Accent softening/elocution

meester

My wife is Indonesian and has been in the UK for six years, but still has a strong accent and her grammar hasn't really improved - she tends to get her word order wrong. I'm concerned because my son's language skills have suffered I think as a result of her incorrect English.

She has been to English classes in the past, but I'd prefer something more drastic, one-to-one, I guess roughly speaking, elocution lessons, but for her as a non-native speaker.

Any suggestions on this?

We live in Surrey.

elona

My father decided that my mother who was German should stop speaking her language to me as otherwise I would grow up speaking broken English (ironic as he was a Scot)

Not only did I speak, spell and use grammer better than my classmates I still am furious that I missed the chance to be bilingual.

One of my classmates mothers asked me who my elocution teacher was which confused me as I used to copy the accents from the radio or television as I realised my father's Ayrshire accent and my mother's German one were unlike the accents I heard around me.

conradmum

How old is your son meerster? If he's under six he still has a good chance to grow up bilingual, one of the greatest gifts you can give him. People who are bilingual learn other languages more easily, are (on average!) more intelligent and for some reason even live longer!

Your wife could improve her accent with elocution lessons but her grammar won't improve without English classes, and probably not very much even then. If she's been speaking English that way for a long time she'll have ingrained habits that are very hard to break.

Don't worry about the effect on your son. Growing up in an English speaking country will ensure that his English will turn out just fine. But I still think the best solution is for your wife to speak Thai to him. He'll find it confusing at first but will pick up the language naturally without having to learn it, if he's young enough. If you can all persevere with this the benefits to him in the long term are huge.

(This is my subject area, by the way.)

3plus1

elona wrote: »

I still am furious that I mised the chance to be bilingual.

Ditto. My mother could have easily taught me Cantonese and chose not to. I have always bitterly regretted this as it's such a useful language to have.

How old is your son, OP?

sooz

meester wrote: »

My wife is Indonesian and has been in the UK for six years, but still has a strong accent and her grammar hasn't really improved - she tends to get her word order wrong. I'm concerned because my son's language skills have suffered I think as a result of her incorrect English.

She has been to English classes in the past, but I'd prefer something more drastic, one-to-one, I guess roughly speaking, elocution lessons, but for her as a non-native speaker.

Any suggestions on this?

We live in Surrey.

Does she want more English classes or elocution lessons? This doesn't come across in your post Do you speak her language? She probably doesn't think your accent is all that great either...
I'd agree with the other posters, your wife should speak her native tongue to your child, & give him the best possible start by encouraging him to grow up bilingual.
Eventually, he will correct her her English

Cazza

My best friend is a primary school teacher. She has occaisionally had children in her class who have recently moved to the UK and do not speak any English at all, (my part of the country isn't all that multi ethnic!!) She has said that usually within 1-2 terms the children are pretty fluent in English, despite the fact they're still speaking their native language at home. The majority of the pupils she has had have moved to the UK from another EU country because one of the parents has moved here for work. It's quite a posh, middle class primary school, but your son will have you at home to speak English too.

I agree with the other posters that this is a great opportunity for your son, wait until he starts school and see if his teacher's think he needs additional help then. Your wife may find that helping him with his reading etc when he starts school actually helps her too!

MrsTinks

OK as someone with a BIT of experience here
I'm Danish, lived in Norway, was taught English and German (and a little Italian) and picked up Swedish. My dad (and mum) is danish and after he divorced my mum he married a polish lady and later on he married a Russian lady (there was a divorce inbetween for those wondering). I'm multilingual and my youngest half brother speak dansh and russian - he's coming up 5 btw... Dad speaks danish to him as does his friends and obviously my dads family, but his mum speaks russian to him and so do her family when they are in russia (usually for the whole of the summer). My step mum went to evening classes to learn Danish and even now after many years in Denmark her danish is obviously not native but her sons has corrected itself quite happily. You'd only know he's bi-lingual because he switches the second he's talking to her and usually it's when he's not getting what he wants and they end up arguing (stand up little guy ) - it's quite funny to watch although I don't understand a word of it

By all means encourage your wife to take lessons to improve her english if that is what SHE wants, but your sons english will soon correct itself. If he manages to be bilingual then excellent! It'll make it much easier for him to find decent jobs later on in life even if early on you think it's a hindrance.

skintchick

I can;t comment on the question asked, but I used to work with a girl whose mother was German and whose father had died when she was young. She spoke very correct English, but slightly strangely both in accent and in tersm of how she structured sentences, and she was very, very precise in what she said and how she said it, so certainly having only one example of how to speak English, from a non-native English speaker, in a way did impair her speaking skills.

BUt not so anyone would care IYSWIM.

ceridwen

meester wrote: »

My wife is Indonesian and has been in the UK for six years, but still has a strong accent and her grammar hasn't really improved - she tends to get her word order wrong. I'm concerned because my son's language skills have suffered I think as a result of her incorrect English.

She has been to English classes in the past, but I'd prefer something more drastic, one-to-one, I guess roughly speaking, elocution lessons, but for her as a non-native speaker.

Any suggestions on this?

We live in Surrey.

I am a bit confused here - you state "my" son....errr....is the child "your" son or "our" son. It is not clear from this whether the son is yours or ours?

Also - I've long since lost count of how many totally British people don't speak correct English...there does seem to be RATHER a lot...."I'm like aware of...innit". I've often had to give up trying to interpret some of the posts on this website - as they are so unclear - and these are presumably native English speakers.

whitewing

Elocution lessons can be fun because you get vocal training that can give you a lovely tone and resonance to your voice. Look up training for public speakers in yellow pages.

Accents and quirky English are beautiful and colourful to hear. Has she done English as a second language courses (husband says useful)?

DS had au pairs and did pick up some delightful patterns of speaking but that soon rights itself when he went to school.

How old is your son?

whitewing

Forgot to say, DH also swears by listening to BBC Radio 4...or those talking books - something wife and child could share together?