Ideas for integrating the minority language into your busy day

As parents raising bilingual children, we know that consistent exposure to the additional language is very important. In theory, that’s all fair and square. In reality, it is at times hard to keep it up and provide the exposure and input in our already busy lives. So I hear from a number of parents that they gave up on bilingual parenting or it simply slipped away in the busy day to day hustle. In short, life oftentimes gets in the way. As a working mom, I hear you! I so often wish that my day had 36 hours! 

Here is how I try to integrate German into our daily routines in order to maximize the time Ella gets exposed to her minority language:

1. SPEAKING GERMAN REGULARLY

• • I try to speak German to her as much as possible (and I only speak German). In the limited time (it’s only 2-3 hours between picking her up from daycare and taking her to bed), I try to make a conscious effort to switch off my cell phone, computer, or iPad and focus only on interacting with her. Being attached to mobile devices takes away from the quality time we can use to interact with our little ones.

2. AUDIO PLAYS WHILE JOGGING

• • We listen to audio plays. For example, I go running a lot. Most of the time, I do not have the extra air left to talk to Ella in the stroller. So I use my phone to play children’s audio plays or podcasts like Ohrenbär. I also audio record books that Ella loves and we listen to those when there is poor cell reception. By the way, listening to audio plays or books also distracts me from focusing on how tired my legs feel…

3. READING BOOKS EVERY DAY

• • Even if it’s only for 10-15 minutes, I read to Ella in German every night before she goes to bed. Books are one of the best ways to support a child’s language development–in any language.

4. NARRATING MY ACTIONS

• • I oftentimes narrate my actions (self talk). I describe things that I’m seeing, hearing, or doing like a voiceover or ongoing narration. It’s almost as if you are consistently talking to yourself. For example, when I’m making dinner, I may say things like “Okay, jetzt müssen wir noch die Milch aus dam Kühlschrank holen.” (Now we need to get the milk out of the fridge.) or “Jetzt mache ich den Herd an, so dass wir die Kartoffeln kochen können.” (Now I’m turning on the stove so we can boil the potatoes.). That may seem odd, but it provides exposure. You just want to be careful to not transfer that to the office…

5. TONIE BOX

• • A Tonie box is another great thing to have in the house. Ella puts a Tonie on the box pretty much as we walk through the front door. She listens to German audiobooks and plays for children and I get a break from monologuing. By the way, there are also English Tonies.

6. USING THE ‘KREATIVTONIE‘ CREATIVELY

• • When I go on business trips for a few days, I send Ella messages via the Kreativtonie. The Kreativtonie is an empty Tonie figurine that allows you to audio-record yourself. You can audio-record in the Tonie app on your smartphone and then upload to the Tonie via the cloud. That way, I include a new message or a new story on her Kreativtonie every morning to wish her a great day.

7. SINGING

• • I sing a lot with Ella. We sing a lot in the car or when we take a walk. It’s a great way of using German in a playful way, while sharing a piece of German culture. Our current favorites: St. Martin and Anne Kaffeekanne. 

8. CARTOONS AND TV IN GERMAN

• • Sometimes, Ella is allowed to watch German-speaking cartoons on my phone or iPad. I certainly know that it’s not best practice in parenting…but if we eat out in a restaurant and Ella is getting antsy towards the end of the meal, we sometimes allow her to watch cartoons on the phone. We try to make it German-speaking cartoons so there is at least a bit of a benefit to it (other than us being able to finish our dinners). By the way, we use the KIKA app for that.

9. FACETIME DURING BREAKFAST

• • We sometimes put the laptop on the breakfast table in the dining room to FaceTime with family in Germany. That way, we either have a meal together with sister or my mom reads books to Ella or plays games with her via FaceTime, thus using the screen time in an interactive way.

10. BILINGUAL SCHOOL

• • Bilingual education opportunities like a bilingual immersion school would also help you use time effectively by simply including the language into children’s every day. Unfortunately, there is no regular German-English immersion school where we live…otherwise that may be an option for us to consider.

Do you have other tips or things how to integrate the minority language into a busy day? What do you do?