Raising Bilingual Children, IT'S NOT EASY! What Worked & What DIDN'T! Kids Speak Croatian & English

[@o.k_2758]

It's so good to grow up with multiple languages! I was born in NYC so I grew up with everyone around me speaking English. But both of my parents were Estonian so they always spoke in Estonian when speaking to me. Now I can speak and write fluently in both English and Estonian.

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

That's great!! :)

[@sherinsamuel8125]

Tallin is such a beautiful place...

[@davidfletcher8335]

instaBlaster

[@aleksandarljustina978]

This is a great video. I am Croatian, raised in the US, living in China. My wife is Chinese and my daughter is doing good with both English and Chinese. She is just like yours when it comes to Croatian. She understands, but responds with this complex mix of Chinese/English/Croatian, sometimes she uses all three in a single sentence. Little kids speaking Croatian is the cutest.

[@tequilabumbum4373]

Koliko je stara vasa cerka? Da li sada bolje govori Hrvatski? Sa koliko godina bi ste rekli da je naucila tecno da govori neka od ta tri jezika?

[@aleksandarljustina978]

@@tequilabumbum4373 sad ma cetri g. A zadnju godinu Dana zivimo u HR I sad najbolje govori Hrvatski.

[@julierehoric3856]

aleksander, I just made a met a lady name Silvana and her son is the same exact

[@julierehoric3856]

Bilingual people can become certified medical translators and you can make six figures easily via computer

[@SuperPapafigo]

I was born in an bilingual family in Istria. My first language is Italian, than may parents sent me to an Croatian kindergarten to learn the language and integrate with others kids. I was 3 at the time and I can't remember not knowing both languages. After that I finished all the schools in Croatian and finally the university in Zagreb so, as you can imagine, I speak fluently Croatian, but with my parents, sister and a couple of friends cant help myself but to continuing just in Italian. Beautiful children's, sve najbolje vam želim!

[@davorlekenik9563]

Sei grande !!!👍👍

[@kirksdva8310]

Rodjen u Istri Kako Sam razumio tvoji braca I sestre I neznaju Hrvatski pa Kako zive

[@Burekpita212]

@@kirksdva8310 nije nigdje spominjao da roditelji/sestra ne znaju Hrvatski, nego jednostavno u kući pričaju Italijanski međusobno.

[@dasadasa1792]

My mother is Slovenian, and father was Croatian. For as long as I can remember, we have used both languages at home. My sister and I always spoke Croatian with father and always Slovenian with mother. It must have been so funny watching us, all seating together and talking, while me and my sister were constantly switching languages :)

[@laya911]

I absolutely love this!! I was born in Zagreb, moved to Toronto just before the war broke out. I can totally relate to this situation except when I started daycare, I was telling stories to all the children in Croatian. As time went on, I learned English but was not practising much Croatian at home. To this day, my parents speak Croatian to me and my responses are always in English lol Wish I was pushed a bit more to keep speaking Croatian but I didn't have Croatian friends or cousins around me to kinda force me to practice - everytime I come back home to visit, everyone I know there wants to speak English with me. ugh. Hoping to brush up on my language skills over the next year and watching you and your children learning is really inspiring!! :)

[@lindasejdijaj7077]

My parents spoke albanian to me from the beginning and I replied in albanian. When I was four we came to Sweden and I started school at the age of six. So, in school I spoke swedish and at home albanian. Then half a year later my dad switched all the kids channels on the tv to german ones. This, because I was born in Germany but we only lived there for a year. I asked for it because I wanted to know how to speak german. Three years later we started to learn english in school and I did. So at the age of 15 I was fluent in four languages. It took time but it worked. I have three siblings, the first one who is 1 year younger than me speaks swedish, albanian and english, and understands german. The other two are 18 and 11 and speak all of the first three languages but don't understand german. The youngest one who is 11 spoke only swedish until the age of 7 but understood albanian. Our parent's never spoke or speak anything else than albanian to us. Our parents never told us that we had to speak albanian at home. They learned swedish through us, the kids and we learnd albanian from them. I really think that If you just give kids time they will eventually start answering in the language that you speak to them. Except of the languages that I'm fluent in I understand bosnian and almost all languages that are similar to german, swedish and Bosnian. I'm not sayying that it's super easy to learn a language but rather that if you're surrounded by a lot of people that speak different languages the chance of you learning the language is big.

[@seaofroses8888]

So you learned German simply from watching German tv? Cool, but I think this doesn't work for most people. I watched Turkish series for years and learned like 5 words Lol. I have to actually study a language or speak to someone everyday in that language in order to learn.

[@ainoilona5611]

@@seaofroses8888 I think it does if you watch without subtitles. Cause when you have subtitles on you focus on them and not really the language that they’re speaking. I have studied English at school for many years now but I think how I’ve learned it the most is by watching KZbin in English without subtitles. That is how I’ve become more fluent in it and learned how to express myself more naturally.

[@seaofroses8888]

@@ainoilona5611 the fact that you studied English in school helped you more than you think. When someone tells you, this is the word and this is the translation, you are a lot more likely to recognize that word once you watch videos than if you watch having 0 knowledge of the language. In my opinion, it would take a ridiculous amount of time(years) to decipher what is being said if you watch with no subtitles from the start. You need a foundation first. Even now that I'm studying turkish I understand very little when I go no subtitles, However, my progreas these past months studying and watching has been 10x more than I learned in years of watching only.

[@seaofroses8888]

@@ainoilona5611 I’m skeptical that watching videos alone does the trick. I have watched a lot of language learning tutorials on KZbin, and I’ve never seen anyone recommend watching videos only as a good method. It would never work for me, but thanks for sharing

[@ainoilona5611]

@@seaofroses8888 Yeah, you’re right. It would take years and it’s also easier the younger you are because learning is easier when you’re younger.

[@ReginaMcDaniel]

I think the Four Walls approach makes the most sense for your family. Since the kids are heavily exposed to Croatian outside the home, it makes the most sense to speak the other language only within the home. I grew up in a bilingual family. My dad's native language is English, although he studied in a language school overseas to learn Arabic. My mom's native language is Arabic, although her side of the family also knows English, French and Italian (although not everyone spoke all of the languages fluently - different individuals spoke different combinations of the languages). I grew up predominantly with English, Arabic and French (with some Spanish and Italian influences mixed in). My mom used the OPOL approach, not because she was concerned I wouldn't learn the languages, but because she wanted me to learn accurate pronunciation. Even though my dad knew Arabic, she did not want him to always use Arabic with me as she wanted me to be able to pronounce sounds accurately and vice versa. I sound completely American when I speak English and Jordanian when I speak Arabic, so I would say she met her goal. :) Living in a mostly English language context, my English skills are the strongest, but I find it hard sometimes to only express myself in English. There are words in Arabic that I feel English does not have a strong equivalent to that I use more in my everyday vocab because I am bilingual. At home, we mix languages. Same with my mom's side of the family. It all boils down to what is going to be functional for you as a family and what skills you want for your children. The early years can be hard (one of my little cousins refused to speak Arabic when she was young as they were living in Canada - it's better now, but she still prefers English), but keep doing what works and keep encouraging them to appreciate both as they get older. :)

[@peterstewart4580]

That’s awesome!!! You’re doing an incredible job!!

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

[@davorlekenik9563]

@@RoyalCroatianTours iz kojeg kanadskog grada dolazite,ako nije tajna ??

[@ivancosic5451]

Burlington, Ontario

[@stevensgirl85]

I am Canadian too with no Croatian roots as far as I know.. you are doing a great job! It inspires me to learn more. Thanks you for sharing !

[@shanias.3915]

They are so stinking cute. My future husband is Hispanic, and our family will certainly grow up speaking, reading & writing both 🥰

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Thank you! Yes, knowing both parents' languages is important :)

[@realtalk675]

Thats so cute

[@jaskobut9335]

Understanding a language is easier then speaking it. With a lot of TV programs and especially cartoons being in English on Croatia TV must help a lot, they can hear and follow the language but getting them to speak Englsih is most important where they have to learn pronouncing words and forming sentences naturally . The earlier the better. Great job and the kids are too cute.

