shop assistants

'You haven't thought about this, have you?' my sister asked me when I told her the story about my and Hugo's visit at the florist's. I must admit I'm quite fond of shopping, true it does depend on the items I need to buy, but in general as long as I can afford it, why not?

A few days ago we went with Hugo to one of the florist's to buy some plants and shrubs for our garden. As usual, we were using English and Hugo was asking his favorite question: Mommy what is it? pointing at the same time at various plants, flowers and bushes. Patiently, as much as I was able to explain I gave him the names of the plants. The shop assistants were so astonished hearing English in their shop that they were even afraid to approach us and serve us. Their 'dance' around us lasted about 10 minutes before finally, I asked one of them if we could be served. Seeing him relived that I spoke Polish made me laugh inside but I showed now signs of being amused. We bought what we wanted and left.
Once I told my sister about this she grinned and said: You haven't thought about it that the shop assistants might be afraid of serving you due to their lack of knowledge of English, have you? 
Indeed, I haven't thought about that yet at least our son will never be one of those afraid to speak English and that is going to be his huge advantage over others;) 

long time no write;)

I didn't realize that it has been so long since I last visited my blog, but I was extremely busy finishing my exam session-passed everything luckily-and course groups in our language school.

But now I'm back hoping to be writing more;)
So much to write that I don't know where to begin...
Hugo speaks in two languages this is a fact and he can distinguish between them which is awesome and in some situations he is even trying to translate simple things into English to me when for example his granny says something in Polish. His grasp is English is so instinctive that when he sees me enter the house he runs to the door and say: Mommy, Hugo drinking juice or Mommy Hugo building a very high chimney. Then a big grin appears on my face and I say: Yes, I can seem my sonny, you are building a very high chimney.
Though he still has the problem understanding that the pronoun I refers to the person speaking, he has no problems communicating his needs and wishes by saying Hugo needs an umbrella it's raining or Hugo wants to drink something similar. 
What's even more amazing is that he can finish the lines of many bedtime stories that I have been reading to him and paradoxically not having a book read is also a kind of punishment for him. So far I have done that twice-sent him to bed without a bedtime story or talking about the pictures in the books and the first time I did that he even began to cry. Frankly speaking, it made me feel terrible, but I knew I had to be strong. He's too small to comprehend some situations yet he understood it perfectly since when I put him to bed he called for the books but I said: Sorry sonny, no books today cos you have been naughty. Then he replied: Hugo not pick up the building blocks In fact this was exactly what I wanted to teach him-to pick up his building blocks and put them in a book before bedtime.

thank you very much

Since the very beginning I've been trying to teach Hugo various polite phrases so that he could behave politely while with others. So letting him through the front, bathroom or any other doors I always said: After you and showed him the way, he learned what it meant very quickly and then tried to repeat it and said: A too too or something similar; though it wasn't what the original phrase was the melody and the number of syllables was the same. Today, for the first time he pronounced it correctly and I was so proud, cos the months of repetition proved effective.
What's more, whenever I give him something I say: Here you are, sonny and again he replies: Hie ya ya and I say: Thank you very much. Of course there are moments when he forgets about the phrases or mispronounces them but recently without any encouragement he uttered the words in the proper context and perfectly; I hope he'll remember that forever, I'd love to have a well-behaved sonny;) 

zoo

We had always wanted to show Hugo the zoo in Dwór Kralowe in Czech Republic as we reckon it's the best zoo in this part of Europe. That's way, we took the opportunity to go there during the long weekend in May. At first I was a bit apprehensive of the long trip-it takes about 3 h 30 min from our place of living and then of the huge zoo area to cover.
Hugo, however, surprised as a lot because he was a completely tireless boy and only wanted to walk, refused to use the stroller and clung to the railings or bars to stay close to the animals.
What's more, he imitated the sounds of the animals he knows from The Animal Sound song. Mommy, look elephant-parroooo, lion roar... it was like music to my ears;)
I look forward to another trips;)

dentist

Today is a big day for Hugo-the day of his first visit at the dentist. We are a bit apprehensive about that, but it wasn't so bad. I was positively surprised that we didn't need to wait very long for the visit. Last week we called and made an appointment for today.
Poor Hugo had no idea what to expect, so he was quite cheerful beforehand. Even when we entered he looked OK, but the moment the dentist put her finger into his mouth he started to wriggle and cry a little bit. However, the dentist's assistant had a great idea to give him a sticker which said; Brave patient;) and it calmed him down a bit.

