I used to translate for my mother to my father’s friends when I was very young, under 5 years old. Then I would translate to my mother what they said. I lost much of it when we moved into town and started school. My sister thought in Norwegian and had a difficult time in school because of it. It’s interesting being brought up with a foreign language. I still remember quite a lot when I start talking or listening to another Norwegian. Kinda fun. Thanks for the interesting story about your husband.
You are welcome...another story...
When I was in high school, I used to work in my friends mothers corner store...there was a young Polish couple that came in...they did not know much English, but they were trying very hard to learn it...they had a little daughter, she must have been around 3 when they started coming into the store...whenever they came into the store, they always had her along, of course, but they wanted me to talk to her, to conduct their shopping business with the little girl...I was to tell her, whatever they needed to know, and then, and then this little girl, so sweet and little, would translate what I said into Polish for her parents....
You see, tho they were anxious to learn as much English as they could, as quickly as they could, they realized that their little girl, due to start school in a few years absolutely needed to speak English...so they went out of their way to expose her to as many English speaking people as they could, so that she would be quite fluent in English by the time she began school...
Regarding church...this Polish couple was Catholic...now being as we were in Chicago, there were many Catholic churches, within a close distance, where the congregation, was mainly made up of people whose native tongue was Polish, or least the people were bi-lingual....this Polish couple could have easily found a Catholic Church, where they would be more comfortable with the language of the parishioners...but they chose not to take that easy route, but rather attended the Catholic Church that the store owners went to, where it was English that the people were speaking...it was harder, I am sure on this Polish couple, but their main concern, and their priority always seemed to be for the little girl, as it should be, and they were willing to be inconvenienced as far as language, if they thought it to be a benefit to their little girl..
I worked in that little store for many years, and when the little girl made her First Communion, she came into the store, to show me her dress....by this time, her parents were successful, in becoming quite fluent in English....so it was a success story...