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Thank you so much!

[@katrinastewart5456]

I grew up bilingually (English and Dutch) and realised the advantages from an early age. When I had kids of my own I was living in Norway with Dutch husband . I spoke English with the kids and Dutch with my husband, while he spoke Dutch with the kids. Living in Norway we knew that that language would become their main language, as school and peers/friends will decide that. We have four kids and they all responded in their own way. Child one used correct language with respective parent, but switched to replying in Norwegian from age 13. Child two only spoke English to start with, then only replied in Norwegian at home and eventually started using English at home again when he wanted to improve his English. Child three consequently spoke Norwegian at home until he was 17 and Child 4 started using both Dutch and English at home from the age of about 13. The kids are young trilingual adults now. They speak Norwegian amongst themselves. We speak English, Dutch and Norwegian to each other, without thinking about it. We do notice train carriages falling silent when we travel together, as people around us whisperingly try to figure out where we are from!

[@michikuji298]

i'm bilingual twin. my mum is japanese and my dad is polish and we live in Poland. my mum speak to me only in japanese and yes, she was also pretending that she doesn't know polish (she didn't have to pretend that much haha) and now we fluently speak japanese and polish (and english 😏) i'm very grateful that my mum didn't give up and kept speaking in japanese to us. because even if we don't speak polish that well until we are in kindergarten or school, kids around us will speak in polish and we will naturally learn it.

[@dora125]

Oh my god! Glad to see another Slavic-Japanese mix :D My mom is Japanese, dad Croatian and my parents kept talking to me in their mother tongues. I also added English for myself later so now I am fluently trilingual :))

[@michikuji298]

@@dora125 hi! i'm working on being trilingual ;D

[@dora125]

@@michikuji298 High five to fellow multilingual! ;D

[@sassan7278]

Just curious, how did your family communicate, when you and both of your parents are talking together at a table, when your mom pretended not to understand your dad?

[@kaoutermouslimhaliba7145]

My nephew had his mom speaking with him in Spanish, we are from Spain but with Arab background. Since my sister spoke only in Spanish he never wanted to speak in Moroccan /Arab. The rest of us would talk to him in Moroccan /Arab so he understood everything perfectly in spite of not talking back in that same Language. So one time he travelled to Morocco to visit extended family and he realised he had no choice and that was the first time he spoke in Arabic. From there it was easier for us to make him speak. Later on he travelled to France because my sister got work there and now he speaks three languages pretty fluently.

[@dfensy1]

Stvarno ne znam kako sam završio na ovom YT kanalu jer ovo nije content koji inače pratim, ali od kada sam pogledao prvi video samo sam nastavio pratiti. Sarah, ovako preko ekrana, ima neku odličnu karizmu, rekli bi: "Its hard to look away" i ne bi se čudio da je uskoro gledamo i na velikom ekranu!! Čiča miča, gotova je priča... hahhahahaa komedijašica mala :D

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Puno hvala na lijepim rijecima :)

[@Mesko035]

Ja sam isto slučajno naletio i nije mi žao. Zanimljivo i dobro odrađeno. Pohvala!

[@marijagraso1756]

Fenomenalno, love it ! You guys are great. Volimo vas youtube kanal. Samo napred ! Hvala za posting ☺

[@evataler9909]

presamodopadna je , priča 109 na sat. uglavnom dosadna

[@ea5744]

im trying to learn Croatian and Croatia is my dream country so i started watch your videos. Then im also a mother from Asia and my husband is Caribbean and we hope my kids learn both language. This video is help me a lot. thank you

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

:) No problem!

[@TheLnGirl]

I had a teacher who's whole family moved from Korea to Croatia. Both him and his wife Korean, with 3 kids ages pre-school to 4th grade (around that). None of them spoke any Croatian prior to coming here, but kids are little sponges and month into their move their kids where singing Croatian children songs. Kids are often very good about this, us adults struggle more. From converstaions eith them the key is to find a good school that will accomodate kids during the initial struggles. (They also obviously speak Korean, since that is ther "home" language) Hope that helps too

[@ProIvanPro]

How did you find out about Croatia and what made you like it so much that it became your dream country?

[@AK-ij1ll]

Croatia is a racist society and there are no immigrants, think twice about moving to Croatia or any Eastern European country

[@CrvenkapicaIVZNG]

@@AK-ij1ll Das sagt ein serbischer Nationalist (AK 47), nachdem es den Serben - Trotz 70 Jahre Unterdrückung - nicht gelungen ist Kroatien zu unterjochen. Das sagt ein Serbischer Nationalist, nachdem es den Serben nicht gelungen ist, die Völker um Serbien herum auszurotten. Das sagt "AK 47" übrigens das Synonym für "Avtomat Kalasnikova" oder Russisch Автома́т Кала́шникова. Also das Synonym für die "Schurkenwaffe", mit der die Serben versucht haben ihre Nachbarn auszurotten und das nicht nur in Kroatien, sondern auch in Bosnien, Hercegovina , Kosovo einfach in der ganzen Gegend um Serbien herum. Ich nennen nur zwei Orte des Grauens, welches die Serben an ihren Nachbarn begangen haben. SREBRENICA und VUKOVAR! Auf der Balkanhalbinsel gibt es kein nationalistischeres, kein rassistischeres Volk, als es die Serben sind. This is what a Serbian nationalist (AK 47) says after the Serbs failed to subjugate Croatia despite 70 years of oppression. This is what a Serbian nationalist says after the Serbs failed to exterminate the peoples around Serbia. This is what "AK 47" says, by the way, the synonym for "Avtomat Kalasnikova" or Russian Автома́т Кала́шникова. So the synonym for the 'rogue weapon' with which the Serbs have tried to exterminate their neighbours, not only in Croatia, but also in Bosnia, Hercegovina , Kosovo simply in the whole area around Serbia. I mention only two places of horror that the Serbs have committed to their neighbours. SREBRENICA and VUKOVAR! There is no more nationalist, more racist people in the Balkan Peninsula than the Serbs. Da smo mi Hrvati rasisticko drustvo, o tome nas poducava "AK 47", ocigledno Srbin. Potomak i pripadnik otomanskih hordi, koje su igrom slucaja Turci zaboravili na Balkanu. Pripadnik etnije, koja nakon objelodanjena "Nacrtanija" ima samo jedan cilj. Cil iztrijebiti sve svoje susjede, koji se ne zele posrbiti. Na "Balkanskom Poluotoku" nema etnije koja je ili u proslosti ili danas bila u toj mjeri rasisticka ili nacisticka kao sto je to Srbija. Od onog dana, od kan ih je Osmansko Carstvo zaboravilo na Balkanu pa do danas.

[@TheTasha83]

Jako mi se sviđaju tvoji videi, klinci su preslatki i mislim da je fenomenalno da klinci tako rano uče što više jezika jer lako upijaju kao male spužvice. Svaka čast kako dobro govoriš hrvatski, hrvatski je težak jezik za naučiti pogotovo strancima, tako da BRAVO samo tako nastavi. I love english language and have been learning english since elementary school but I don’t have a lot opportunity to speak in english so after this pandemic subsides or at least when we all get vaccinated I would love to meet you and get coffee with you and speak in english. I’m born and raised here in Zagreb. Keep up the good work with the videos I really enjoyed them.🤗🤗

[@thatgirlblack]

My parents each spoke their own language to me as a kid and apparently I started speaking as if both were one language (mixing words in one sentence) and it apparently took a couple years until I completely differentiated the languages. Now I have no problem speaking either.

[@elsol777]

Omg me too!

[@denisehoenjet3024]

I haf a linguistic class years ago and was told that this was the best way to be raised bilingual

[@carinachristel8563]

My daughter is doing the same! Sadly my husband doesn't speak.my native tongue (German) so we have to use the O.P.O.L. She is 4 now and English is in the forefront a lot... It's hard for her to communicate with my family back home so I totally would change to the 4 walls approach if I could! Your kids are awesome! Way to go!

