband only speaks English and a little rough Cantonese and I only speak English.  We both did a course in Mandarin before we adopted her but no doubt she will know more than us by the end of the year.

Answer 7

i havent adopted yet but my husband adn i were looking into adoption while we be come foster parents... we are looking to adopt from germany someday... and the child will be brought up speaking both english and german as my husband is a dual citizen.

Answer 8

Teach them any language, thats whats important.

Answer 9

I would. When I adopt my Japanese twins I'm going to teach them Japanese, Spanish, and English too!

Answer 10

I don't have a child yet, but I plan to adopt in the future. My boyfriend was adopted from Haiti when he was 17 months old and he knows his native language. His parents didn't teach him, but he learned it (somehow) from a couple visits to his natural family. I think it is always important to know your culture. Hope this helps.

Answer 11

i have never adopted, but if I were to adopt an international child, I think that it would be very crucial to teach him or her their own native tongue, especially when he or she grows up and may want to contact their biological parents.  He or she can talk to the officials who helped process the adoption who can contact his or her parents.  It helps to connect with them more quickly without the language barrier. And it is as much as a part of his or her cultural background like the food, music, people and history.

Answer 12

My 3 year old has Spanish lessons at school and I try to speak it at home.  It's VERY important for him to learn it because I don't want a language barrier when or if he decided he wants to talk to his natural family, especially if he wants to visit his native country.