I got chatting to a young mum the other day and what do proud (stolz) parents talk about? Their kids, of course. When I told her that my son is growing up trilingual, she sighed (seufzen) and said “Ah that’s such a good start in life for him, I wish …..“
You know what’s coming next. Since I first came to Germany 20 years ago ish (zirka), this is what I have never really understood about Germany/Germans. You don’t live on an island (like the Brits do) !!!!!!
Why have you never taken up the ‘small nation‘ mindset? Look at the Netherlands, the Scandanavian countries, etc. They don’t dub (synchronisieren) their TV, they watch films/programmes in the original version with subtitles. Why has Germany never taken this approach (Herangehensweise)?
And why is TV so important you may ask? Kids still spend quite a lot of time glued to the box (TV-Kiste), or increasingly a screen regardless (egal) of how disciplined you are as parents. As a parent myself, there are still times you have a million and one others things to do or you simply need ½ an hour peace & quiet (Ruhe und Frieden) – I know I’m living through it.
I said to the young mum, “it’s easier now than it’s ever been, just switch on YouTube, find the English video of Feuermann Sam and 18 years later you’ll have a fluent English speaker in the house“.
Think it’s a bit far-fetched (weithergeholt)? My wife watched Italian TV growing up in Albania and happily natters (plaudern) to Italians we know today.
Plant the seed (Samen) when they are young, make watching English programmes as normal as brushing their teeth and watch the sapling (Bäumchen) grow as they watch vlogs/shows on Youtube/Netflix of their own accord (von sich aus) etc and see them develop into a strong, healthy and intelligent trees that‘ll make me redundant in my lifetime.
P.S. If you don’t, you’ll regret it for your lifetime especially when it comes to doing homework and they are looking to you for help.