Keeping English in the environment... - .:Early Learning Community:.

Hi everyone,

Lately I've been feeling very stressed. I live in France with my daughter and partner, I speak English and my partner speaks Intermediate English but he's very bad with written English. One of my biggest stresses lately has been how to keep my daughter interested in English once she starts school. I hear time and time again from everybody that my daughter will be fluent in English because I speak to her in only English but when she's in a small rural country town, all she will be hearing and seeing is French and she will obviously prefer to speak French than English.

If I was living in any Country but France, I wouldn't feel stressed about it but since the French are famous for their arrogance towards speaking English, I stress ALL THE TIME. We don't have much money so can't afford to send her to a bilingual school or move closer to the city where there are English groups for kids and there's not many "decent" English books at libraries so will always have to buy off Amazon which I can't afford often as the P&H will cost more than the book itself. I have downloaded English language activities but trying to find the time to teach her is the biggest challenge.

She will be starting school at 3 years of age for 8 hours a day, four days a week. I want to spend the day of the week where she won't be going to school to sit her down and go through it all properly but I do worry that it won't interest her. She really doesn't have access to anything English speaking besides me as I have no friends or family here that speak English. I also don't drive which makes it harder. I want my partner to speak English to her now but he refuses (daughter is 2).

I always knew that French will become the dominant language as it will be the language she'll be using with everyone (except me) but I don't want her to lose her English as I believe learning English is more important than French!. I am very bad at explaining, teaching etc. So, as I will be the only one she will have, her chances of learning English is very low or just won't be fluent like me? Any advice besides continuing to speak the language to her...any great free resource/s out there for teaching English with lesson plans? I'm sorry it's long but my daughter isn't speaking much English to me now and I don't speak French (hard to learn at my age)!!!.

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