So, we are having a baby (circa. early 2009)...
We decided right from the beginning that we would want to bring up any children bilingually in Persian and English as far as possible - now was going to be our chance to put it into practice! Living in the UK means that English will inevitably be the dominant language, and I think we are prepared for a bit of a struggle in trying to ensure that the Persian gets enough of a look-in, but we are determined to give it a try. We both agree that it is really important that our child/children is/are able to participate fully in their Iranian culture and in particular, to converse with their grandparents. I think it is sad when children are not able to at least understand their maternal/paternal language and must miss out on the intimacy we gain from speaking the same language as our family and friends. So, we are ready to give it our best shot, knowing that it will be difficult especially given that Persian (Farsi) is my husband's language, and I do not speak it well enough to be of any great use to my child (she was a daughter, N!) other than through my enthusiasm for all things linguistic and my commitment to bilingualism as an essential part of all our lives. I am the one who will be mainly at home with our daughter, although my husband is lucky to be able to work from home fairly often, allowing him extra time with N, and extra, valuable language time with her. I think for my part I will be able to encourage the language, try to make it as positive experience for N as possible, and to ensure we have plenty of additional materials to hand such as Persian-language books, DVDs etc.
My background is a language-focused one (although I can only manage to speak French with anything approaching fluency in addition to English - and my Farsi is coming along slowly, learning as a child in random bits and pieces that come up ...). I studied French and German to A-level, and spent a year in France after that, gaining firsthand experience of what it's really like trying to manage in a country where you don't have a great grasp of the lingo... I then went on to study French and Arabic at university. To my shame, my grasp of Arabic is rudimentary at best (I never could get my head round the very difficult pronunciation), but it did provide me with a good insight into learning a language with a completely different script, and left me relatively comfortable with grappling with alphabets other than our own (this has proved useful in learning and applying Farsi, for my own purpose and assisting my daughter). Since then, I've picked up bits and pieces of other languages - I'm never keen to be an Anglophone wallflower in the corner when visiting other countries - but the dominant language in my life, as well as that of my child, is now Persian, or Farsi.
Over the last two years we have watched our daughter's language(s) develop and on this blog I want to share some of the highlights - some funny bits, some challenging bits - and to reflect on how we have approached the whole bilingual business and to continue into the present to watch, wait and listen... This is going to be a largely lighthearted look at the process, but we may learn from it, and I hope I can signpost others towards some useful Persian language resources along the way. And so, here we are, with fingers crossed, hoping that the magic will work and one day our little one will trot around the globe to happily converse with her extended Persian family and friends... Let's hope so!
