Anne Fox on 43Things wishes she could teach her children French. I have done it and it was worth it.

French is not my mother tongue. As a matter of fact, not even my second language but my 4th. However, I decided to bring up and educate my children in French because my husband speaks it and because they would learn Portuguese (we live in Brazil) anyway.

I must say it was not easy at the beginning because my knowledge of written French was restricted to what I read in books and newspapers and my oral practice was with adult friends. I had no vocabulary for children who are growing up, asking questions about the nature of things and specific household objects.

I bought books with stories for children, which I read for them every night. I bought tapes and films, which we listened to and finally I sent them to the bilingual school where I presently work.

Today they speak 4 languages fluently: Portuguese, French, English and Spanish.

The more languages you learn when you are young, the easier it becomes to understand and learn others.