Form the dentist we needed to go to the registry office to pick up his ID which is needed to take him abroad. All the way there, I was explaining to him why we were going there and he remembered it so well that when we entered the registry office he said: Good morning! pick up ID;)

The clerk was so surprised that she asked me in what language he was speaking, since she knew from the ID that his nationality was Polish;)
So far the day has been so eventful that he's been sleeping for over 2 hours;)

slow down

Kids learn at the speed of light; all those who disapprove of reading books to kids from day one are really missing the point. They don't realize that children learn with every minute of their life-24/7- even when they sleep-this is the moment to file everything that they have experienced during the day.
Talking to children in a logical way and explaining daily activities gives kids lots of input for the future and you will never know when they will use it and one day you''ll be taken aback.

Just as I was today when I was taking my mother-in-law back home. Hugo was sitting at the back enjoying naming the objects around him and counting to 9 all the cars passing by. When he got to nine, he started right from the beginning-from one. Out of the blue, I had to brake because of the car in front of me and then Hugo said: Mommy, slow down!
I don't remember in what situation he heard this phrase and when, but I know that he used it in the right context. Probably, during one of our trips together, I must have said that I was slowing down, because when we travel together I always turn off the radio and talk to Hugo, describe the actions and the world around and he learns and learns, records and remembers;) amazing;)

Sunday afternoon together

Hugo's creativity is unlimited and amazing. He's able to transfer the knowledge he has into really various situations. Today we went out to church and for hot wafers to our favorite cafe. It's in the center of Leszno, in the town square, on the corner, and it's really friendly for children. A high chair for kids is a standard and the menu is also varied so they cater to all tastes.
But that's not what I want to write about. Having eaten our hot wafers, we left the place and walked around the square holding hands-I love strolling like this with our sonny. He looks around and names things around, like benches, birds and clocks. In the middle of the square there is an old town hall with a tower and a clock. Obviously, Hugo noticed that and said: Mommy, clock, tick tock. I confirmed and then he continued: Mommy, butterfly on the tower. At first, I couldn't comprehend what he was saying and asked him to repeat, so he said again: Tower, butterfly there is. I looked up and then realized that he meant the EAGLE on the tower-the symbol of our country. He just compared it to the butterflies form his children's book.
Day by day I discover, or at least try to, how he perceives the world around and I do believe that at this age the brain is like a sponge, and at some point, we, as humans, lose this ability forever, unfortunately

pansies and daffodils

Yellow, blue, navy blue, deep red... pansies of these color can be found in our garden. Each day, Hugo wants to water them. He can virtually spend over 30 minutes walking from the back of the garden to the front with a big bottle that serves for him as a watering can.
Every time he says: Mommy, need more water! Mommy pour water or Mommy, water daffodils!
It really looks lovely... a little boy carrying a 2-litter bottle trying to water plants-it makes my heart sink.

I try to use this time also to show him various bugs and insects or little animals like ladybirds or snails, which he finds very fascinating. He even attempts to touch them or catch them depending what we can observe. Our daily trips outside are a perfect opportunity for use to explore the neighborhood and to learn of course. Our neighbors are very often surprise to see us walking hand in hand talking to each other. Obviously, I do more of the talking, but Hugo tries to contribute whatever he can;) naming objects and animals like bicycles, motorbikes, chimneys, cars, dogs or cats is something that he does with ease;)

Sunday stroll

Finally, spring has arrived and I do hope that it'll stay with us for some time. The right moment came to hide winter boots, coats and jackets deep in my wardrobe.
Time to wear nice, spring clothes and take Hugo for long strolls every day.
This is what we did today-we went out to enjoy the warm sun, birds singing and people cycling.
I discovered that our son is a great observer of the outside world; he notices noises and details that really surprise me, such as a barking dog, a man on a bike or our neighbor doing gardening. Whatever he can see and name, he always goes: Mommy, look, man on a bike! or Mommy, a motorbike! etc. He can perfectly transfer the words from his picture books which we look at before going to bed each day into the really world. Yet, today I was absolutely amazed when he said: Mommy, man chopping wood! Such was my surprise that I asked him to repeat it twice before I could believe what he was saying;) but as always I gave him a big hug and said: Yes, sonny, you're right! a man is chopping wood.
Strolls are a great inspiration for kids and parents, for us it's always an occasion to talk or name things, but the rule is you must speak with you child, ask proper questions and provoke the child to say something. Forget about a pacifier of course;) who would like to speak with full mouth;))?

