Raising a multilingual children in Japan

[joeking]

you can basically never speak to each other in the same language around the child?

Before we had our kids, I spoke my wife's language and she spoke mine. This worked out well because neither of us would use words the other did not know and we were both working 'uphill'. Also, at a certain level, you learn about the other language by noticing the mistakes made by speakers using your language.

 

[spire]

I'd be careful about international schools, they are majority Japanese students, so the English they have is impressive by Japanese standards, but it can have noticeable holes by native speaker standards. A bigger problem is that the kids learn virtually no keigo in Japanese, so if you imagine your kids are going to stay in Japan, they will have trouble in that regard, but if they were trilingual, it is hard to imagine them staying here. The big problem is not the speaking, kids can pick that up, it is getting literacy in the language(s). Becoming literate is a full time job for one language, so you've got to really find a way to make the child love reading (and writing!) in both languages or you are just going to have them reject one. Dividing time between 3 languages is going to be challenging to say the least, especially with the literacy requirements in Chinese, English and Japanese being so different.

Keeping two home languages that are non majority languages is also really difficult. Even with one non-majority language, it helps to have the child go back to speak with relatives, but it sounds like you aren't going with your native language, so where they would go in the English speaking world is a question, though it sounds like Chinese is a preferable option. I also don't know how things are with your family, but not having them learn your mother tongue is a bit of shame, as they can't get to know that side of their identity.

Just for id quote this because every bilingual parent has said the same thing to me. Japanese in international school is non-existent and they will have bad Japanese and be a bad position.

Normal advice is if you plan to make your kid live abroad in the future send them to intl school and sacrifice their Japanese.
However if they are probably going to be in Japan most of their life keep them in Japanese schools and get creative at home with the English lessons..

 

[warubuta]

Just for id quote this because every bilingual parent has said the same thing to me. Japanese in international school is non-existent and they will have bad Japanese and be a bad position.

Normal advice is if you plan to make your kid live abroad in the future send them to intl school and sacrifice their Japanese.
However if they are probably going to be in Japan most of their life keep them in Japanese schools and get creative at home with the English lessons..

There are some excellent schools that manage to do both languages really well. Nishimachi is one of them. There is another someplace in Shizuoka. Can’t recall the name. They teach in a mix of both languages. They both have accreditation from the J government the same as a regular J public school.

 

[warubuta]

Your normal garden variety Japanese person looks at all other people in a binary way: either you are Japanese or you are something else. You are something else if you went to international school and you didn’t learn the same kanji in the same order as they did. You are something else even if you did go to local school but you unfortunately spent time overseas and your Japanese got a little funny. Also, even if you were born here and you learned the same kanji in the same order at public school and you never went abroad and your katakana pronunciation of foreign words is perfect, if you are half white, or half black, you are something else. Don’t fight this. If you are something else, don’t try to be Japanese. Be happy being something else and do your best to convince Japanese people that you are superior to them. Just assume it is so and act accordingly. Because when Japanese people deem you to be something else, they are actually saying that they are superior to you.

 

[joeking]

There is another someplace in Shizuoka.

Katoh Gakuen, I think. At one point iirc, Katoh Gakuen was the only one in Japan with Ministry accreditation. The work they constantly have to do to keep up Japanese accreditation is ferocious, and I seem to remember that they had to produce English translations of Japanese textbooks that had to be approved by the Ministry in order to get that accreditation and I'm sure that every time their textbook is reissued, they have to redo the translation. Your kid also has to pass a test to get in, so entry is not guaranteed.

Their thinking is that you gradually teach more and more in English as the kid goes up. This makes total sense if you are preparing them for a foreign university. But if you are preparing them for a Japanese university, where the entrance exam is the big hurdle, it puts them at a disadvantage.

Of course, warubuta are right about embracing who you are rather than submit to the binary thinking Japanese society imposes on everyone. However, getting an school aged kid to realize that can be a tough job. And if you end up putting them into an environment they don't synch with, you are making it tougher for them and for you.

 

[just4fun]

Why go through all the trouble when us Atheists are only going to eat them anyways.

 

[Sudsy]

Why go through all the trouble when us Atheists are only going to eat them anyways.

Wait.... if you're an atheist what are you doing with a Jewis... oh wait Cathol... oh wait Musli... you know what, just use whatever cookbook you want.

(Is there any non-dominant religion that HASN'T been accused of eating babies?)

 

[MikeH]

(Is there any non-dominant religion that HASN'T been accused of eating babies?)

If there is they must be very suspicious religion. On the contrary the Church of Uncle Mike is famous and proud for eating out young babes.

 

[veryniceguy]

St Maurs in Yokohama, Yamate-cho.... Good school....Sent my daughter there, and she's perfectly bi-lingual, English/Japanese-reading and writing....and good level of French as well.....Spoke to her from day one in English, wife(ex) in Japanese..... and it all worked out well....

