Monday, July 28, 2014

another bilingual mom

Had a pleasant chat with the check-out lady at the grocery store this evening. She asked me:

"Do you mind if I ask - is your husband a foreigner?"
"Well, I guess so, he's Slovak."
"I see...because I've noticed you speak English with your children in the store."
"Ohh, well, that's because I'm American."

She expressed some surprise at that and then started talking about bilingual parenting and how her kids don't want to speak the family language at home and the difficulties of raising children in a foreign country... She and her husband are both from Uzbekistan, but their children only want to speak Czech. And what can you do when you have to work and they are in after-school care until 5 pm?

Probably the nicest conversation - with the nicest employee - I've ever had in that store.

2 comments:

  1. So did she think you were Czech and just choosing to speak in English since that was your husband's first language? Or was she surprised that your children were willing to speak any language other than Czech considering where they live? I'm glad you met a fellow bilingual mom! :)

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  2. She thought I was Czech and choosing to speak English with the kids, yes. Presumably because of my English husband. With all the OU gear my husband tends to wear, she would not be the first person to assume I'm the Czech and he's the foreigner!

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