Hi Luke, thanks for writing!
I spoke to Alec using only Klingon from the time he was born, until he was almost 3 years. While he was clearly understanding me and starting to speak a little, ultimately it was unsuccessful. I can give you the reasons why I think I failed, and you can go from there.
The first problem I encountered was vocabulary. Klingon has lots of words for things like shuttlecraft, phaser, transporter ionization unit, but not a lot of words that are practical on a daily basis with a baby / toddler. The most immediate things are words like diaper, crib, bottle, milk, potty, bath, and so on. I found myself improvising in a lot of cases, and it would have been better if I had been more prepared. When Alec was about 2 years old, a new book came out with a lot of new vocabulary, and all of a sudden we had words for things that we didn't have before, like "table", "window", and so on. On the one hand that helped, but it also meant that I had to change some words I had been using, which was confusing (both for him and me). The better prepared you are with vocabulary, the better.
The second main problem was that I was the only one in his environment who spoke Klingon. One time I had a friend visit who spoke Klingon and Alec was enthralled. But at the time he was still too young to take advantage of it, and the visit was short, only a day. The more practical, day-to-day exposure to as many speakers as possible that you can get, the better.
Another aspect of this is that speaking Klingon was an extra, unnecessary effort for him. It was obvious that I also speak English, as I spoke it with my wife and everyone else, except him. In studies of bilingualism, the kids who tend to achieve fluency in multiple languages didn't have a choice, such as grandparents who only spoke a different language than the main language of the community or household. If your wife can speak Lojban, you can make Lojban the language of the household.
Some things that worked:
We played a game where I would name body parts and he would point to them. {nuqDaq 'oH ghItlhlIj'e'?} ("where's your nose?"), {nuqDaq 'oH qevpobwIj'e'?"} ("where's my cheek"). This is a pretty simple game, easy to learn and play, and it sets up a good sentence pattern for later interactions ("where's your/my/his XX?")
Every night at bedtime, as part of his daily routine, we would sing a "lullaby" in Klingon, the Klingon Imperial Anthem {taHjaj wo'}. (I don't think the composer ever thought it would be used as a lullaby!) He got so good at this, he was better at 2-1/2 than most adult speakers of the language, due to the daily practice. Pick (or translate) something that can be done every day. Doesn't have to be a bedtime thing, just so long as it becomes a daily routine. At first it should not change, it should be the same thing every day, but later you can start to change it. Make it fun.
I spoke Klingon with Alec everywhere: at the store, in the park, in the house, etc. It didn't matter whether there were other people around and if they gave me strange looks. Most people don't recognize Klingon for what it is, they just assumed it was some other language they didn't know. You don't need to explain yourself to anyone, just have fun with it. In some cases it may be easier NOT to explain what you're doing! Fewer people know of Lojban than Klingon, so you'll find yourself answering lots of the same questions over again. You might print out a little business card-sized note that you can hand to people who are truly curious, with answers to common questions and a link to a website. This can save your sanity.
Just before Alec was 3 years old I stopped, because he was starting to resist. I could see that he was becoming unhappy, and this wasn't worth it to me. Especially as your child becomes more vocal and communicative, pay careful attention to their attitude and behavior. You'll have to decide for yourself how far you want to take it and how hard you want to try, but don't overdo it. If it works, great, but if not, don't force it.
At the very least, document what you're doing, the vocabulary you use, and all the progress you make. You'll be asked about this for years to come, especially if you're successful. :) If there's an active community of Lojbanists (sorry, don't know much about it), enlist their help with any challenges you face (how DO you say "dirty diaper" in Lojban?). Anyone else raise their kids speaking Lojban, or who have made Lojban the language of their household? Since you've got a few years to prepare, you can translate a collection of children's books, to have ready. Most first readers are more about the pictures and have simple words and phrases; it's a great place to start.
Hope this is helpful. I know it's a few years off, but please feel free to keep in touch and let me know how it's going!
--d'Armond
On Aug 24, 2009, at 9:24 AM, Luke Bergen wrote:
Hello Dr. Speers, I'm a new/intermediate speaker of the constructed language Lojban (http://www.lojban.org) and am planning on trying to have kids with my wife in a few years. I started toying with the idea of trying to raise our future children bi-lingual lojban-english by my speaking only lojban and my wife only speaking english when I heard about your endeavors to raise Alec bi-lingual Klingon-English using a similar method.
I was just wondering if you have any advice/precautions given your experiences with Alec in this area.