So how do we balance it all? I'm trying to learn German here so I can teach my daughter, who - by the way - ought to be hearing German now more than she is. She's already four months old! Gah! Ok, maybe I'm being a little too hard on myself. But she could reasonably say her first word in a few months! She definitely needs to be hearing some more Deutsch. I may have mentioned before that because of my (seemingly) crazy schedule, I have been limiting my German education to the 15-20 mins three times a day I spend pumping. For any of you bilingual Mommas out there, were you born bilingual or did you teach yourself as well? What worked for you, and what didn't? This is the system I'm trying hard to adapt:
1. Set aside a reasonable amount of time. For me, that may only be ten minutes a day. Sometimes I have more time so I do more. The goal, though, it to maintain a consistent amount of time - specifically, not spending less time on it than you planned. I've personally been using an app that was recommended to me, called Duolingo. It's a free app found in the app store (for iPhone) that actually sends you a reminder if you have not opened it that day. It gives you practice in writing, translating - both from German to English, and vice versa, speech, and pronunciation. It is very particular about capitalization and umlauts (which, if you learn(ed) German you know are very important!). The app requires that you go back and complete previous lessons every few days so that everything stays fresh in your mind. I love that about this app! It's convenient, easy to use, and you can also learn French and Spanish with it. You don't need any fancy equipment to use it, just turn up your volume so that you can hear the speaker well enough to repeat the words accurately.
3. Get your family & friends involved! I know my mom recently downloaded Duolingo, and to my knowledge is having a go at it herself! Even though she isn't raising A to be bilingual, my mother-in-law will be visiting soon and we all like being able to communicate with her as effectively as possible. She speaks very good English, but how cool would it be to communicate with her in German some day!?
Try it out and see what you think! If you download the app, tell me how you like it! I'd love to get some feedback and hear about your experience! Until next time, Auf Wiedersehen!