1,2,3

For the last couple of days Hugo has been fascinated by counting. Each days he needs to spend at least 10-15 minutes analyzing pictures in his 1,2,3 book and count the objects presented in the pictures. The book is fantastically organized to support the process of learning numbers. Each page portrays a common object from kids' world like: boots, paint pots, boats, apples, a teddy bear etc. In the top right corner there is a number written and drawn. Therefore, it associates the concept with the word. Hugo adores pointing the object and saying: This is a teddy.  or one duck, two ducks, three ducks etc. In this way I know that he understands the concept, sees the difference between singular and plural and can even sometimes correctly form plural form.
What's more, he transfers this knowledge into other activities, for instance, getting dress or playing with building blocks when I hear him say: One sock, two socks, one foot, two feet.
I do believe that it will prove useful when he goes to school or kindergarten.

I'm back;)

I haven't been here for a few days, but I'm back now;) been a little busy cos of Easter preparations first and then celebrations.
It went past so quickly that though it's the first day after, I feel like it was almost an ordinary weekend.
This a little bit gloomy mood can be cos of the bad weather-the winter here seems to be endless and the weather forecast gives little hope for improvement in the next few days.

On a day like today I look at our son or his photo and then I feel much better and long for the warm days from last year when we went out together and enjoyed the first rays of sunshine. This spring we still need to wait for those moment, but I hope that not for long.

Hugo doesn't seem to care much about spring but I hope to teach him to ride a kids bike and I'm sure he'll love it. Take a look at our angel;)

one, two, three

Bath time is Hugo's favorite moment of the day, he feels in the bath like a little diver, loves splashing water and pouring from one bowl into another.
Last Sunday, he shocked us so much that we were looking at him with eyes wide open.
As usual, he took his plastic bowl and starting pouring one from the small one into a bigger one, but this time he also started counting from one to five. I'd heard him doing this before but in no order at all, it'd seemed that those were just words for him carrying not much sense, until last Sunday. He started with ONE and got to FIVE without any trouble, we looked at each other surprised but that was not the end. He carried on counting precisely pouring water and saying SIX, SEVEN (our eyes were getting bigger and bigger), EIGHT (we even opened our mouth in astonishment) NINE...
He looked at us proudly and both my husband and I were at a loss for words for a few seconds, then I managed to say: You're my little prodigy;)) and gave him a big hug and kiss. Daddy commented: You can count to nine in English but only to five in Polish?? Let's learn to count to nine also in Polish;)

I know now that all those situations when I was counting boxes, steps, socks, pegs etc. made Hugo remember numbers in the right order;)

Mommy, be good;)

Picture this:
whenever I leave home, I always tell my son that I'll be back and that he's staying with his daddy, granny or Magda, then I give him a kiss and tell him to be good. Nothing unusual or extraordinary someone will say, maybe not, but last Sunday before leaving for lectures at university I put on my boot and coat, kissed Hugo and said: Bye bye, sonny, I love you! but before I even finished the sentence, he looked at me with his big blue eyes and said with a smile: MOMMY, BE GOOD;))
My husband and I were so astonished and amused that we couldn't help laughing; Hugo made me smile all the way to Poznań and today he said the same to daddy when he was going out: Daddy, be good!

He really gives us so much joy;)

questions

Questions are the key to communication, without them it would be impossible to learn new things or extend our vocabulary. The same is true for children.
Yet, it's not only about asking questions it's about asking the right questions which stimulate a child to think or utter some words.
Let me give you an example: When I want Hugo to drink something I say: Would you like something to drink? then he usually answers: Yes. The next step is the choice of drink; I never ask him: What would you like to drink? because then he could start inventing things so I teach him to make choices and say: Would you like  tea or juice? (Giving a limited choice is still A CHOICE but it saves parents' trouble of satisfying the endless list of kids wishes;)) Now he can say the words tea or juice; yet, before I simply showed him tea and juice and asked: This or this? In this way, I managed to kill two birds with one stone because I taught him to make decisions related to his needs and stimulated him to speak. If I had simply asked him: Would you like tea? he wouldn't have had to think and he would only say Yes or No.

