by David Pollock and Ruth Van Reken.

I grew up as a German in Argentina and now live in the USA. I was amazed how this book put a name to many of the experiences, feelings and reactions I experienced and am still experiencing, in words. It seems that I am not the only one feeling that way at times.

One of the stories especially hit home. One American girl grew up in Singapore. When it was time to go to College she returned to the USA, never feeling really at home and always longing to get back "home", which was Singapore for her. By the time she graduated, her parents had also returned to the States. Their new house in Ohio, did not mean "home" to her either. After feeling miserable and being homesick for some years, she decides to take the plunge and "return" to Singapor to find a job there. I knew just how she felt, when she found out that Singapore was not the same as the one she remembered, when she was living there as her parent's daughter. Even trying to get work permission was hard, everyone treated her as a "foreigner" in the country, she thought was her "home".

I was amazed how the authors of the book pointed and described the airplane trip to and from the homecountry as a necessary transition time to prepare ourselves to turn back into the "person" the people and culture at the destination airport "expected" us to be. The feeling of never feeling home anywhere completely and always being a foreigner is a very powerful feeling.

The book also highlights the advantages of being a many culture child or adult. Being able to relate to many different cultures, having a very broad horizon and of course the multilingual aspect are some of the positive features the book mentions. Not all the chapters apply to everyone, but still a very interesting book.

In this publication, the authors explore the experiences of those who have become known as "third culture kids" (TCKs) - children who grow up or spend a significant part of their childhood living abroad. The book is rich with real-life anecdotes and examines the nature of the TCK kid experience and its effects on maturing, developing a sense of identity, and adjusting to one's "passport country" upon return. The authors give readers an understanding of the challenges and benefits of the TCK life

Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa hat ein empfehlenswertes Buch geschrieben "Raising Multilingual Children - Foreign Language Acquisition and Children".

Es ist gut zu lesen, da sie es so aufgebaut hat, dass man es entweder von A-Z durchliest, oder ein bestimmtes Problem hat und dazu Tipps/Erfahrungen/ wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen findet.
Es faengt mit "ingredients" (sprich Zeitpunkt, Veranlagung etc) an, geht dann ueber Motivation und Strategie, Einfluss von Geschwistern bis zur Rolle von Lehrern und Schule bei der Erlernunge von Sprachen. Tracey ist im Zuge ihres Studiums auf diese Problematik gestossen und hat festgestellt, dass es zwar viele fachspezifische Abhandlungen gibt, aber wenig Material fuer die "normalen" Eltern.
So hat sie dann - durch ihre eigenen Erfahrungen ergaenzt, denn sie ist Amerikanerin, ihr Mann kommt aus Ecuador, sie lebte in Japan und jetzt in der Schweiz - selber recherchiert und dieses Buch geschrieben.
Sie meint, es sei erwiesen, dass Kinder zwischen ca 2 und 4 Jahren SCHEINBAR stagnieren, wenn es um Fremdsprachenerwerb geht. Eine Erklaerung ist z..B. das sich die Kinder bewusst werden, dass sie verschiedene Sprachen sprechen.

Auch scheint es, dass dies bei Jungen noch ausgepraegter bzw. etwas laenger andauert als bei Maedchen, und leider viele Eltern aufhoeren, die zweite Sprache mit ihm zu sprechen. Nach dem Motto "er kann es nicht", doch nur weniger Monate laenger genuegen wuerden, um den Erfolg des Sprechens in der zweiten Sprache doch zu sehen.
Na ja - und bei uns ist es ja dann auch so gewesen.... Tracey hat auch eine web-seite: www. multi-faceta.com, wenn Ihr "References and Resources" anklickt, gehen Euch die Augen ueber.... ziemlich weit am Ende dann viele, viele links zum Theme Multilingualitaet.

Klappentext:
Evaluates the most recent research in linguistics, neurology, education, and psychology and reinterprets the findings in an easy-to-follow format. Case studies illustrate the many ways families combine ten key factors in order to successfully raise multilingual children. The book encourages parents and teachers to reflect on their personal situations and helps them to foster multilingual skills in the children around them.