I've been away from home all summer, from mid-June to July 29. This has been the longest period I have ever been separated from J and, consequently, the longest he has gone without his main L2 source and speaking partner. All told, we were apart for 43 days (we all met in Paris for a week in mid-July, on which more in a later post).
I was worried before I left about the impact of this separation on J's German. So I got various German-YouTube-video series (Jim Knopf, Let's Play World of Warcraft, Let's Play Minecraft) lined up on my computer screen, and my wife saw to it that he did regular watching. I've just looked back at the history and done the numbers, and it amounts to about 22 minutes per day of passive practice.
He hasn't lost much L2 ability. He speaks a bit more hesitantly at times, and yesterday, which we spent mostly alone together and in which he did a lot of talking, he asked me three or four times how to say some very basic words. On the other hand, he also produced some new expressions and formulations he's picked up in the meantime or which are the product of his developing brain. I heard some verbal combinations I don't believe I've heard before (though I didn't write them down and don't remember what they are now).
So all in all, J's German is still going very strong and a summer of diminished L2 use has proven to be just a slight bump in the road.
I now look forward to returning to our regular routines and to regular posting.
2016
Total audio: 28.55
Total video: 25:25
Total gamplay: 5.00
Age 6.09.31
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