The Monolingual Toddler
I could have done the ‘right’ thing and started speaking Japanese more when MM was still in the womb. But I felt like an idiot muttering things to myself and there weren’t many other people around to speak with.
I could have made Japanese ‘our’ language when MM was a baby. But it felt unnatural and, besides, she didn’t seem to be paying much attention to language anyway. Turns out I was wrong about this, but that was my impression at the time.
I tried to start using it with her more when we’re at home, only to be met with a resounding and unwavering “No.” No matter what I say, no matter how close I try to pitch my voice normally, she answers “No.” And then she confirms that I still speak English by asking “Are you okay?”
Every time.
I guess we’ll have to move on to Plan II: teach her when she’s able understand that it’s a foreign language. *sigh*