[@akinom91]

Me too... I started to speak relatively late (around 2-3), but in both languages at same time, almost completely separating them. My mother knew 1, father 2. Although the mother language was used by everyone in the family, I grew up learning, thinking, dreaming, counting etc in my father's language. Mother's language was my 2nd mother tongue and national language. I pretty much hated learning 2 more languages in school (English and French), and ironically now I did not speak mother's language fluently for 6 years almost, only very little, occasionally, and English replaced it (maybe not in vocabulary, but in everyday use and speed of thinking during communication for sure). I moved to my father's language country, husband is local. I am quite worried, that my children probably will not speak one of their roots language. :( Schooling multilingual is also important.

[@jessicaely2521]

@@akinom91 I know this is old and maybe things have gotten better for you. If not something my husband and I did was we would get flash cards and I would say the English word and he would say the Basel German word (this is a dialect of German). With ordinary household things, counting, colors, ABC's, etc we would do the same. Our daughter started saying both words when speaking. I caught her practicing counting in bed. It was one eins, two zwei, etc. My daughter is 3.5 and has dropped saying both words to everything. We live in Basel Switzerland so my daughter hears Basel German from my mother in law, husband, and outside world (it was difficult to get her to speak English). My daughter never went to school. I know I was in way lucky. My daughter was starting to speak right when the pandemic started and my husband got to work from home, so this was easy for us to do.

[@sonja8282]

Your kids are super cute. Awesome job with teaching them both languages. Bravo!!!! .... Predivna porodica! Volim gledati vas kanal. Uvijek je nesto novo i zanimljivo. 💕

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Puno hvala, Sonja!

[@nickyschmidt2814]

I so get all this. I'm Irish, living in France and always intended to only speak English to my 3 kids. But they always answered me in French and after many years of constantly being angry (cause they wouldn't reply in English, or because I was speaking in French), I decided that life is too short to be permanently cranky with them. My husband's Engish is really bad, so all speaking English was not an option, the home langage is therefore French (as is school, friends, sports etc). I just had to get used to the idea that they had the basics and we could go from there. I always read to them in English and they watched english language DVDs rather than TV. Communication with my family was never very natural, however my 20 and 23 yr old daughters are now pretty fluent in English, and both are following studies/careers fully related to English. My 17 yr old son is not so great, but better than most kids his age who don't have English at home.

[@sofiamichalopoulou4883]

I can totally understand the feeling of pressure and responsibility about learning our mother language to our kids. You are doing an excellent job. I raise two bilingual boys (French and Greek) in France and I know that this is not an easy task! Congratulations for what are you doing!

[@sonjapapaglastras7729]

I do so understand you. I am Dutch and live in Greece. In our house, I always spoke Dutch to my kids and my husband and MIL Greek. This method worked well with my son, at 2 years he could already interprete between my parents and Greek relatives. But with my daughter it didn;t work She understood me, but never spoke a word of Dutch until she was about 10. But we should know that first you Listen, and then you Speak.That's how kids learn to speak all over the world. The result of kids being bi-language is that they understand the whole structure of different languages easier. Now my kids are adults and they each speak 4 languages fluently. So don't dispair, it will come. Love you!

[@matz8270]

Well, I think it is completely normal for you to wish your kids speak both languages. And, they are in the right age to do so, which is evident from your video. Through clips of your kids speaking both languages, I can see how much love and effort you are (both) giving to them. Your work is very refreshing in these "privacy feared" times, and, Croatia being so small country as is, it would not be a miracle if we stumble upon each other one day... Great job, as ussual! :)

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Thank you Mario! :)

[@jelashix8385]

Pozdrav. Jako zanimljiv video i iskustvo. Moje licno je npr. ona prva verzija koju ste pokusali. Naime, bila sam 2g. dadilja u Svicarskoj, majka je govorila hrvatski, tata njemacki a moj zadatak je bio malenu uzrasta 2g. nauciti engleski. Na pocetku sam se bojala u nekim situacijama kad smo bile vani da me nece razumjeti pa sam govorila hrvatski pa prevodila na engleski :) posle nekih pola godine sam se skroz prebacila na engleski i dosta dobro ga je savladala. Inace, ona je bez greske znala sa kim koji jezik treba pricati i nikada nas nije pomijesala. Sa tatom je samo njemacki pricala, sa mamom hrvatski a sa mnom engleski. Cak je i sa bakom na madjarskom komunicirala, doduse nije ga puno pricala ali ju je sve razumjela. Ne znam je li mala samo genije za jezike ili su jednostavno kod nje taj pristup i podjela savrseno legli. Ali bas mi je interesantno cuti i za ovakve druge nacine. Lijepi pozdrav

[@Ctewa01]

I grow up in Italy, so I was surrounded by Italian speaking people. My mum is Russian, and was really hard for her to teach me Russian because as a kid it didn't make sense to me to learn it, I thought only my mum spoke it. Even if it wasn't easy for both of us, now that I know the value of knowing different languages, I am glad that she tried everything to teach me that language.

[@tequilabumbum4373]

So you do speak Russian right now?

[@ItsJustFashion]

I think it's great to teach children other languages as soon as possible because they will learn it as a second mother language, which will help them to learn even more languages when they get older, not to mention how their brains will function better!

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Absolutely!

[@vlntd5221]

I am a bilingual child. My parents spoke Serbian with me at home, but outside in public and at school I spoke German. Both languages are fluent and without accent. Of course, one language is usually easier than the other (in my case German). But that's because I live in Germany and speak German every day. But apart from the languages, the most beautiful thing is the difference in culture. You combine two worlds and you take the best of both worlds. You will see when your kids are older that it will be more and more beautiful! :)

[@nevencuca1680]

I can relate to that, though I learned German first as a 12 year old. As a kid I needed just a year there to be fluent without any accent. Then both English and German helped me to learn basics of Danish but I never learned to speak it because I moved out of Denmark, but if I stayed, though 30+, I could’ve learn it in another year. So I really think it is not important how old you are as long as you are exposed to culture speaking different language.

[@1alojzije]

Hi! I am a Australian with Croatian parents living in Canada. I have been living in Canada for 6 years now and I really miss speaking in Croatian to my parents and their friends. Your channel brings a lot of nostalgia and happiness. Your Croatian is amazing! I have really come to appreciate the language now that I barely use it. Hvala za tvoja video! Bas me donosi me radost!

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Aww, thanks for your lovely comment :)

[@tatumhamernik]

Your kids are adorable! Really enjoyed this video. You do a great job of flawlessly editing your videos. For being such a new channel your videos seem so professionally made. Love that every video is informative but also very interesting. Can’t wait to watch more! Thank you for making these

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Aww, thanks so much for your kind words Tatum!

[@veronikamarsland]

Fantastic job. Thank you for sharing the ups and downs. Are there any approaches for a situation when you're the only speaker of your language? We live in Canada but I'm from Slovakia. My husband can only speak English.

[@johnnycroat]

I never thought of it before. As a Croatian kid growing up in Canada, my parents would speak to me in Croatian and i would respond back in English

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Hahah the opposite problem I was having with my kids! :)

[@magicmike_]

@johnnycroat SAME

[@Zeljana93]

Same with my daughter. Still struggling to make her say anything in Croatian even though she understands a lot.

[@a.r.4707]

Are you still responding in english?

[@johnnycroat]

@@a.r.4707 I am quite grown up now...trying to speak as much croatian as I can with my dad. struggle trying to find the right words at times. my dad now responds to me in english , speaks english to his croatian wife and she does not speak english he lives now in croatia

[@poechristhemfitz]

I was raised in the US until I was three, with an American father and an Austrian mother. I understood both languages but when we moved to Austria I refused to speak German for the first few months, then I was able to switch effortlessly between the two. Now I have a 2-month-old and intend to raise him bilingually as well, as the English language is very dear to my heart. Everyone has been telling me that I have to be very strict about only speaking English with him and my partner only German. Thank you for this video!! I will definitely put more thought and research into this.

