Expatriate Life & Bilingual Kids (40th Birthday Preview Post 2)

I hope Kate doesn't mind if I answer her question later today (after all, I had only two questions when I began my "preview" two days before my b-day), but I think I can answer American Family's questions relatively quickly (if I don't begin linking or going too deep into my answers. ;)

1) I want to know what you miss the most about Brazil (besides family and friends).

Foods: I miss the fruit (grapes, figs, fruta do conde, jabuticaba, pitomba -- I'll add links later, promise!), some foods (pastel - fried dough with filling, similar to the hispanic empanadas, just crispier!), this delicious yellow vegetable that is a cross between a carrot and a potato and which is just SOOOO tasty, we call it various names in Brazil: batata-salsa (parsley potato), mandioquinha (small manioc/cassava), batata baroa  and other names.

Architecture and urbanism: I miss the way houses are built (I have taken photos of houses to post in the blog since 2005, but since I'm not happy with how photos look in my blog) and architecture and city structure (Brazil is pretty European in this respect, the U.S. is quite unique in the world, I think as far as urbanism is concerned).

I don't miss that much, to be frank, and that's a bit sad. If I remember more things, I'll share later.

2) What did you find the strangest about the US when you first came?

Oh, my friend... I have been planning (and am already paying for the URL for months now) for years to have an entire website/blog (I want it to be collaborative with people's contribution) about the things I find strange, there are  too many to count. My favorite: how Americans LOVE fake things, e.g. fake shutters by the windows of houses, vinyl or aluminum siding that looks like fake wood. YIKES! Most brick in construction here is just a façade, it's like they're "fake bricks" too... and the list goes on and on. ;) I really need to get my website/blog started!

3) How bilingual are your kids? Are you happy with their ability in both languages?

My kids are fully bilingual, but in different degrees as far as speaking is concerned. Both were monolingual (i.e. only spoke Portuguese) until they were 4.5 years old -- that's one of the reason for the name of my blog, I was constantly translating for them. Kelvin learned English online (YAY for Sesame Street's website, it used to be better) and with DVDs and videos and poor Linton was forced to come into Kelvin's classroom with me for 3 days a week and had a sudden forced "immersion" in English.

Kelvin can still speak Portuguese very fluently, he can even read, but Linton -- who is really much more prone to peer pressure and to pleasing others around him -- is more resistant to the language and sometimes we feel that he does lack the vocabulary to express himself. If we could still afford to go to Brazil every year, it would be easier. According to my husband, the biggest impediment to their full bilingualism was the fact that I worked at Kelvin's school for one year and then did cyber-schooling for another year and thus had to speak in English with the boys, thus "polluting" the home environment with the majority language. Sigh.

I am trying to enforce the "Portuguese at home" rule, but it's hard. I think we'll be fine in the end and I value bilingualism very highly, but I don't think I'm a "militant" for it anymore. :(

Any follow-up questions? Thanks for asking, A!