We bring our children up with the OPOL method, which means One Person uses One Language. The father always speaks in English and the mother always in Polish. The choice of this method has been imposed by our life situation, because we are a mixed marriage. For each parent, a desire to communicate with the child in their mother tongue is natural and, in this way, it is the easiest way to establish an emotional connection, which is the buttress for the entire life of the child. Even though I know English very well, I could not imagine speaking to my children in any other language than Polish because this one is the easiest for me to express my emotions in.
My husband speaks fluent German (He studied and lived in Germany) and he wanted to teach our children this language, too. That is why we considered the option where dad speaks in German, mum in Polish and the child learn English outside the home. We even tried it. However, because of the above-mentioned emotional and practical reasons, we decided to use only two languages. It was a good decision because we have a bash with maintenance and development of two languages. I could add that German would be for Talkusia and Pynio an additional language and therefore the abandonment of it does not have a negative impact on their development or contacts with other people. On the other hand, abandoning one of the languages of a parent from a mixed marriage is, for me, out of question.
When Talkusia and Pynio were infants, I made did some experiments. As I mentioned, my husband and I always and everywhere speak in our own languages, but this time, just for a moment, I started speaking to the child in English and my husband in Polish. Who can guess what the reaction of toddler was? I tried the experiment on both children when they were at the age of about eight months and the reaction was exactly the same. I await your comments and guesses at what exactly that reaction was.
More information: Bilingual House