[@Pepa14pig]

It’s amazing that they speak both languages so well! I’ve seen kids that parents tried to teach english while they still haven’t spoken much croatian and now they have a problem because children don’t want to speak croatian at all...

[@kateincroatia8724]

You are becoming a language acquisition expert, my dear! Love the bit about your kids not thinking you speak Croatian and congratulating you when you do. Hilarious!

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

:D they're hilarious. Olivia is starting to catch on!

[@letti811]

It was such an amazing to see how your children are actually became bilingual. Congratulations, good job, bravo. 🙂

[@rilviatetzer4728]

I grew up in germany and my parents spoke only in croatian till i went to kindergarden with three years. as a kid it was easy to pick up the second language (which was germany that time). now things changed and im better in german than in my mothertongue. i started to reduce my "linguistic deficits" on croatian by reading shallow novels :)

[@remigonthier5945]

Hi Sarah, I came across your videos when my partner and I decided to plan a holiday in Croatia this summer. I really enjoyed watching your videos about all the beautiful sights of Croatia and its language. The video that I wanted to react to was the one about bringing up children bilingually. It was really interesting to read about your experience and decisions. I wanted to share my experience with you which you may - or may not! - find interesting. I am a French national and came to England to live with my now ex-wife 20 years ago. We have 2 children, 11 and 14. I am a keen linguist and for me it was crucial for my children to speak French and now about their French heritage. I also wanted to be able to always be able to speak to them in my own tongue, without having to think, that's why we didn't go for the 4 walls approach. We are lucky enough to be able to go back to France twice a year and I therefore wanted my children to be able to communicate with my family over there too. We used the one parent, one language approach quite strictly. To this day, I only speak English to the children when we are in an exclusively English-speaking environment, eg. with a group of English friends. I also made a conscious effort to buy French children's books, DVDs and CDs, to show them French TV shows. We also try to speak to my family online regularly. I was fortunate because the children's mum speaks fluent French so it was easy to make it our second family language. I was worried because when they were young, whilst they understood French fluently, the children spoke very little French to me. I persevered and it's only when they turned 9-10 or so that they started speaking French more confidently and spontaneously. Their mum and I are now separated so when they are with me, French is the main language they hear and they are speaking it more and better and I am now seeing the fruit of my efforts! Anyway, I was really interested to hear about the approach and am sure it will work brilliantly for your 3 little ones. Keep the video coming! Rémi

[@samobozja9086]

Gospođo vi simpatični, u očima vam se vidi pozitiva i radost. Djeca ijako mala lijepo odgojena. Vi ,Ivan djeca ,baka i dida prekrasna i sretna obitelj. Mogli biste biti dobra promotorica za Hrvatsku. Hvala 🌹👏🏻.

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Puno vam hvala na prekrasnim rijecima

[@enriqueinfante2028]

Oh my God! What a heavy job! congrats to you both ...or I would say four! I´m an english translator and I´ve been trying to find the way to teach english to my grandchildren just by talking to them, but it´s very very difficult. The fact that we linve in a country where English is not spoken by almost anyone. So it is quite a hard work to inspire the to speak english. It´s been a pleasure tu get to know you! my son is getting married with a croatian girl in august ,so i´m studying croatian right now! Go on delivering videos about languaje in croatia, they are very very usefull to me! i´m Claudia from Argentina. Bye!

[@ceca77789]

You're really doing a great job! I'm a single mother living with my 4y old son in Switzerland. So he's speaking German/Swiss German outside the house and Serbian/Croatian with me and our family. And by watching different cartoons on yt he's also learning to speak English. I'm so happy and proud seeing him making such progress in this area as I myself love being able to understand and speak all those languages (more or less^^) Soon he'll learn at least English and French at school as I did myself. A great tool to see the world and get to know different countries, people and cultures. I like your yt channel, you got a new follower. :)

[@jamesebola1250]

Children are like sponges. They don't question or complain that something is too hard. When I was a young boy, I lived on island Vis (Dalmatia), and spoke local dialect and Italian. In school official language was Serbo-Croatian, with Latin alphabet. My grandmother lived in Slovenia, near Austrian and Hungarian border. I would spend my summers there, speaking Slovenian, German and Hungarian. In the 4th grade we were taught how to read and write in Cyrillic alphabet. In the 5th grade we had to pick 2 foreign languages. I picked English and Russian. Page forward...I ended up coming to USA, marrying great American lady and starting family. My wife quickly gave up trying to learn Croatian. She thought it was too hard. My children speak it, with cute English accent. They started off with some juicy Croatian swear words (my bad for not paying attention) and progressed from here.

[@Renkk17]

Zelim vam puno zdravlje i srece! I was born in Croatia, but my family moved to Canada when I was only 4 years old, I learned English in school and it's my main language now, but I would still speak Croatian to my parents and their Croatian friends....although there are some words that I've forgotten after all these years, I know if I was back there it would all come back to me....I've only been back home when I was 10 and 15 years old, that was a long time ago! I'm amazed at how well you picked up the language, you're doing a great job and your children picked up both quickly!

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Hvala vam puno! :) sve najbolje i vama!

[@Antonia-uc1iv]

My father grew up speaking italian with my grandparents here in the german speaking part of switzerland and he speaks it sooo well! But one of the main reasons was probably bc my grandparents didn't speak any german back then and my father could only reply in italian in order to communicate and i think acting like you don't know any croatian was the best decision you could ever make!

[@angeladobromislic9521]

Bravo svi ste predivni puno srece svima i neka vas dragi Bog blagoslovi.

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Hvala! 🥰🥰

[@SuperIraklion]

Gospodjo ovo je fantasticno. Vi bi mogli da drzite on lajn casove Englesko- Hrvatskog jezika. Mnogo bi pomogli i nama da ucimo od vas.

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Hvala! :)

[@mikasadaiki702]

Valjda satove, a ne časove.

[@SuperIraklion]

@@mikasadaiki702 Pa mi iz Beograda kazemo casove. No svejedno je razumemo se.

[@mikasadaiki702]

@@SuperIraklion ok. Oprostite

[@CrvenkapicaIVZNG]

@@SuperIraklion @SuperIraklion mi se - a to se jasno vidi - nikad nismo razumileli. Da smo se razumijeli, Vukovar i Srebrenica se nikad nebi bili dogodili.

[@gob8399]

My kids learnt 2 languages parallel. They are really bilingual now but at the age of 3 nobody could understand their language which was mix of two languages words and grammars. But it was also one parent- one language, and not to give up because it is sometimes easier.

[@cynthiariostonc9875]

I am a spanish speaker, mother of a 5 yo toddler living in Croatia fo more than 8 years, husband is Croatian as well. From the day he was born, i spoke to him in Spanish only, same as tv and songs( I don't really know any croatian kids songs) and in my case was the opossie, he would understand Croatian but he wouldnt speak or he will mix it, he will reply only in spanish or 98% in spanish. I was not really worried about the Croatian language because i knew he would speak it as soon as he started kindergarten. It was very important for me that my son comunicates with my family, so i tried to maximize the use of spanish, i got a little bit worried before he started kindergarten, thinking that the teta wouldn't understand him. 2 weeks after he started school he was already speaking croatian. He did stop using spanish, and i was so frustating, so i decided to tell him that i dont understand him when he spoke croatian, so he was forced to talked to me in spanish. We have that struggle but i do see he is using his spanish better, so right know he knows that with tata is croatian and with mama is spanish.

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

That's great and really cute!! Thanks for sharing, Cynthia!

