Learning Two Languages at Once, For Kids

Josiah and I recently were having a conversation about school. I told him that his cousin Danielle would be going to Kindergarten next year in America and that she would be learning how to use numbers, read books, and lots of other stuff. Josiah said, "and she will be learning 'Asianese'". I said no, she lives in America where they speak English so she will just be speaking in English. He did not understand. Over and over again he talked about how everyone goes to school to learn 'asianese'. That is part of why people go to school. He asked me if when I was little I learned 'asianese' in school too. What a difficult thing to explain to my four year old who only remembers living in a place where he is constantly trying to learn what people are saying, at home and outside.

Jacob has begun to talk a ton. He talks about what he is thinking, what he has done, is going to do, etc. The only problem is that he is not real clear in his talking and it is often difficult to understand exactly what he is saying. He is also always mixing the two languages together which makes it even more difficult. Today he said, "Mommy bao me", and later came over and said "Mommy, see pingguo." Yesterday I heard him singing the Happy Birthday song and he was singing half of the words in English, and half in the local language. Wow! Great for learning, difficult and frustrating when trying to explain and be understood.