I have just recently joined this group and have not had the time to introduce myself. But here goes.
I am a Finnish national, married to a British, Phil, and we have one daughter, Rhiannon, who will be five next month. We live in Switzerland in the French speaking part, where our little girl was born. I have spoken to Rhiannon in Finnish from day one and Phil in English. Our home language between us all is English, this way we prevent any contradictions with discipline as Phil can not speak any Finnish. As we live here Rhiannon attends the local play group and has friends and this is all French speaking. It took her a long time to start speaking the third language but now she has no problems in communication, puts us to shame. However, we will now move to the German speaking part of Switzerland end of March and this brings a fourth language to Rhiannon. Help! I have been told by her paediatrician not to worry but to gently introduce it to her. But I am worried as her character is very shy and she will rather play on her own then try to interact if she is not ready. I can see the so called "silent period" lasting with her for a very long time, and this way I am afraid she will be very lonely. We will be placing her into the local preschool in September and hope we will get things right from the start. Has anyone out there any good advice or experience with a similar situation. Look forward to reading mail from you. Jaana ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Help save the life of a child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/i8TXDC/5WnJAA/HwKMAA/W_NqlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/multilingualmunchkin/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