[@bozidarbiskup4552]

First of all a big hallo from PrinceRupert,BC from. Extremely proud Canadian and Croatian.. almost everyone know that in my adopted home of 12-13 k people. Sarah, I’m totally in love with yours super sweet videos. Still can’t believe it that something like exists. It’s so beautiful to see my home town Zagreb,Croatia and the people through the eyes of an Canadian. You are such a wonderful family and watching yours videos my heart gets melted. For now just sending you my best wishes and love from one of the most beautiful place on earth, northern BC. Thank you so much and keep up your good work. Bob

[@eltonsalvador7620]

I notice in their early stages, they have a slight croatian accent when talking in english, but little by little it starts to disappear, in the end though they will be fluent in croatian and english, spanish was my first language and when I started learning english at school, my spanish accent was still there, but overtime that accent went away and now i am fluent in both

[@maximilianstarcevic3669]

I was born in France from croatian's dad and mum, they use to speak croatian at home and i was answering french...so i understood 100% croatian language, but spoke in french...and wasn't able to speak correctly my mother's language. Later, as young adult, i had to relearn everything and it was...easy because of the understanding which is the most important think...Your kids gonna learn English at school and you'll see, it will be so natural for them and at that time, they will be able to speak, to answer in english...dont worry ! Nemoj se sikirati, sve ce biti u redu na kraju ! Bok !

[@martina1642]

Draga Saro ja Vam se zaista divim kako ste postigli da djeca pričaju dva jezika. Vjerujem da nije bilo lako u početku, ali evo Vi ste dokaz da uz dobar trud se sve može,i evo rezultat je tu. Vi odlicno pričate hrvatski jezik, nemate uopće puno onaj engl. naglasak, sve lijepo izgovarate,bravo. Vaša obitelj,muž,svekrva,svekar, mogu biti ponosni što imaju tako lijepu i pametnu snaju. Super da djeca pričaju i engl, mada uče ga i u školi i većina mladi ljudi u Hr znaju engl.To je baš važno da djeca govore oba jezika, baš kad idu u Kanadu da mogu pričati sa svojim rodjacima,bakom,djedom. Super su svi videi,neki dan sam otkrila i pretplatila se na Vaš kanal.Lijepi ste Saro i simpaticni, postigli ste super rezultat sa jezicima. 😀🥰

[@branislavkonjevic9159]

You're a wonderful mom! Of course, your kids are too. I can imagine how hard it feels when your kids can't speak with your closest ones and other relatives. Seven of my cousins are born in other countries. Two are born in Germany to my uncle, three are the kids of my aunt. Finally, the last two are born in Australia. It was so funny listening to one of them calling a rooster "muška kokoš." :) Right now - he speaks Croatian almost perfectly. Since our language isn't exactly global, it wasn't a school where he learned the language. When your children start to learn English in school - it's possible that they will teach a teacher how to speak fluently. ;)

[@NiNkYWiNkY]

Thank you for sharing!! I couldn't picture the difficulties of raising children in bilingual environment until this clip.

[@Valnjes]

Well, my cousin is born in Austria, her mom is Croatian and dad Austrian. Her dad never speaks Croatian, but he understands (now) everything, and he uses some Croatian when they come to Croatia, like "Molim jedno piva i jedno cevapi", besides that - he dont use it. My cousin learned Croatian with her mom and our Croatian family. But still its not perfect, its hard for her - she gets confused with genders, like "ja sam bio u trgovina", instead "ja sam bila u trgovini", but we all get it what she says. On the other side, i was growing up in Croatia, learning German besides her. I speak it fluently, but still get confused on the German grammar, because im used to think and write in Croatian and English, and German is so similar to English, so i always get confused with some words. But yeah, Bilingual is great for kids and it will help them in the future.

[@olympicsongcontest7117]

For me it was very simple. My parents do not speak English, but back in the early 00s a lot of the "good" cartoons were only available in English and there were no Croatian subs so basically I learned English and Croatian simultaneously from like age 3. Now I am at the point where I don't speak Croatian or English well🤣 it's more of a Crenglish now

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Hahah that's great!

[@MB-dg3lr]

I'm Croatian, living in Denmark, most of my work is in English. And sometimes, I can't remember a word in any language. I call it By-lingual 🤣🤣

[@KarLa-wk8ne]

Our kids grew up in different english and german speaking countries. We always spoke in the house the opposite of the language that was spoken outside, school, kindergarten.....their father is American I'm German. This system worked very well for us. The first years they mixed things up but after starting school they learned to separate the languages better. During Highschool where they were required to take a foreign language, we actually encouraged them to take a different language again (french and spanisch). This was another enrichment of their knowledge. I would always do all this the same way again.

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Thanks for your comment!

[@rudyzoro]

Awesome! Congratulations! So nice to see happy people raising happy children. God bless. Cestitke od srca!

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Thank you so much!

[@sunnyb7228]

This is quite impressive! Your children are able to speak each language without inserting English words when they speak Croatian and vice versa.

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Yes! At first there was a lot of mixing, but it didnt' take long for them to straighten everything out in their heads :)

[@pera_peric]

It must be great to grow up bilingual! Teaching your children both languages is one of the greatest gifts you could give them! Pozdrav iz Srbije

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Absolutely!! Pozdrav iz Hrvatske :)

[@helgaioannidis9365]

My children are perfectly bilingual in German and Greek. We live in Greece and I'm German. I started speaking German from the day they were born. As my husband doesn't speak German, our family language is Greek. When we are all together we speak Greek. When I'm speaking to my children alone I usually speak German. Sometimes they are lazy and answer in Greek, but I just kept speaking German. We have lots of German books and DVDs, which helped a lot. And here in Rhodes we have an association called SPOR that is actually a conglomerate of associations of different groups that wanted to teach their children their mother tongue. They have sections for English, German, French, Swedish, Finnish, Italian, Spanish and Dutch. My children go there twice a week and they learned reading and writing and are now preparing to giving their language exams that give them access to the German educational system. It's a lot of work in the first years until the children feel really at home in their second language. Later it comes naturally.

[@marcomarco7212]

Divna obitelj , puno srece i uspjeha.

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Puno hvala Marko!

[@rachelkirby1075]

My husband and I are American but all 4 of our kids were born in Italy. We did the four walls approach, but our kids know that we both speak Italian (with a funny accent they say) because whenever we are outside of our home (even if it is just us) we speak Italian. We are out a lot and they go to school here so they have always been fluent in both languages from when they started talking, and the locals tell us that they have the local Italian accent. It probably helps that they don’t get English from anybody else here because for the longest time we didn’t know any other English native speakers here and still rarely see any.

[@TheSpookyDuke]

Croatian from Slovenia, my family spoke only Croatian at home and us kids Slovenian with everyone else. Worked just fine. Interesting fact: my borther and I - we speak Croatian between each other while surrounded with other/Slovenian people, unless of course in a multiple interaction, that would be rude. Being bilingual is a powerful feeling! Kudos for your channel, it's great!

[@MarijaCZadar]

I really love your videos. When I start watching, I just have to watch them all the way to the end. The way you speak is very clear and immersive for the listener, you know how to express really well and relatable. I am Croatian and live in Croatia, and I've recommended your channel to my cousin who lives in the US. She grew up bilingually, spoke mostly English but as she got older, Croatian became more and more interesting. Especially since her parents speak a strong Dalmatian dialect, so standard Croatian - the one you are using so eloquently - is like a whole new language to her. And to see you master it so well; we are both in awe :) Keep up the good work with the videos!

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Hi Marija, thank you so much for your sweet words! I'm so happy you're enjoying our videos :D Pozdrav iz Zagreba!

[@elviraangyal1005]

Iskreno vjerujem da će biti odlični u oba jezika. Djeca su kao spužve i brzo upijaju sve oko sebe. Samo opušteno i uživajte u procesu! ❤️

[@abraxxas2013]

I was raised bilingual by a German father and an Italian mother in Germany (one parent-one language) and it went perfectly well. Then I married an Italian man in Italy and had two children, but I wasn't as lucky as you, because neither my husband, nor any of his relatives knew any German, and therefore at home we had to speak Italian. At first I tried German with the children, but since I was the only one and they knew that I could speak Italian, too, they never made an effort. Anyway, later they learned it at school and now they really speak it well.