 

[Marinalily]

I guess I grew up “bilingual” and now speak 3 languages fluently (some others not so fluently). But it wasn’t always that way. I lost my “native” language and later regained it. I think it is important to consider if your family is likely to stay in Japan until your child finishes school or if there is different possibilities.
I went to international school for the first few years and the good part is the multi cultural environment, which is likely to have positive impact on the child’s mental health. This is important as I believe Japan is still close minded around cultural differences. The downside would be the academic difficulties that the child might face. When the language is used only in school and not in home or other social spaces it can affect the learning process, but I’m sure you can support your child around this.
Alternatively there are Japanese schools focusing on multiculturalism, having some classes in English from young age or just selects kids from various cultural backgrounds.
Eitherway familirising your child with English is a good decision. I love languages and I always wanted to learn those other than English but by coincidence I ended up studying it for long time and it helped my not only professionally but in many other ways.

You have enough time to consider your options so keep searching !

 

[Maxblack]

International schools in Japan may, in your opinion, not produce perfect English speakers or writers, but the ones that follow the IB curriculum have insanely impressive acceptance rates to the worlds top universities. I know of one school in Yokohama that only graduates about 40 kids a year but there are always a few kids going to Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge and MIT. So you can talk about ‘noticeable holes’ and advise people to be careful, but the data from standardized test scores and college admissions says that some of these international schools are providing a truly excellent secondary education.

The major caveat here is “student body diversity”. EVERY high school valedictorian in the USA applies to Harvard. But what they REALLY want is that kid who went to high school in Tokyo / Singapore/ Hong Kong. There is much to be said for being able to bring a “unique” experience to uni, especially in the eyes of the elite private institutions like Harvard.

 

[Babaram]

@yankunov : I have friends in a similar situation, except that him insists on his native language also. So the wife talks Chinese to the kid, him Italian. Most of the kid's first words were Chinese. Once the boy went to kindergarden, he soon was fluent in Japanese. At age 5, he now speaks perfect Chinese, perfect Japanese, and passable Italian. And that's much more than most of the other kids can do.

 

[SatoKM]

I tried to find similar topics on TAG, but it appear any relevant links.

I'd like to hear some opinions on raising a multilingual child in Japan. My partner and I are planning to have a baby in the next few years, perhaps by next year or so.

I do understand that there are no specific rules as in "you must do this or that" as every family has different values, perspectives, goals etc in life. I'd like to hear some successful stories from other language enthusiasts or expats with children in Japan.

To make things more clear and specific, a little bit about our background: I was raised as a bilingual child as well and since I'm a language (not only sex) enthusiast, I wanted to hear some opinion from our buddies here.

A little bit about my background: I speak Japanese fluently and I've been living in Japan for one year and a half as well. That said, I haven't encountered any linguistic-related problems so far. On the other hand, my partner is Chinese and a native speaker of Mandarin and she is fluent in Shanghainese as well.

So, basically I thought about talking to my future kid exclusively in one language, and my partner in Mandarin. The child will learn Japanese with friends, child-care, school, extra-curricular activities etc. So, I'm not worried about Japanese, but rather on how to make him learn Mandarin and possibly English. Since my partner is Chinese and has Chinese friends or acquaintances, I think he will pick up by speaking in Chinese to them and their kids as well. I suppose I can send him to visit her family during his summer and/or winter school holidays every year. Getting such exposure in Mandarin, I think it will make him near fluent or fluent in Mandarin. I will also make sure that he will watch shows, movies, play games, listen to songs etc in his mom's language.

How about the other language? Would English be a good choice, since I'm not a native speaker? Should I stick to Japanese? For personal reasons, I don't want to use my native language as I don't feel connected or positive about it, its culture and so on. I don't want to hear my native language anymore...Not to say that when it comes to education, it will be hard to find native resources for children as well.

What are the pros and cons of raising him in English, despite not being a native speaker?

Some people I talked to, they commented on the fact that they won't have a native-like accent. Well, that is not a problem at all for me. Many Japanese parents nowadays, as far as I've seen in big cities, at least, they send their children to language schools to learn English since young. Some or many of them learn English not from native speakers, but from Japanese people who speak poorly or poorer than me. Generally speaking, I think my English accent is widely understood by many people.

I do understand that the higher level (CEFR), the better. However, which is the lowest level (CEFR) you would speak to your child?

Well, I still have time to reach a higher level. I was in between C1-C2 (CEFR) before, but I believe I'm around B2 nowadays. That means that I should keep improving and maintaining my English skills.

I thought about sending the kid to an international school in Japan. I haven't checked some details, but some might say that it is overpriced. If my partner agrees, then, I will have less worries because money would not be a problem. Apparently, this list seems to be updated.

