Moms,
My little girl just turned 6 months, and I'm beginning to look for Russian-speaking playmates for her, as I'm sure it's the only way she'll have a chance of speaking Russian. I even started a group on meetup.com, and my mother said she'll advertise on baraban.ru. Any other ways to find Russian-speaking parents and kids?
Try Parent's Place in Palo Alto. They work with all families, but it is jewish organization that works with a lot of Russian emigrees (sp?).
Good luck.
The best way to ensure that your child is fluent in both languages is to have one parent speak exclusively Russian, and have the other parent speak exclusive English to her. A dear friend of mine is also Russian, and even without playmates, her daughter became very fluent in Russian as her first language, simply by being exposed to it from her parents. However, she had a very difficult time with English once she started school, so my recommendation is that you teach both languages simultaneously, so it gives her a huge added advantage. From a neurological perspective, whatever sounds she is exposed to during her first 12 months, she should be able to easily duplicate.
I need to know where you live. My friend has a grandchild who goes to a russian babysitter so she can learn russian even though one parent is not. That's just one resource. We are in the Menlo Park, Palo Alto area. If that's close, let me know - E. C. ###-###-####.
Where do you live? I am russian too, came here from Russia in 1991, currently about 6 1/2 months pregnant. So our kids will be about 9 months apart, but eventually, I'll probably be looking for the same.