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Yes, it makes it hard when you're the only one speaking the other language!! Glad they learned it though, and speak it well :)

[@barbararoman2945]

Well done! Your family is a delight

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Thank you!!

[@Legitch]

As someone who majored in English and linguistics I find this endlessly fascinating. Also, Olivia's accent is perfect. She's gonna ace English at school. Good job.

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Aww, thank you so much Domagoj!

[@omarcruz6326]

Hello. Your strategy of pretending to have forgotten the local language worked very well ! 👏 I am happy for you, for your kids and for all your family. Greetings from Belgium.

[@hanna_high_on_life]

This is so fascinating. Kids are such quick learners and amazingly adaptable. My son who's 2,5 now speaks Finnish and English. I'm Finnish, my husband's Indian and we live in Finland. Our son has been learning the two languages quite equally and switches between them easily. Sometimes he likes me to speak or read English to him even when his daddy isn't around. And he often tells us things in both our languages separately because he thinks we don't understand otherwise (which in my husband's case is often true, he doesn't know much Finnish). I'm also a kindergarten teacher and most of my students have something else than Finnish as their mother tongue, yet they start picking up the language in a couple of months.

[@CrvenkapicaIVZNG]

Chapeau! I to do poda gospodo. Ja sam igrom slucaja zavrsio na vasem kanalu. Naslov jednog vaseg snimka glasio je „Hat mich Kroatien verändert“. Zanimalo me je kako - iz koje perspektive - Njemica ili Austrijanka vidi i gleda Hrvatsku. Ja od djetinjstva zivim u Njemackoj. Moja Zena je po rodenju Nemica. Duhom je vise mjesavina izmedu Hugenota i Ceha. Otvoreno receno, ocekivao sam plavusu iz njemackog govornog podrucja. Bio sam iznenaden sresti Kanadanku (iako samo virtualno). No iznenadenju je slijedilo odusevljenje. Hvala vam gospodo, vi kao „native speaker“, vi, koja niste rodena u Hrvatskoj, vi ste i tekako pozvana strancima, ali i nama rodenim Hrvaticama i Hrvatima, pokazati Hrvatsku iz perspektive, koju mi „domoroci“ nikad necemo moci zauzeti. Kaj se tice visejezicnosti, ta visejezicnost seze daleko dalje od ciste verbalne komuikacije. Ta visejezicnost (govorim iz vlastitog izkustva) tek nam omogucava pogled na svijet, pogled na ljude i dogadaje iz razlicitih perspektiva. Tek ta visejezicnost doslovce nam omogucava zauzeti potpuno drugi stav gledista. Svaki jezik kojim raspolazemo otvara nam prozor u jos jedan daljni svijet. Drago mi je vidjeti vas, vasu djecu, vasu obitelj. Chapeau Madame. Durch Zufall bin ich auf Ihren Kanal geraten. Einer Ihrer Beiträge trug einen deutschen Titel „Hat mich Kroatien verändert“. Neugierig darauf, wie - aus welcher Perspektive - eine Deutsche, oder eine Österreicherin Kroatien sieht, Kroatien betrachtet, habe ich das Video gestartet. Ich lebe seit meiner Kindheit in Deutschland. Meine Frau ist durch ihre Geburt Deutsche. Ihr Wesen jedoch ist mehr eine Mischung aus Hugenotten und Tschechen. Offen gesagt, habe ich bei Ihnen eine Blondine erwartet, die dem deutschsprachigen Raum entstammt. Ich war überrascht, einer Kanadierin zu begegnen (wenn auch nur virtuell). Die Überraschung jedoch wich sehr schnell der Begeisterung. Danke für ihre Beiträge auf diesem Kanal. Sie als „native speaker“, Sie, die Sie nicht in Kroatien geboren worden sind, gerade Sie sind dazu berufen, sowohl Fremden, wie auch uns „Einheimischen“ Kroatien aus einer anderen, aus einer unvoreingenommenen Perspektive zu zeigen. Einer Perspektive, die wir als Einheimischen niemals einnehmen können. Denn wir sind Kroatien gegenüber immer voreingenommen. Egal, wie weit und wie lange wir von Kroatien entfernt sind. Unsere Seele weilt immer dort unser Herz schlägt immer nur dort. Was nun die Mehrsprachigkeit anbelangt, diese Mehrsprachigkeit geht weit, sehr weit über die reine Verbalkommunikation hinaus. Diese Mehrsprachigkeit - zu der Sie ihre Kinder erziehen - eröffnet uns eine andere Art des Sehens/Betrachtens, des Denkens. Ermöglicht uns die Welt, die Dinge und die Ereignisse und die Menschen aus einer anderen - als nur der eigenen - Perspektive zu sehen, zu betrachten, zu beurteilen. Ermöglicht uns einen anderen Standpunkt anzunehmen. Jede Sprache, die wir beherrschen, öffnet uns ein Fenster in eine andere, eine neue Welt. Erst wenn wir in einer Sprache unvermittelt denken, fühlen und empfinden können, können wir die „Welt“ verstehen, in der diese Sprache entstanden ist. Erst dann sind wir fähig, diese betreffende „Welt“ von innen heraus zu betrachten, zu verstehen. Ansonsten bleiben wir für immer ein Fremder, ein außenstehender Beobachter. Chapeau Madame. By chance, I came across your channel. One of your posts had a German title. Curious about how - from what perspective - a German, or an Austrian, sees Croatia, is looking at Croatia, I started the video. I have lived in Germany since I was a child. My wife is German by her birth. Their essence, however, is more a mixture of Huguenots and Czechs. Frankly, I was expecting a blonde from the German-speaking world. I was surprised to meet a Canadian woman (if only virtually). The surprise, however, quickly gave way to enthusiasm. Thank you for your contributions on this channel. You as a "native speaker", you who were not born in Croatia, you are called to show both strangers and us "locals" Croatia from another, from an unbiased perspective. A perspective that we as locals can never take. Because we are always biased against Croatia. No matter how far and for how long we are away from Croatia. Our soul always resonates there our heart beats only there. As far as multilingualism is concerned, this multilingualism goes far, far beyond mere verbal communication. This multilingualism -to which you educate your children- opens up a different way of seeing/viewing, of thinking. Allows us to see, view, judge the world, things, events and people from a perspective other than our own. Allows us to take a different point of view. Every language we speak opens a window into another, a new world. Only when we can suddenly think and feel in a language can we understand the "world" in which this language originated. Only then are we able to contemplate, understand, this "world" in question from within. Otherwise, we will forever remain a stranger, an outside observer.

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Definitely agree that languages and multilingualism opens up so much for kids (and adults)! Love that last sentence, really makes sense.

[@KateSauberliStewart]

THEY ARE ALL SO GOOD! I'm so proud of them and you and Ivan! This is super cool, I can't wait to chatt with them when we are finally able to travel again! I'll have to rebook my flight:)

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Thanks Kate!!!! Come on over girrrrrl!! Can't wait for you to visit!

[@cocolocofamily759]

In Bali people use two languages, my kiddos use english as their first language and also serbian so they know mom's language too, and they are learning mandarin in school too. ❤💚

[@Niki91-HR]

I grew up bilingual as well...but because we lived as a croatian family in Germany. My father insisted that his kids know croatian and since I was the first child I learnt croatian first and then my mother taught me german before I started preschool. She said to me that I learnt it in a few month and that I spoke it like I was native German 😅 Science says that kids can learn up to 3 languages at the same time. But I guess sometimes it does can get complicated. My sister was 3.5 years old when we moved to Croatia...she knew some german as a baby but we continued tk talk with her also in German just because all of us knew it (we are 4 kids in total) but she still struggles a bit because she didnt use German in school like I did...in our every day life BUT it isnt bad either. Knowing more languages is just an advantage and I like it when people teach their kids both languages if they are from different countries. 😁😁😁

[@CrvenkapicaIVZNG]

Obviously, Croats have little or no problems with the German language. I came to Germany in 1971 (Croatian Spring). Within a few months, I learned German, and could easily follow the 4th grade class. Offensichtlich haben Kroatinnen und Kroaten mit der deutschen Sprache wenig oder gar keine Probleme. Ich kam 1971 (kroatischer Frühling) nach Deutschland. Innerhalb weniger Monate habe ich Deutsch gelernt, könnte den Unterricht der 4. Klasse mühelos folgen.

