Princess Isabella's First Day of Primary School: August 13, 2013

[Frelinghighness]

From my experience with mothers who are bringing up children in a country that is not their native born, it is easier to go with the language of the country. There fore, it is now easier for Mary to speak danish at home, that's why I asked. If they have english speaking nannies, that will really help

Originally Posted by Juliette2

Parents sometimes are a problem in school and out of school!! I had an "encounter" with a 6-year old at the playground a few days ago which left me aghast. I was sitting far away and observed him bothering my (younger) son. I did not intervene. NOT AT ALL. When my son was fed up he came (visibly upset) closer to me. This rascal came to me to COMPLAIN that my son had not answered him how he was expecting about I don't know what. I started to explain a few things nicely to him but he was so rude, so disrespectful, (you have no idea!) it ended up with me raising my voice saying: " Now, you need to be quiet and listen to me because I'm an adult!". (His father was around somewhere by the way, I had seen him). Needless to say he looked at me like I was from Mars, turned around and went away. What kind of parent raises a brat like that??!!

So, I deeply feel for the teachers who need to face this kind of parents every day. Children just don't see adults as a source of authority/wisdom

I can visualize the situation very well I would say that it would be ok to intervene, imo of course, in a very easy going way with such a young child so that things had not progressed to the bad level you described.
Something like you standing up and saying, "ok (son), we have to go now"
And briskly exit

[grevinnan]

Originally Posted by Frelinghighness

From my experience with mothers who are bringing up children in a country that is not their native born, it is easier to go with the language of the country. There fore, it is now easier for Mary to speak danish at home, that's why I asked. If they have english speaking nannies, that will really help

You are absolutely correct that it is much easier to not speak one's native language when living in a foreign country. However, Mary is denying her children the gift of being bi-lingual if she is not speaking English to them. For a child to be truly bi-lingual the parents should each speak their own native tongue. Of course, the royal family has the issue of the public's opinion if the entire family is not speaking Danish among themselves. Having an English speaking nanny will certainly help but will in no way take the place of Mary being the English speaker.

I raised two bi-lingual children and that gift to them is absolutely precious. Having friends where both parents were non-native English speakers and both speaking their respective native tongue and English being the language the children spoke with everyone else works just as fine as well.

I hope being a royal mother does not preclude them from giving their children this special gift. It will give their children a skill that is invaluable.

[QUOTE=Juliette2;1589382]Parents sometimes are a problem in school and out of school!! I had an "encounter" with a 6-year old at the playground a few days ago which left me aghast. I was sitting far away and observed him bothering my (younger) son. I did not intervene. NOT AT ALL. When my son was fed up he came (visibly upset) closer to me. This rascal came to me to COMPLAIN that my son had not answered him how he was expecting about I don't know what. I started to explain a few things nicely to him but he was so rude, so disrespectful, (you have no idea!) it ended up with me raising my voice saying: " Now, you need to be quiet and listen to me because I'm an adult!". (His father was around somewhere by the way, I had seen him). Needless to say he looked at me like I was from Mars, turned around and went away. What kind of parent raises a brat like that??!!

Unfortunately there are lots of adults raising children but refusing to be parents. Parenting is a job that takes lots of energy and hard work. Anyone who is not willing to put in the time and energy should abstain from having children. It is the rest of us that become the parent to those children; on the play ground, in the schools, at after school activities and the hardest part is we end up hiring these kids once they are out of school.

[Juliette2]

Originally Posted by grevinnan

Unfortunately there are lots of adults raising children but refusing to be parents. Parenting is a job that takes lots of energy and hard work. Anyone who is not willing to put in the time and energy should abstain from having children. It is the rest of us that become the parent to those children; on the play ground, in the schools, at after school activities and the hardest part is we end up hiring these kids once they are out of school.

Holy words!
Good luck to Mary and Frederick and all parents with children starting school!!

[Daria_S]

Originally Posted by Frelinghighness

From my experience with mothers who are bringing up children in a country that is not their native born, it is easier to go with the language of the country. There fore, it is now easier for Mary to speak danish at home, that's why I asked. If they have english speaking nannies, that will really help

I've observed this on a personal level, and saw two opposite sides of the spectrum; when my younger sister was born, my mother had full intention of speaking Russian to her, so that she'd be bilingual, but that never happened, because everything was in English. The task became too difficult, and no one in the household that did speak Russian wanted to bother (mostly myself and my mother). My aunt and uncle came across the same situation with their son. The result is; that both, my sister and cousin understand simple commands in Russian, but cannot carry on a conversation, read, or write in it. Now, I have distant cousins whose mom is from Israel, and all three of them speak fluent Hebrew. The mother spoke nothing but Hebrew to them, and send them on to a Hebrew-based school in their community in New Jersey. Because their father is an English speaker, the children are fluent in it too. I think at the end of the day, it depends on the family, and how much time they want to invest in exposing a child to a second language. I'm sure all of Mary and Frederik's children at least understand English, and if they don't already speak it fluently, after some in-depth instruction from school, and contact with their family in Australia (and Mary speaking it to them at least at some points during the day), they'll have the command of it in no time.

[amaryllus]

Pretty sure being at least passable in English is a must for all the younger royals, particularly ones who have an important role to play in the future.

[Juliette2]

Originally Posted by amaryllus

Pretty sure being at least passable in English is a must for all the younger royals, particularly ones who have an important role to play in the future.