For us the tactic of asking open questions (those beginning with Who?, what?, why?, whose? etc.)  worked prefectly and proved very effective.
P.S. It also works well for all learners of English, it stimulates them to speak, my students always know that there is the magic follow-up question WHY?

snow**************

Winter this year seems to be endless. I get the impression that it's not gonna leave us...
and it's not really about the road services that are always surprised as if winter was in July or August, it's not even about the low temperatures, because today it's not that bad...
maybe, it's just me-I love spring and can't wait for it.

Still my son seems to enjoy this state of affairs, the snow outside and his lovely red jacket;)
He can spend some time with his nose almost glued to the window saying: Mommy, snowing; Mommy snow. Then he runs to the door takes his winter jacket and says: Put on;)

Most of the time, I do give in, put it on and take him out sleighing. If only he didn't get tears in his beautiful blue eyes when we're outside; I guess that's because of wind and white snow glittering in the sun.

Hope that next week we'll enjoy the warm spring sun and we'll have forgotten about winter;)

alphabet

Recently, I've bought for our son a really useful toy-a wooden alphabet board, which despite presenting letters also has objects associated with them. Once he got it, he got down to taking out the elements and carefully looking at the pieces. Without any problems he was able to put the proper piece into the right slot.

Having seen his joy doing this, I decided to accompany him and read the letter to him along with the picture for it; so it was like: A is for an astronaut, B is for a bear, C is for a cow...
He enjoyed it even more and at the end he was able to name a few letters,; now even when he's eating a cooking in the shape of W or M he's examining the cooking carefully and saying: Mommy, this is M. Then, when i put the letter upside down he goes: This is W.

You may think I'm crazy, but I believe only in educational toys and so I try to take an advantage of any situation to teach our Little Prince various things. For sure, it'll be beneficial in the future.

socks

Washing is one of our sonny's favorite activity. He's always liked it because even when he was a few months old I used to take him out to hang out the washing with me-his role was to give me pegs. Now, his role has changed a little bit and he helps me collect dry clothes. This is both a great way to teach him housework-his wife one day will have a real helper at home;)) and a funny way to teach him names of different clothing items and the possessive-because I always ask him: Whose is it? and then he goes: Hugo's socks, Daddy's T-shirt and so on.
Today, as always, he assisted me but what's more he helped me pair socks and I realized how quickly he was able to find the same socks out of maybe 12 different pairs with various patterns. Again involving him was enjoyable for both of us and he learned the notion of: the same and different. I'm so proud of him;)

babysitter;)

A few days ago, Hugo stayed for the first time with his new babysitter. So far my parents had been looking after him, but for some time they won't be able to do it, so we needed to find someone to replace them and so we did.
Magda is a friendly and caring person who agreed to come to our house and be with Hugo. It's very convenient for us since we don't need to take Hugo anywhere. He's in his own house, with his own toys.
At the beginning I was apprehensive about his reaction, but surprisngly it wasn't so bad;))

On the second day, however, he decided to test how much he could manipulate her. When she forbade him something he wrinced his face, but when even this didn't help, he came up with another idea. He took her hand and led her to the front door...;) I was amazed when she told me this after my return. Now I know he can really communicate his needs;)

hard night;(

Last night turned out to be quite hard for all of us. Surprisingly, Hugo woke up at least 10 times and moaned so I needed to get up and go to him, stroke and calm him down. He wasn't crying really, he was just restless and when my stroking didn't help dummy was useful. Yes, the dummy without which he managed to fall asleep last night, so my victory changed into a defeat...

In the morning, however, he woke up as usual a little before 7am, just as if nothing had happened, not even tried, as opposed to me;))

This only goes to show how adaptable children are;) adaptable and brilliant, again when I came back he greeted me with his disarming smile, grabbed my hand and ordered: Mommy take off boots and going.

Without much resistance, I gave in and followed him blindly;)) to his toy land.

Now, he's taking his afternoon snooze and I have some time to tidy...
 

victory;)

Today, first time Hugo managed to fall asleep without the dummy;)
A dummy is the kind of gadget that I didn't want our sonny to use, but I failed. Just after labor, still in hospital, we coped without it, but having returned home I wasn't so determined and at times he used it, but only when he was falling asleep or when we needed to calm him down after he fell over, for instance.