[@Niki91-HR]

@@CrvenkapicaIVZNG Ich kenne genug Menschen aus der Zeit als ich in Deutschland gelebt habe, die auch nach 30-40 Jahren sehr gebrochenes Deutsch sprechen oder fast gar keines. Meine Großeltern sind zB ein Beispiel. Es gibt Menschen den liegen Sprachen nicht und haben eben Probleme beim lernen. Nicht jeder ist ein Sprachgenie.

[@CrvenkapicaIVZNG]

@@Niki91-HR Meine Erfahrungen sind ganz andere. Der Kreis der Kroatinnen und Kroaten, innerhalb dessen ich mich bewegt habe, spricht hervorragend Deutsch. Selbst diejenigen, die keine hohen Schulabschlüsse im ehemaligen Jugoslawien hatte, haben in Deutschland ein sehr gutes Deutsch gelernt. Geschweige denn jene, die als Kinder in dieses Land hier gekommen sind. Das bestätigen aber auch die Erfahrungen deutscher Institutionen. Im Gegensatz zu anderen Ethnien, haben Kroatinnen und Kroaten keine Schwierigkeiten mit der deutschen Sprache.

[@Niki91-HR]

@@CrvenkapicaIVZNG Es ist Ihre Erfahrung, ich hab eine andere. Wir, die in Deutschland geboren sind werden natürlich Deutsch sprechen als wäre es unsere Muttersprache...aber nicht alle die nach Deutschland als Erwachsene gezogen sind lernen es perfekt. Manche sprechen es besser, manche weniger gut oder bis gar nicht. Wenn man als Kind nach DE gekommen ist dann kann man die Sprache recht gut lernen. Vielleicht ist der Durchschnitt für Kroaten etwas höher als für andere, das kann durchaus sein. Mein Vater hat min 20 Jahre in Deutschland gelebt und hat es zB auch nie richtig sprechen können im Gegensatz zu meiner Mutter, die als Kind nach DE kam. Aufjedenfall ist meine Erfahrung die, dass die Kinder die in DE geboren sind wie Einheimische reden und viele der Eltern und Großeltern oft gebrochenes bis kein Deutsch reden. Aber vieles liegt auch daran, dass manche einfach keine Lust hatten zu lernen und allgemein kein großen Wert darauf gelegt haben. Seitdem ich in Kroatien lebe, hat mir jede Person, die ich jemals getroffen habe gesagt, dass die Deutsch schrecklich finden und es zu schwer zum lernen ist. Eigentlich ist das größte Problem nur der die das richtig zu lernen 🤣

[@CrvenkapicaIVZNG]

@@Niki91-HR Dann scheinen Sie eine völlig andere Erfahrung gemacht zu haben wie ich. Mein Vater kam als erwachsener Mann nach Deutschland und Deutsch hat für ihn nie ein Problem dargestellt. Ich kam mit 10 Jahren nach Deutschland und Deutsch war für mich nie ein Problem. Meine Tochter besucht dieses Jahr die 8. Klasse eines bayrischen Gymnasiums. In dieser Zeit (seit der 5. Klasse) sind Kinder aus 4 kroatischen Familien direkt aus dem Ausland, zwei aus Kroatien, und zwei kroatische Familie aus Italien. Insgesamt 5 Kinder. Keines dieser Kinder hatte Probleme mit Deutsch. Wenn, dann hatten diese Kinder Probleme mit Physik, mit Mathematik oder in anderen Fächern. Aber kein einziges dieser Kinder hatte ein Sprachproblem. Türken dagegen, aber auch auch Kinder aus europäischen Familien, die sogar in Deutschland geboren worden sind, haben schwerwiegende Sprachprobleme. Und das war schon während meiner Schulzeit so gewesen. Spanier, Italiener und andere hatten Sprachprobleme. Auch die Kinder aus Serbien hatten Sprachprobleme. Beim "Übertritt" waren wir eine reine Ausländerklasse. In dieser meiner Klasse gab es 4 Kinder aus Kroatien (damals noch Jugoslawien). Wir haben alle 4 die Probezeit bestanden. Von den 7 türkischen Kindern, die mit uns angefangen haben, war nach der Probezeit nur noch eine Türkin da. Keine Ahnung, in welcher Umgebung Sie aufgewachsen sind. Ich bin in München aufgewachsen und spreche hier über die Erfahrungen die ich gemacht habe. Wie Sie selbst sagen, viel liegt an einem selbst, am Willen zu wollen. Was mir aufgefallen ist, jene Kinder (auch von Kroaten) die sich viel in den "Jugo-Institutionen" (Klub Jugoslavena) herumgedrückt haben, haben es selten oder nie auf eine "Weiterführende Schule" geschafft. Ich habe auch beobachtet, dass es einen gewaltigen Unterschied macht, aus welchem Teil von Kroatien die betreffenden Leute kamen. Mi smo obojica Hrvati. No ocigledno je da smo nas dvojica u Njemackoj zivjeli u dva potpuno razlicita svijeta. Mi smo 1971 morali napustiti Hrvatsku, onda jos dio Jugoslavije. Ne iz pohlepe za D-Markom, vec zbog toga jer smo (moji roditelji i rodbina) bili tvrdi i uvjereni Hrvati. Cini mi se, da je to igralo i da to do danas igra veliku ulogu. Nas primarni cilj nikad nije bila D-Marka niti je to danas Euro. Nase duse, nasa srca su ostala u domovini. No moji roditelji i ja smo bili svjesni da smo dosli u drugu sredinu, Od prvog dana mi se nismo izolirali vec smo se integrirali. Ne znaci to, da smo zaboravili tko smo. Da nisam zaboravi tko sam i odakle sam ustanovit cete, ako pogledate dokumentaciju o IV. brigadi ZNG. Vidjet cete me tamo. Iako samo kratko. No ja sam taj, zbog kojeg se u IV. zavrsena vojnicka obuka odlikuje crvenom beretkom. Dragi gospon ja ne gledam samo moja vlastita izkustva mojeg uzeg kruga. Prije ove pandemija ja sam se (na gimnaziji koju danas moja kci pohada) socialno angazirao. Odlikovan sam zbog toga 1918 "Sozialpreis". Imao sam priliku posmatrati, kako se razvijaju ucenici/djeca iz razlicitih sredina na toj skoli. I jos jednom, djeca koja dolaze iz odredenih sredina jednostavno su daleko naprednija nego djeca iz drugih sredina. Najbolji primjer su Turci. Turcin u trecoj generaciji u Nemackoj jos uvijek govori grozan njemacki. Ona ili on u velikoj vecini nikad nece savladati njemacke padeze. Der/Die/Das su za njih (ali i za puno drugih nacija) jednostavno neshvatljivi. Moja draga prijateljica iz Bosanske Posavine dosla je ovamo kao odrasla osoba,sa zavrsenom osnovnom skolom. Ona (nakon dvije godine) sa njemackim padezima vise nije imala nikakvih problema. A da ne govorim o njezine dvije djevojcice. Moja prijateljica iz Francusk je po struci profesorica. Ovdje zivi geodinama. Ali der/die/das su za nu u svakodnevnom govoru jos uvijek misterijum.

[@rachaelo505]

Great to see a personal experience with raising bilingual children. I’m having similar challenges, so this has inspired me to try the 4-walls method. Wish me luck!

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

You can do it! Best of luck!!

[@sonjavukoja4936]

Brilliant and educational video!

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Thanks Sonja!

[@snteag]

She reads so well and with such expression!

