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Watching My Multilingual Jewish Kids Learn German Is Complicated

JL;DR SUMMARY Rachel Seelig reflects on the complex emotions tied to her children's multilingual upbringing in Germany. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

IdentityJewish DiasporaJewish IdentityCultural HeritageFamily HistoryParentingGerman LanguageMultilingualismLanguage AcquisitionLanguage Play

Places mentioned

Freiburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
"A few months ago, he started second grade in Freiburg, a picturesque university town nestled in the Black Forest."
Haifa, Haifa District, Israel
"It's the language of my Jewish grandparents, who fled Nazi Germany for British Mandate Palestine; the language that filled their Haifa living room when aunties and friends gathered for their regular Kaffeeklatsch;"

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Cairo Item ID 49822
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Retrieved 2025-04-22 05:30:45 UTC
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