Singapore Expats

Hi,

I'm a working mom and I leave my 4 month old with my maid while I'm at work. While my maid is really trustworthy, I am worried about her very poor English skills and how that will impact my baby. Has anyone else had this experience, and if so, did you find that your children developed poor English speaking skills as a result, or does it even out when they start going to school? Any advice / suggestions on how to handle this situation would be great as well! I'm reluctant to change maids as I really do like my maid.

Thank you!

pj796 wrote:Hi,

I'm a working mom and I leave my 4 month old with my maid while I'm at work. While my maid is really trustworthy, I am worried about her very poor English skills and how that will impact my baby. Has anyone else had this experience, and if so, did you find that your children developed poor English speaking skills as a result, or does it even out when they start going to school? Any advice / suggestions on how to handle this situation would be great as well! I'm reluctant to change maids as I really do like my maid.

Thank you!

I dont think she adopt you maids poor English. As she grows up and learn to talk she will adopt a proper English esp if you start reading or teaching your baby how to read. And when the time comes that she speak a bad English try to correct it as soon as you can. Dont let you maid read to him if you dont trust her about that. You as a parent has the obligation to teach your child properly.

my kids were speaking good english before singapore! water is what-ter, every end of a sentence is slowly ending with a la, already is oledi, let's go is let's jalan, dont want is dowan, etc.

they just pick it up so fast in school. but kids being kids, when they went away to an english speaking country, all the la and the singlish gone but came back once back in singapore!

your baby is only 4 months old, so still a long way to learn singlish.

Both of mine code switch without even thinking about it. Born here, locally schooled and now 21 & 26. As long as you do your part as a parent, you wont have any problems.

boleh 1.

Your kid is more likely to learn Tagalog (or whatever else is your maid's mothe tongue) because that's what will be spoken as soon as you turn your back, rather than bad English. There's nothing wrong with learning another language!

I say fire the maid.

I mean, how dare she for her $450 a month and 12 hour work days expect to keep her job without speaking the Queen's English. How anyone could even consider a maid from the Colonies with even a hint of an accent is beyond me.

If you like I can recommend a good nanny from the Queen Anne finishing school in Little Frumptonshire in Mocking-on-the-Wold.

^^ Why must every thread with the word 'maid' derail so spectacularly? ^^

Cause it's misspelled?

It's enough to trust the maid and do her job.

Always find time to speak to your child. Your kid will always be able to distinguish your way of speaking and your maid's way of speaking.

She will be able to pick up her nanny's way of speaking but if you talk to her more and soon discover unconsciously that it is you that she /he follows, then that will come naturally.

I have a colleague whose daughter learned the maid's language so fluently without missing on her own mother tongue. I'm following this principle. I talk to my daughter, I won't have problem.

robleo wrote:It's enough to trust the maid and do her job.

Always find time to speak to your child. Your kid will always be able to distinguish your way of speaking and your maid's way of speaking.

She will be able to pick up her nanny's way of speaking but if you talk to her more and soon discover unconsciously that it is you that she /he follows, then that will come naturally.

I have a colleague whose daughter learned the maid's language so fluently without missing on her own mother tongue. I'm following this principle. I talk to my daughter, I won't have problem.

Yes true. child is always focused to their parents, no matter how long they stayed with maid, grandparent. this is very very natural kindred link.

curiousgeorge wrote:I say fire the maid.

I mean, how dare she for her $450 a month and 12 hour work days expect to keep her job without speaking the Queen's English. How anyone could even consider a maid from the Colonies with even a hint of an accent is beyond me.

If you like I can recommend a good nanny from the Queen Anne finishing school in Little Frumptonshire in Mocking-on-the-Wold.

I like British humour.

My sister in law's maid has horrible english and the kid doesnt really speak good english and he speaks like the maid at times. After seeing my sister's in law experience, I basically made sure I had a plan when my kid is out. As I think the foundation years are very important

Some personal tips that I am using. not sure if it will work as my kid is about 1 and 1/2 years old.

- Always correct your maid's english when she is saying it wrongly.
- Talk more to your kid in proper sentence and words
- Let him have 1 hour of listening or watching english kids documentaries. At times I on BBC radio to let him listen to the commentary
- No baby talk, Try to its hard when you have elders around

Hope this helps, one thing your maid should also have some level of English as its alot easier to start of when they speak properly

We had to stop letting our two year old watch Cbeebies because he was starting to say some words with that annoying English accent.

fiveniner wrote:My sister in law's maid has horrible english and the kid doesnt really speak good english and he speaks like the maid at times. After seeing my sister's in law experience, I basically made sure I had a plan when my kid is out. As I think the foundation years are very important

Some personal tips that I am using. not sure if it will work as my kid is about 1 and 1/2 years old.

- Always correct your maid's english when she is saying it wrongly.
- Talk more to your kid in proper sentence and words
- Let him have 1 hour of listening or watching english kids documentaries. At times I on BBC radio to let him listen to the commentary
- No baby talk, Try to its hard when you have elders around

Hope this helps, one thing your maid should also have some level of English as its alot easier to start of when they speak properly

Aiyoh ~

I know no one is perfect and my grammar, at times, is truly atrocious. But do you realize how many grammatical mistakes you made in your post?

Don't worry so much. Your child will learn the difference and mimic your speech and mimic the maid's when it works to their advantage. Don't correct your poor maid ad nauseum, just gently remind your child what the correct alternative is and she may pick it up too. You could also offer to send her to English class.