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Thanks! She's actually making up the story from looking at the pictures :) But her expression definitely makes it! :)

[@mandrilmandrilski7319]

God bless you and your wonderful family🙏🏻😊 Prekrasni ste

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Thank you so much! :D

[@stojanovich]

This is awesome,and your children have 0 accent residue when they speak in English. Good job, I myself speak 3 languages fluently (italian,english and croatian). The secret is in starting very young, I have started to learn english at 6 years old. Italian was an easy transition since I come from Istria + studying aborad in Italy helped a huge deal. Wish you all the best. Ciao

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Thank you!! Best wishes to you! :)

[@AlphaSigmA1]

My daughter at the age of 6 is Multilingual......speaking 3 languages. Dutch, Greek and English. She is also trying to learn a little Spanish and German.

[@grayvarda]

I’m living in Slovenia and I have a daughter (2years) I don’t speak good slovenian and I always speak Spanish to her, she is learning it like that and when she tries to speak to me on slovenian I just told her “I’m sorry baby but I don’t understand what do you want” and I started to ask If she is thirsty or whatever that she is asking for and I told her to tell me how to ask for that on Spanish, she is learning slovenian at kindergarten and with her father, and because my husband and I communicate on English she is also catching some words. When she is playing alone I can hear her speaking the words she knows or Spanish or English or slovenian, what is easier to remember for her. It’s not easy for parents but kids are so smart

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Agree - kids are super smart, and they are definitely capable. We as parents just have to be consistent! Great job to you and your family for raising your daughter with 3 languages!! A big advantage for her!

[@Flauschbally]

That is such a cute, sweet and interesting video. Thx for sharing your education. Your family in Canada will be so happy that they can communicate now. 😍😍

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Thank you so much!

[@slatkikontiki4696]

Maybe you guys have been and still are struggling a bit now but the long term benefits of raising children bilingually are numerous. Bilingualism has been associated with improved metalinguistic awareness (the ability to recognize language as a system that can be manipulated and explored), as well as with better memory, visual-spatial skills, and even creativity. Also I believe people who were raised in this type of environmet excel at conflict resolving and make great mediators. Also as mentioned before, second foreign language that they're going to be learning in school is going to come easier to them because they'll be able to see patterns in it. They'll just know stuff no one ever taught them. When it comes to vocabulary, they are going to be able to guess what a good chunk of words in the foreign language mean without having been taught those words previously.

[@joaninha3484]

Wow! What a fantastic gift you are giving your kids

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Thank you so much!

[@lilyalavanja8893]

Bravo Sarah, you’ve done an excellent job with the kids! They are super cute! Greetings from Australia!

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Thanks so much! 😊 Greetings from Zagreb!

[@dariojodat5891]

You're such a wonderful mom. We just found you and my wife loves your wisdom and honesty. God bless you and your beautiful family. Many kisses from Vancouver 🇨🇦

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Awww, thank you so much for your very sweet words!! Very best wishes to you from Croatia!

[@Jchan700]

Thank you so so much for this video! I love how you were so honest about the obstacles along the way and the pressure you were feeling. The way you broke down all the information was so detailed! I definitely feel that the 4 walls method is the best way when you are living in a one language dominant environment!

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Thanks Joel! Yes, it hasn't been the smoothest road, but I hope that this video can make it a bit easier on someone else in the same situation :) 4 walls is definitely working the best for us!

[@SwoopingMagpie67]

I can relate to this as my father is Croat and my mother is Austrian.When I was four years old I started mixing Croatian,Austrian and English so my mother just started speaking to me in English.

[@Sara-V-SunKiss]

this speaks to my heart, i am facing the same issue and feeling the same guilt. Kids speak English at school and at home, but I wish for them to learn Italian, so they can communicate with my family. Please share more about your Four Walls approach. I am really interested. Thank you and well done!

[@Innessofficial]

I agree, I m looking for a system for my children to.speak, I know Russian and my man Portuguese.we speak English to each other, and I want my kids to know all 3 language from the get go.

[@slatina1985]

Boli je oko 😄 Tako i kod nas, sto izgovora, samo da ne moraju spavati 🤣

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Lol tako je!!

[@butterflytouch]

🤣 Naša malena, kad treba spavati, kaže da ona ne može zatvoriti oči, može samo gledati 🤣🤣

[@simplysarah6889]

I personally grew up in France with my father only speaking English and pretending not to know French, and my mother speaking only French so it's actually kind of a mix of both of your approaches!

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Oh that's awesome! There are so many different approaches, it's just finding what works for your family :)

[@TomislavMilobara]

Awesome, all power to you guys! And Olivia.... She is adorable 100000000%!

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Thank you Tomislav!

[@pileknezovic7531]

Kod nas se u Dalmaciji kaže...Od doktora doktor...od sudca, sudac....od zemljoradnika ,zemljoradnik...A za vas ću reći:;Od pametnih roditelja,pametna , dica!

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

[@lynderist]

Sofia is soooo cute i loved her giving kisses to her sister though they’re all beautiful.

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Thanks Lynder!

[@Eduardo_Music8560]

Great video, very interesting! I liked it much! Congratulations for your work

[@faetont]

It's funny to see four walls method reinvented :-) 100 years ago that was normal and it didn't have special name attached to it. Children would spoke language of the hause they were visiting as guests. When they were visiting house where german was spoken, they would spoke german. Back home Croatian. But, don't you have in Canada also some kind of billingual situation? I thought that because of Queebec, French also has some kind of official status in Canada. Are there some areas where children learn English and French simultaneously?

[@MsCroatianCanuck]

I actually did really well in French coming from a Croatian household. Somehow the croatian was an advantage as a helping aid phonetically. I still can read French as it was mandatory from grade 5 throughout highschool back in the day.....its not mandatory now in Ontario....but its certainly an asset to know the language for higher pay

[@charlieranger4598]

Hey Sarah! Again very interesting and revealing. Teaching kids bilingual can be easy and even can turn out very tricky. You tried it with differemt methods and now you are achieving the success. There are soooo many diffenent ways to do that right or wrong and people have always thousands of stories to tell, but you have to find out your OWN story and you did that very well. But bear in mind, that your chidren will always prefer one language, even if they are not aware of this. You can ask them, in which language they are thinking, wen they talk to themselves inside their heads. That would be then the prevailing language. This does not mean, that the other language is of secondary importance. Don't bother about this. And don't think about the mixing with croatian and english, there won't be any issues with that. They can handle it. :)

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Interesting! When I see them at home, they play in English, count things out in English (in their heads, but I can hear because they whisper it still), etc. But I wonder if that changes when they're in vrtic and surrounded by Croatian. very interesting!

[@charlieranger4598]

@@RoyalCroatianTours Hmm...if you here them counting, while whispering, in English and they don't feel monitored, than I would assume, that they think in English. But you cannot be sure until you ask them. However, they might be to young to be interrogated because you can't be sure, if they tell the truth or if they are even aware in which language they think. It is also possible, hat their behaviour changes, when they play with other kids, embedded in a croatian group. :) I do know, that the brain is going to decide one day iin which language it thinks. Dunno, if that happenes gradually, I would say...yes. It's really interesting. I remember the day, someone asked me, if I am thinking in German or in Croatian and I told him, about 6 years old then, in Croatian. Years later, approximately 11-12 years old, I've been asked the same auestion by another person and I became aware, that I then thought in German. But the grades betwen.....dunno...;)

[@realtalk675]

Omg so cute. Much blessings and love for you and the family

[@velebithost]

Very nice story. Good job mum! Tata pomozi i ti 🤣🤣

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Hvala!

[@bazoo513]

Adorable kids! "Ona parent, one language" approach probably works only with babies, before they get much exposure to the outside environment. Your family back in Canada will be thrilled to be able to speak with your kids next time you visit. :o)

[@RoyalCroatianTours]

Thanks! and yes, it'll be great to see everyone interact now in English! (and not me just constantly translating everything haha)

[@ShaniaHalliwell]

Love your videos

[@tanjahuni8273]

Interesting topic.We also switch in between 3 languages. German,English,Croatian.