Meet one of our families and learn about the reasons, why is it so important to support bilingualism (or in this case trilingualism) with their kids.
“We are not just an American or Czech family, but a Bay area family. My husband and I come from different countries, different cultural backgrounds. He is from Spain, I am from the Czech Republic. For so many reasons, it is very important for us to pass our heritage to our children. It is important that they can speak both languages well and that they feel and live the culture too. Adding English and life in the US to the mix, one would say it could be overwhelming for a little 3 year old, but it is not at all. Our son Bruno is very excited about every event the School organizes, about every new word he learns at school and he is doing well keeping up with Czech and Spanish as well as English.
While we find plenty of support to develop our children’s Spanish, we were wondering about Czech. How can we teach Czech to our children, when only one of us knows the language? How can we ensure that they will continue to use the language and live the culture as they grow ? Two years ago, we found the answer: the Czech School of California. We were so excited to learn about the existence of a Czech School when our older son was just one year old. At that time, he was too little to join the Sluníčka class, but soon enough, at 18 months of age, he started going there every week. So quickly he made friends, started singing in Czech, grew his vocabulary and had a sense of belonging. Now that he is 3, he is a proud preschooler attending the Broučci class and slowly preparing to move on to the first grade in a couple of years.
In the mean time, Bruno’s cousins, aunt, grandma and the rest of the family enjoy conversations in Czech. My husband and I not only hope but know for a fact that both of our children will have the opportunity to continue their education in Czech for many years to come.”
Jitka, Bruno’s mom