Now they're all back, so I went over yesterday afternoon. They were doing their usual, school vacation plus jetlag relaxing... So, I did a little "testing."
"I presume that now after three weeks in New York your English is perfect."That's what I said to the three younger ones. The eldest already understands everything and speaks beautifully. From the "you must be crazy" looks the two middle ones gave me, it was clear that they understood exactly what I had said. And the youngest, reacted with her usual question to her siblings:
"What did savta say?"She'll catch on. Actually, she does understand most of what I say. And the others know more English than they would have if I hadn't been speaking only English to them all their lives.
Actually, I had a nice conversation with the second one. I spoke in English, and she answered in Hebrew. She understood everything without even once asking me to repeat or explain. The eldest speaks to me in English rarely trying to sneak in Hebrew.
Once the weather cooled down a bit, I was able to bribe the youngest with a trip to the grocers to buy ice cream. And then we went to the playground. I'm looking forward to seeing more of them... And then maybe I'll convince the younger ones to speak English, even just a few words...
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