Whenever I saw him with the dummy I didn't enjoy the view, but the rule was that it was only allowed before falling asleep. We even had this saying ' When with mummy, we don't use the dummy'-nice rhyme, isn't it;))

Today, having brushed his teeth, as usual he asked for the dummy or 'dubby doo' as he used to call it;) but I ignored it and continued reading his bedtime story in a very monotonous way; I read one book, then another one and managed to persuade him to lie down on his duvet.

Finally, my monotonous voice made him go to sleep without crying or the dummy. This my victory for today-I wonder what tomorrow will bring;)

By the way, I recently rediscovered this lovely American equivalent for 'a dummy' which is 'a pacifier' what a suggestive name;).

spinning world

I get the feeling that the world is spinning and I'm losing control of what's going on. Days go by so fast that I don't know where a week begins or ends. Unfortunately, because of this, I lack time I could spend on playing with Hugo or going out when it's our part of the day. I do hope that after the weekend it's going to be much better as I'll have sorted out some things.
As for Hugo and his progress, now we're doing lots of puzzles and his favorite is the one with letter of alphabet and some of them he can already recognize. The toy itself is useful as it has letters accompanied by pictures of animals or objects to make it more memorable. I do recommend it ;)

jealous;)

For the first time, Hugo demonstrated how jealous he can be...
Picture this:
During our visit at my parents-in-law, my husband held his 4 months old nephew, Matti in his arms. Nothing special, you could think, but Hugo's reaction to this shocked everybody. He simply burst into tears and continued crying untill my husband handed Matti over to his mum. No explanations helped, no hugging or drawing his attention to something else.
Believe me, I was really taken aback. What's more, after this little incident, Hugo followed his daddy everywhere and unfortunately no one could separate them for almost half an hour.

A similar thing happened to me on Saturday when I came back form studies after having been away for a day and a half. The moment I entered the house, our sonny took my hand and didn't want to let it go, didn't want to let me take off my boots or coat. I know he missed me, just  as I missed him;) ;)

Litlle rebel;)

It's been hard, for over an hour I've been trying to make him snooze without success...
Having completed the usual ritual, I was hoping to have some time to do my homework for studies, yet Hugo has other plans. He's in bed lying, talking to himself, counting and repeating the phrases from books, he's incredible, really, full of beans since 5am.... I can't believe he is only 18 months.

time flies

Another day is over, another day full of joy and surprises. Unfortunately, Wednesday is very busy for me as I return home at 9pm, so Hugo is already in bed then, just like today. His grandma prepared him to bed, read a story in Polish, which is an exception from our Énglish' ritual.

Peopel often ask me how Hugo communicates with other relative and family members and I say: Usually without problems -n Polish;) Picture this: all three of us browsing a shop, I speak English to Hugo, he replies in the same language and my husband speaks to him in Polish and he replies in Polish,; the shop assistants are usually amused or stunned, especially when I ask them for something in Polish. They are so taken aback;) and confused.

Other shoppers sometimes even stop and ask me why I speak in a foreign language to our son. To save him effort at school with learning English, as he will already know it when he goes to school. He won't need to learn the rules or irregular verbs, he'll know it subconsiously, isn't it a good enough reason;)  for me it is;)

Books

Books are a fascinating source of games and conversations, we can really spend plenty of time looking at pictures, describing them, they boost imagination, provoke questions I can ask Hugo and then I see how much he understands.
The books my husband bought in the UK are specially designed for kids to teach them English using a method that is approved in British schools. The stories begin with pictures presenting things and characters so that the child knows what the book is going to be about. The sentences are easy and comprehensive and the stories are illustrated.

Hugo loves some of them so much that I let him choose his bedtime stories. For him the best moment is when he can take the book from the shelf and then he goes: Little pigs? (The Three Little Pigs) No! Hood? (meaning Little Red Riding Hood) No! Cinderella? No, Cinderella! until he finds the book he likes. This is also how I teach him to make choices by himself which I hope will prove useful later on when he grows up;)

About me;)

My name's Agata and I am 30+. I live with my husband and our son in a lovely house near Leszno, Poland. In September this year we'll have been married for 5 years. By profession I am a teacher of English and I love my job. What's more, with my husband's support, I have been running a language school for over 5 years. That's also why we have decided to raise our son in a bilingual enviornment. Thanks to him, I have discovered  how fascinating reading fairy tales and other children's books might be. This is our afternoon and evening ritual, our moments when we sit next to each other and turn the pages, discribe the pictures and read the involving stories.
I remember, though, how strangely my husband's grandfather looked at me when he saw me reading a book to our son when he was just a few weeks old. He claimed that Hugo was too young to comprehend the story, and in this respect he was right, for sure. Yet, the more I read, the more interested Hugo became and with time he could name some of the objects in the books he heard so often. Determined and fascinated, I didn't give up and now I can see the results. Strangely as it may seem, I can converse with our son about his book, his needs and activities, he answers logically with one or two words, sometimes a short phrase;)

stickers

Now Hugo is sound asleep so I managed to find some time to write.

