Language acquisition

Satu, dua, tiga, empat, lima, enam, tujuh, delapan, sembilan, sepuluh. This is what I'm currently hearing coming from the other room as C recites 1-10 in Bahasa Indonesia (BI) to his nanny. He counts better than we do now.

I had high hopes before coming here that C would become fluent in BI. Instead we found a fabulous nanny who speaks unbelievable English. I think this is for the best - when it comes to my child I don't want there to be any miscommunication. But the downside is that he won't be the fluent BI speaker I thought he would. I am happy though that he is learning some. The baby-to-be will, I imagine, be a fluent BI speaker if we stay long enough. I already plan to ask the nanny and the other staff to speak only BI to him, as there is absolutely no better time to learn a foreign language than when you're a child.

J and I are moving slowly in our own BI acquisition. Our tutor comes at night but has had to cancel several lessons, and J and I have not been exemplary students. It is hard to bust out the BI when everyone speaks English so well. We are making progress - BI is not a difficult language - but we really need to practice it. My memory is crammed with BI words that I am not using, and I know there's just not much more space for this kind of unused knowledge in my minuscule memory.

I've also noticed that BI is usurping the space that Bambara (the local language of Mali) used to inhabit. I have had to bite my tongue several times so I wouldn't ask a question or respond in Bambara instead of BI. I was far from fluent in Bambara, but after 2 years of living in a village in Mali, I was certainly conversant. Over the years much of that ability has faded from memory, and now I'm afraid it's going to be completely commandeered by BI. Fortunately I believe my French language abilities are safe; I think I drilled French into my brain for long enough that it isn't going anywhere.