育英サタデースクール主催バイリンガル子育て体験 講演会・座談会シリーズ------------ まとめ Q & A 編 on October 25, 2014 -----------Conference between fathers and parents about raising bilingual children--- Questions & Answers Part 2 ---Since 2014 IKUEI has been hosting bilingual round table discussions. This is areport of the conclusion with Q & A with participants.
2014 年度から始まった育英サタデースクール主催のバイリンガル子育て講演会・座談会。お母さん編（日本語）、お父さん編（英語）を報告させて頂きました。今回は第５回目の報告として、質疑応答を含めた座談会の様子その②を報告させて頂きます。話題提供者は引き続き英語が母語のアメリカ生まれのお父さんですので、座談会は英語で行われました。
＜座談会のテーマ＞①「わが家が現地校とサタデースクールの組み合わせを選んだ理由②「現地校とサタデースクールとの両立のため英語話者の私(父親)が心がけたこと。」
話題提供者父親１：サタデー中学部にお子様が在籍。奥様は日本語が母語。
父親２：全日制部門小学部を卒業後、サタデースクール中学部にお子様が進学、在籍。奥様は日本語が母語。
父親３：サタデー小学部に２人のお子様が在籍。奥様は日本語と英語のバイリンガル環境で育つ。
<Round table discussion>1) The reason why we chose a combination of local school andJapanese Saturday school.
2) How I have supported my children growing up bilingual in local schooland Japanese Saturday school.
Our 3 guest speakers:Father 1: American father and Japanese mother who has their kid in JuniorHigh School of Saturday school.
Father 2: American father and Japanese mother who has their kid in JuniorHigh school of Saturday school. The child graduated from NY IkueiElementary Day School.
Father 3: American father and Japanese/English bilingual mother who has twokids in Elementary school of Saturday school.
<司会 Moderator: Mr. Kozuma>Each father has a different approach on raising a bilingual child. The firstspeaker’s daughter went to Saturday school and American school from thebeginning. The second speaker’s son came to our Elementary Day school. At6th grade, he transferred to American school while attending our Saturdayschool. The third speaker’s experience is almost in-between the first twospeakers. He sent his daughters to our Day Preschool and then switched toAmerican school while attending our Saturday school. Please exchange yourideas and concerns.
<Questions & Answers>:< Question 3:>My daughter goes to regular school and Japanese Saturday school. Her profileand situations are very similar. Did any of your children ever have to take athird language at their English school and how does that affect the Japanese?
Father 1:My daughter started Spanish in middle school. She started in 4th grade. Whenshe got into middle school, she had a terrible time because her teacher wasdismissive but despite that she was able to learn Spanish without interferingwith her English or her Japanese. Now she has a Spanish teacher who shereally likes. They are getting along well. She has progressed very well inSpanish. I am sure she will be able to at least speak passible Spanish withoutany interference on her English or Japanese. Personally, I think any languageyou learn will help you as a person. It helps you understand other languages.
There are so many similarities between English and Spanish. It certainlydoesn't hurt. It definetly adds something to it.
Kozuma:I agree and I think it learning both Japanese and Spanish could be especiallyadvantageous for the child because of the similarities in pronunciation. Mychildren sound very good pronunciation in Spanish. They get good grade intheir Spanish class because of the similarities in pronouncing Spanish andJapanese words. They used to say why their classmates were having so muchtrouble pronouncing certain words in Spanish. For my children, pronouncingSpanish was much easier and natural.
Father 2:My son had a choice of Spanish or Mandarin at his middle school. He tookMandarin because he was just starting kanji at the time. There are a lot ofsimilarities with the characters and he was learning lots of words. I think it's awonderful add on to English and Japanese and great to have the ability to takeanother Asian language. If you look at European kids, they all speak three orfour languages. The capacity of how much they can learn is amazing. TheMandarin program he's in is not hardcore. He is not bored half the timebecause he already knows half the kanji and he understands it. It helps him bemore advanced. It's great to see him understand the history, culture and theChinese view of the world. They always bring something new to the lessonand it's awesome. Learning a third language is great and could be very fun.
< Question 4:>When my son was little we only talked about simple things but as he gotolder we began having more serious conversations. I focus on Japanesewith my son, which is good for me because he is bilingual but I feel a littleguilty for my husband. I feel from my husband's point of view that he feelsleft out of the conversation. Sometimes with my tone of voice, he will askwhat is going on because he thinks something serious is. Do you ever feelleft out of conversation or arguments with your families?