Recently, he's descovered a fascinating new activity: cooking. He loves copying whatever  we do, me and my husband. So this is where I found him: at the table mixing pegs with a drumstick saying: Hugo cooking.

When I asked him what he was cooking his reply was simple: PEG SOUP, mommy. Then he opened an empty box and pretended to be adding more salt and sugar talking to himself at the same time: More sugar? OK! More salt? OK! and then again he was mixing his PEG SOUP.

He really amazed me with this, I wish I had recorded him. I know now that my talking to him whenever he is around, talking in English of course, has paid off.

Some people find it hard to believe that I have managed to do it for such a long time and that I do it 24/7, but believe me it's a pleasure not an effort, especially that teaching English is my job and I have been doing it for 13 years now. Even our neighbors got used to hearing me speaking English when we go for a walk and some of them even try to greet us in English;)

afternoon snooze

Today is the only day in the week-Friday-when I have more time for our son than on any other day, so I try to use the opportunity to play with him as much as I can. We have drawn pictures, watched a cartoon in English and  read books-English of course. I have a really huge collection of stories for him.
It wasn't easy for us to get that stuff in Poland, but since we made a decision to bring Hugo up in a simulated bilingual family when I was still preganant, my husband went to London especially to buy original books and cartoons on DVD so that the English used there was real, not selected for the learners of English.
On the very first day when we returned from hospital, every evening I read a story or two for him and he is very involved listening to them. Now after all those months I know that it has paid off, because he can even finish some sentences from the stories by himself. His favorite is Snow White and the seven dwarfs, he has heard it so many times that he can finish the lines for me and now we read the book together. What is more, when he is trying to sleep like right now;) he tells the lines from memory, as if he was pracising speaking... amazing.

THE DAY;) August 3, 2011

'Overjoyed, he's finally with us' we thought. Our son-Hugo.

It seems as if it was a few weeks ago, but actually it's been over 18months ago.
People tend to say that when a child is born into a family the life changes drastically; Indeed, but in our case it was a very positive change.  Hugo is like a ray of sunshine on even the gloomiest day and his blue eyes like the deepest sea waters.

I love coming back home, seeing him smiling running towards the door and calling-Mommy! Coat take off, boots take off then he passes me the slippers and goes- Slippers put on!

Though what he says isn't gramatically correct, it don't mind! He's not even 2 years old and he can communicate, be understood and it proves that my method-using English 24/7- works;)

How do I use it?

It's our time, each day between 12 and 4 pm, we spend time together and this is for me the best part of the day. I,feel like a child myself, suddenly I enjoy cartoons, games, rolling on the floor, drawing and thousands of other things that we do together.

While doing all those crazy activities we speak only English and we even listen to CNN, just to create the best environment for this effortless language learning. I shouldn't call it learning because it's not. I simply use only English when I speak to our son and whenever he can hear me, he hears me speaking English, at the doctor's, in the shop, in the garden and so on.

This gives amazing results and day by day he speaks more and more English despite being just 18 months old.

It does work ;)

does it really work?

I've had this idea for quite some time, the idea of creating my own blog, but since I've never read one I am still unsure how it should look;) Practice makes perfect  as they so let's hope I'll get better soon.

It's almost 10.30 pm, the radio's on and it does seem strange to write something without knowing who will read... There is one person that's gonna read it one day, our son-the main hero of this blog;)

Sound alseep in his bedroom, he's only 18 months old, but surprises me every day.

Years ago, back in college, I made a decision that now has changed my whole life and not only mine.

I decided that if I ever had children, I would speak to them in English. Unusual?

Not really some will say, but they change their minds when they hear that we are Polish, we-I mean-me, my husband and our son- what's more we live in Poland.

From day 1, when we returned from hospital our home is bilingual, if I may say so-Polish-English and that's what makes upbringing of our son fascinating. Mind you-he's only 18 months old, but copes really well in this crazy bilingual environment.

How well? I will tell you next time;)