But if she doesn't accept sending him to an international school, then, the other plan is to send him to the common Japanese schools. In this case, I will have to be creative and find fun ways to don't make him stress about learning a third language. Nowadays, there are many legal resources in English for cartoons, songs, books and so on. In addition, I would also make him learn English in some centers, but I will check those native speakers who work with children in Japan. I also thought about travelling in overseas once a year, perhaps to New Zealand, Canada or Australia where he would hear English all the time.

What are your thoughts on implementing English, if you were in my situation? How could I effectively make this plan work in the next future?

From my own experience.....

My parents are Japanese but I was born and raised in Latin America. My parents only spoke with me in Japanese but as I got older (early teens) I answered everything in Spanish. So I kind of lost the ability to speak Japanese.

I went as an exchange student to Germany, and after my school year I loved living in Germany so I returned and lived in there for a couple of years.

So as an advice you can talk with your kid in Chinese (or other language different of Japanese), as he/she will learn Japanese immediately she/he will start to attend school in Japan.

As for English language, you can send her/him abroad (as my parents did) to USA, Canada, Australia, England.... or any other English speaker country and she/he will learn English quite easily.

 

[TonyBe]

So, basically I thought about talking to my future kid exclusively in one language, and my partner in Mandarin. The child will learn Japanese with friends, child-care, school, extra-curricular activities etc.

I will preface my comments with the fact that I don't live in Japan and that my experience of raising children in a multi-language environment was in Russia quite a few years ago.

Having said that, it was our experience (and that of others we knew in a similar situation) that the one parent, one language model you refer to above is generally the most effective - and worked well for us.

It's perhaps not uncommon for children to start talking later than normal in that sort of situation - but there again, that's not so surprising as they are learning three languages at once! So don't worry if your child is late in starting to talk - they still understand all three languages. You will also find that your child may well also substitute a word from one of the other languages if they can't think of the particular word in the language that they are currently speaking. So, for example, once they start speaking you may well find that when you are speaking to them in English that they might reply mostly in English but use the odd word in Mandarin as they can't think of the appropriate word in English. This is nothing to worry about and perfectly natural.

Since my partner is Chinese and has Chinese friends or acquaintances, I think he will pick up by speaking in Chinese to them and their kids as well. I suppose I can send him to visit her family during his summer and/or winter school holidays every year.

We found that this was the single biggest motivator for our children in wanting to speak their paternal and maternal languages - having friends or cousins of the same age to play with that spoke in those languages and, to a lesser extent, having elder family members (aunts, uncles, grandparents etc) that spoke those languages.

How about the other language? Would English be a good choice, since I'm not a native speaker? Should I stick to Japanese? For personal reasons, I don't want to use my native language as I don't feel connected or positive about it, its culture and so on. I don't want to hear my native language anymore...Not to say that when it comes to education, it will be hard to find native resources for children as well.

What are the pros and cons of raising him in English, despite not being a native speaker?

Although it seems very sad to me that you have such negative feelings about your native language and I would suggest perhaps not necessarily cutting your children off from their heritage, I totally respect your views. I would say not to worry at all and that young children can be quite fluid in the accents that they pick up, especially when they are young. If they have little contact with English speakers outside of yourself then they will copy your accent, whatever that may be.

If they are exposed to a wider range of accents then that won't necessarily be the case. I remember some American friends of ours when we lived in Moscow. Their children went to the same nursery (for Americans, that's "kindergarten") as ours which was run by a British school. They mentioned that their children ended up with what they called "adorable" and "cute" British English accents. But, with me being British, I couldn't tell the difference. However, we kept in touch with them after they moved away and they did say that after they moved back to the States their children very quickly lost their "British English" accents.

I thought about sending the kid to an international school in Japan. I haven't checked some details, but some might say that it is overpriced

[...]

the other plan is to send him to the common Japanese schools. In this case, I will have to be creative and find fun ways to don't make him stress about learning a third language.

I would say that it really depends on what your long term plans are. If you are the typical expat senior manager working for a large company and have been posted abroad for a few years then the best thing is for your children to have an education that conforms to the country that they will be returning to, whether that be American, British or whatever.

On the other hand, if you see yourself still being in Japan in twenty years time then I really would suggest that it would be best to put your children through the Japanese school system as that will best equip them to succeed in Japan. However, if you are planning to leave Japan with the next five or six years then it would probably be best to think about where you will be moving to and what languages are used there and so an international school ( a proper international school, not just one that pretends to be) would probably be a better choice.

In our case, our children went to the ordinary Russian schools until they were 12 and 10 when we moved to the UK. They managed to integrate very well into their British schools without any problems. However, I must admit that we did have some intensive coaching for our children in English for a year before we moved. This wasn't because they didn't speak English, it was more about learning "academic" English - the sort of terminology that you need to know in school. For example, they certainly knew English well enough to play video games with their friends but certainly didn't know the term "bunsen burner". I know that's just a silly little example, but it's those sort of small things that can surprise you when you move to a new country.

So. overall, I'd say don't worry too much about it but do think long-term about where you expect to be living in 10 or 15 years time