Father 1:I don't think it’s anything for you to worry about. If an argument occurredwhile your husband wasn't home, he wouldn't know about it anyway andyou would still have to explain it to him if it was a significant thing. I think it isa positive thing for my daughter and wife to speak Japanese and they get toa level I don't understand, which only takes about a minute. Because then, ifit's something important, my daughter has the additional practice ofexplaining to me in English of what they just discussed in Japanese. Somepeople can understand Japanese and they can understand English but theyare not good at explaining from one language to another so I think that'sactually a positive thing that she has to stop and explain it to me exactlywhat they were just talking about. I don't try to engage when they aretalking. I wouldn't try to worry about it.
Father 2:I just make sure I have my own arguments with my son and that he hasseparate arguments with his mother. We argue about different things.
I understand it so it's a little different but if your husband feels left out, youshould explain to him and give him a little download of what just happenedand went through. Sometimes it's about something like being late for schoolbut if it's something more substantial you can just explain it to your husbandand I couldn't imagine him feeling left out in that sense butI understand your situation and how there could be frustration.
< Question 5:>Earlier you have mentioned that watching Japanese TV shows and readingJapanese books and mangas are very beneficial to their learning andadvances their understanding of the Japanese language. Where do you buybooks and how much does it really help? Should I enforce more books andreading?
Father 3:If my child can't read on her own then my wife would read the books ormangas for her. You're still listening and reading along and my wife makessure she reads the contexts. It's like bilingual training. I think reading hashelped my child a lot. I know some people don't think mangas help with theireducation but it really helps.
Kozuma:There are many different genres when it comes to mangas. Some mangasare both enjoyable and educational. The best way to get them reading ontheir own is to get mangas that relate to your child's interests. There areeven mangas about sports, like tennis and baseball.
Father 2:My son has read many series of manga. My wife also exposes him toJapanese books so he still reads all the traditional Japanese tales andfables. She gets my son books and manga from Kinokuniya. She has evencollected them on her own and always goes to those book offs. We havebookshelves full of Japanese books. My wife still reads some books to myson at night, even as a thirteen-year-old. We make sure he is exposed toeverything. For bilinguals, I think speaking Japanese is the major thing. Andthen you learn how to read Japanese as the second level and then actuallytaking a piece of paper to write Japanese as a third level. Its very difficult tobe truly fluent in Japanese if you don’t at least start at a school like IKUEI. Itreally depends on your goals. If you really want your child to be fluent youhave to put in the time and effort with schools. You have to accept the levelof where you child is and watch them progress as they go to Saturdayschool. Maybe my son’s Japanese has plateaued in the sixth grade level fornow but his Saturday school is progressive and at some point beforecollege he can do a study abroad program in high school for a year to gethis Japanese back up to that level. I watched my daughter do it inJapanese, English and then Korean so there's different levels and it isextremely difficult to learn an Asian language. Once in high school, theirJapanese plateaus and will fall behind unless you really force additionalstudies, but I think they can catch up really quickly once they get to college.
I know people who have moved to Japan and actually conquered all threelevels in about 10 years and they started from zero. It’s possible and youcan do it but you really have to dedicate yourself .
(For the whole series of this round table discussion, please visit at www.JapaneseSchool.org.)＜まとめ＞今回の座談会の英語での質疑応答のまとめは NY 育英学園英語科教諭Ms. Kaimi Teschner が担当しました。長時間に渡るビデオ録画からの記録起こしを根気よくおこなって頂きました。ここに記して感謝します。Teschner 教諭は本学園 NJ キャンパスにある全日制幼児部に在籍していた元園児です。日本語と英語のバイリンガルの家庭で育った経験から、このプロジェクトの担当に適任だと思い、お願いしました。特に英語を母語とする保護者（その多くがアメリカ人の父親）へメッセージを伝えたいという今回のプロジェクトの意義に共感頂き、プロジェクトのメンバーになって頂きました。
<次回予定＞次回は卒業生から在校生後輩に向けての座談会を計画しています。お楽しみに。
Contact: JCS Saturday School NJ Director/Masahiro Kozuma 上妻雅浩