Re: Language dilemma
Oh I read your original post. You need to go back and read every-single-post in this thread carefully because you are obviously not getting what people are telling you.
Several people already told you BEFORE you wrote this that you should talk to baby in Urdu and husband in Arabic and which will allow baby to learn both. You wrote in post #1](http://www.paklinks.com/gs/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=1) that you want baby to learn both Arabic and Urdu. Then why are you asking whether you should teach him more Urdu or Arabic? One language will NOT be dominant if you and your husband work as a team and teach him both. Now eventually when the baby starts school, by the time he becomes a teenager, most likely English will become/seem dominant b/c that’s what he will most likey speak most of the day around his friends. But for the next few years, you and your husabnd fully control his environment and have the ability to make baby equally comfortable in both Urdu and Arabic.
You and your husband need to start speaking to each other in Arabic. If you can’t find a specific word in Arabic, then say it in English. Again, not a big deal. Since your husband refuses to learn Urdu, there’s not other way around this.
You mentioned this in the first post and several people advised you the best way to teach the baby. In case it was’t obvious from all the advise, allow me to spell it out: Your sister’s advice is not valid.
If YOU feel awkward, then that’s your problem and it will effect the baby learning Urdu in the long run. Either you will speak to the baby in Urdu or not. Simple. YOU get to make that decision.
I’m not sure what your brother has to do with this. Do YOU want your baby to learn Urdu and know the culture? Because ultimately, YOU are the one who has to put in the hard work to make sure it happens. So forget about others want your baby to do…think about and decide how important Urdu/Pakistani culture is to YOU and how hard YOU are willing to work to make sure your baby learns this.
And this is your main problem. If your husband refuses to support the idea of the baby learning Urdu, then it’s not going to happen. And I don’t know why you’re writing that it “seems”. Sit down and directly ask your husband how he feels about the baby learning Urdu. Again…a simple solution. No reason to wonder about this. But going by your husband’s behavior, he has made it clear to you that he has no interest in Urdu. In return, since you’re obviously fine with it and have never made an issue of it…you also gave your husband the impression that Urdu isn’t that important to you.
Every couple I know that has taught their kids 2 different languages they speak did it as a team. BOTH mom and dad need to respect the other language and BOTH have to support the other’s effort to teach it.
And speaking of posts, I asked you a direct question earlier which you have not answered yet. Are there Arabic or Urdu immersion programs for kids in your area?
Additionally, do you know other Urdu speaking families with small kids that you spend time with regularly? How active are you in the Pakistani community and how active is your husband in the Arabic community?