I don't think passable would do. Just as it is for any diplomat, for instance, their English should be excellent, which I'm sure it is or will be soon!

[camelot23ca]

Mary and Frederik's children have spent time alone with their Australian family. I recall instances of John Donaldson babysitting them, for example, and of them spending time with one of Mary's sisters on a visit to Australia. It would be pretty hard to do that if the children couldn't at least get by in English.

I think the path of least resistance would be for Mary to speak mainly Danish with the children, but OTOH, she seems like such a practical person that I have a hard time believing she'd pass on the opportunity for her children to be native level English speakers.

[Grandma828]

Children are like sponges when it comes to language. My sister's niece moved to Italy and their son was speaking 4 languages at 4 years old. The Mother spoke English to him, her husband spoke German (his native language0, the nanny spoke French and the child went to school in Italian. I have always been envious of people who are bi-lingual.

[helenbeee]

I seem to remember that Mary and Fred said they spoke English at home in a documentary?? If thats the case considering the amount of time the family kids included are out in public with engagements and school that would probably help a lot in terms of grasping good English whilst maintaining Danish as their primary language.
Im not trying to antagonise here but rather acknowledge that the other royals have more than adequate grasps of the English language and assume that it must be considered an important diplomatic skill for royals to have.
I guess that Joachim and Maries children may not end up so accomplished in English but will have the benefits of learning french with Marie.
I wonder if Joachim was skilled in french or they spoke English when they first met and Marie couldnt speak Danish....hmmm anyway Im sure the CP family should be well skilled in English by the time they grow up.
:)

[dbarn67]

IMO this is not that big of an issue. Most Europeans I've met speak multiple languages with English being amongst the most common. I think Fed and Mare as well as Joachim and Marie's children will be multi-lingual just be the nature of their lifestyle. I don't think this is that big of an issue.

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by helenbeee

I seem to remember that Mary and Fred said they spoke English at home in a documentary?? If thats the case considering the amount of time the family kids included are out in public with engagements and school that would probably help a lot in terms of grasping good English whilst maintaining Danish as their primary language.
Im not trying to antagonise here but rather acknowledge that the other royals have more than adequate grasps of the English language and assume that it must be considered an important diplomatic skill for royals to have.
I guess that Joachim and Maries children may not end up so accomplished in English but will have the benefits of learning french with Marie.
I wonder if Joachim was skilled in french or they spoke English when they first met and Marie couldnt speak Danish....hmmm anyway Im sure the CP family should be well skilled in English by the time they grow up.
:)

Joachim was fluent in French long before he met our Marie. In fact that's why Marie was seated next to Joachim, when they met for the very first time.
I'd say both Joachim and Frederik's children will end up being fluent in English already in their teens.
I'd say practically all reasonably educated Danes are fluent in English and M&F's children have the added advantage of having relatives who are English speakers. At least Christan had an English nanny and even though she had spend a year or so in DK before that I doubt she was more than at best competent in Danish, so she must have spoken English.
Apart from that nowadays the internet, advertising and subtitled TV all play a crucial part in teaching children English. So English isn't a big worry.

I think bette Henrik and Athena will be proficient in German as well, living and probably going to school so close to the border. Typical for a border region, Southern Jutlanders are on average at the very least able to have a simple conversation in German - and they watch German TV down there.

[kathia_sophia]

I remenber last year on the February photosession, Christian and Isabella were speaking english to each other, they probably speak english at home. Besides, the children need to speak english to their maternal family, because they don't speak danish.

But english is not an issue, it's a worldwide language, it's not dificult to learn it. They all can study aboard and have a better grasp of the language and that's it. (which will happen for sure, maybe for college or university days).

[UserDane]

The problem of Mary speaking only English to her children would be that she then repeated a behaviour which Prince Henrik - and queen Margrethe - have been widely critized for during the years - viz. that of speaking French in private also with their sons. This has been explained as one of the reasons why Prince Henrik speaks Danish with such marked accent, even after so many years in the country. In an interview, the queen has admitted to be part of that problem because they didn't carry on their daily conversations in Danish.

So either we get royal children who are naturally bilingual - or we get a foreign-born queen/king consort who may never be really fluent in Danish because it's not spoken daily in the family environment

This said, the royal family has learned from the Henrik experience and all three daughters in law seem to have been exposed to much more Danish also at an earlier stage than Prince Henrik was.

[Archduchess Zelia]

If Mary speaks English at home it's something completely new to me. She has always said that to fully master our language she almost exclusively speaks Danish - to the point where she actually think in Danish. To be blatantly honest, I'm almost 100% certain that Mary speaks Danish all the time (unless she speaks with foreigners or non-Danish speakers, that is), she's no Prince Henrik, her accent isn't thick or heavy. While I'm sure that Christian and Isabella do speak English really well, I highly doubt that that is the spoken language at home.

[shari-aree]

Hello - does anyone know where I can see Isabella's first day of School interviews translated into English please?

Also - years ago Mary said she would raise her Children to be Tri-lingual; Danish, English & French :)

A very beautiful Family <3

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by shari-aree

Hello - does anyone know where I can see Isabella's first day of School interviews translated into English please?

Also - years ago Mary said she would raise her Children to be Tri-lingual; Danish, English & French :)

A very beautiful Family <3

Yes, you can see the translations here in this thread.