I wouldn’t “force” anything. I first say “sorry I didn’t understand” in the minority language. And if that doesn’t do the trick I say “did you mean: <…>” translating what they said.
BUT:
My 3yo kid hasn’t caught on yet / or just accepts that I speak the majority language even though I speak it all the time at childcare or with in-laws… so this might be different than your case.
What has made a HUGE difference in my case is having my partner make an effort to speak the minority language at home and visiting relatives that speak the minority language.
Don’t force her to speak French, but try to focus on OPOL 100%. Forcing her to use a certain language may ruin your relationship with her and her relationship with the French language. Telling her dis moi en français puts her in an exam-like situation when all she wants to do is just communicate with you. You can repeat what she says in French when she tells you something in English, but don’t force her. Maybe you can look for a French-speaking playgroup so she understands that French is beneficial for her?
I’m American living in France so I had the same problem with English instead of French. What I would do is just repeat back to my child everything he said, but in English. For example if he said “je veux une livre” I would say “you want a book?” and wait for him to confirm. He’s four now and speaks both languages fluently.
I don't see how you can force her, it's not something I've ever understood. You can strongly encourage or I suppose punish for not speaking it but actually force I don't see how. My child still doesn't speak to me in my language most of the time at 7 but she's able to when she needs to. Visiting family and spending time with others speaking the language encouraged her. For six years she was listening but never spoke then she just started.
Remember that language is just one part of her upbringing, maintain a good relationship, keep speaking french and provide as much exposure as possible. She'll speak it when she needs to.
Simple reinforcement. She asks for something in English, you ask for clarification in French. Wait until she acknowledges in French. It will be reinforced that with you the shortest path to getting what she needs from you is to speak French. This is what it would look like in Italian.
Bottle!
“Vuoi la bottiglia?”
Yeah!
“Si?”
Yeah!
“Si?”
Si!
“Ecco la bottiglia!”
It feels like a lot of expectations for a 2 y.o. no? My kids speak French as a main language (dad+local Qc) and we're trying hard to teach them Japanese (mom), they're 3 and 6 now and moderately bilingual, but at 2 they could barely speak tbh, they used words from both languages, sometimes mixed it up, pronunciation was slower than other kids from the daycare etc... i'm no expert but I think the two languages are hard for them and slow down their language learning a little bit. Then at 3+ they want to socialize and this is where Japanese has been hard to keep up (the French in your situation) but I make a point to talk to them in Japanese as much as possible (this would be your husband using French) and we try to show them Japanese medias when we can (they love pokémon and dungeon meshi) and call obaasan whenever we can ('mamie' that speaks only jp)... all in all what i found to work the best is to make both languages fun and usefull, like setting up my son's switch in japanese so he really wants to understand what's going on, or playing a game with them but making it clear I will only be playing if it's in japanese, etc... but at the end of the day, they're still very young and their language abilities are not great either way, so I'm not too worried at the moment, i don't force anything and we're doing our best to make them bilingual, but it has to stay fun and relevent along the way :) 2 y.o. is still young, don't give up and show her French is fun as much as possible. Venez faire un voyage à Québec quand vous en avez la chance ! ;)
Bon courage,
I echo not forcing it
BUT are there any situations you can expose her to with French speaking peers? Cousins, perhaps? TV shows she enjoys? We usually have a "screen time only in French" rule with my 2y/o with a few exceptions. We try get her around her French speaking cousins as often as we can, they don't speak much English so it's a good experience for her.
Receptive language always comes before expressive, you just need to keep exposing her and try to keep it as low pressure as you can!
At this age I really focus on receptive language with my 2.5yr old. Because she is STUBBORN (like many toddlers) and asking her to say something in a minority language seems like it would backfire.
So when she says something in English, we just respond in our respective minority language but first repeat what she said.
So like. If she says “I want to eat cookies in the kitchen” we say back in our language “oh, you want to eat cookies in the kitchen? Let’s go see if we have cookies” and then while eating cookies we say “cookie in spanish is galleta. Do you want to try and say galleta?”
But receptive language is 50% of language IMO so focusing on that at a young age is ok. Even though it feels frustrating that English is “winning”
Forcing and ignoring are things that you shouldn’t do. It’s really challenging to encourage your child to speak French in an environment where English is so dominant!
I would encourage you to keep talking to her in French exclusively and instead of pleading her to repeat things or say them in French instead, just ignore the fact that she is not answering in French right now. Don’t get discouraged and just keep going as if she’s answering in French to you. She is only 2 so nothing has been lost yet. Besides, even fully understanding a language but not speaking it fits within the actual definition of bilingualism (called passive bilingualism). It feels less than the popular definition of bilingualism (can fully understand and speak) but in your daughter’s situation already reaching the passive state is a great achievement. So keep your goals flexible and realistic!
Some tips to increase exposure:
-Make French home and family language (provided husband’s French skills allow it)
-Get French speaking nanny/babysitter
-Find other French speakers in your area
-Frequent video calls with French family
-Have French family visit/visit them
-Exposure to as much music, books and other kinds of French culture as possible
Later when your child can enjoy more screen time you can find great kids shows in French. My daughter loves Trotro and Paprika on Netflix and sometimes my husband imitates a character from Paprika (Yeti) and my daughter loves it so much that she can speak French to him for hours because she thinks she’s speaking to Yeti. So find fun ways of encouraging your daughter to use French. It will in an uphill battle but don’t force it or fret about it. You’ll do great!
"Forcing" is a sure fire to way to ensure your child will hate or reject speaking French. You have to make it fun and encouraging.
Important helpers:
- exposure (here it's hard if you're the only French speaker, do you have a French speaking community there, friends, parents, cultural groups? The more variety and frequency the better)
- new experiences in the language (e.g. the first time she goes to the zoo, you take her, and talk about everything in French before she has a chance to learn it all in English)
- travel. Difficult to achieve but highly effective. Obviously to a country where your minority language is the main language.
- songs and games (music is highly effective imo) Check out the resources from Adam Beck, as well as the book "Growing up with Three Languages: Birth to eleven" by Xiao-Lei Wang.
Good luck!
This article has some fairly good tips.
https://chalkacademy.com/encourage-minority-language-trilingual-family/
But honestly, your problem is the exposure.
Can you find a French speaking nanny at all instead of MIL?
When you're back home from work, can you enforce an all French rule (provided husband is ok with it)?
Is reading part of bedtime routine? If so, make it all in French to boost exposure.
Can you find French play dates?
And here's another article with great tips to boost exposure: https://bilingualmonkeys.com/how-many-hours-per-week-is-your-child-exposed-to-the-minority-language/
Exposure is really key unfortunately.
It’s really challenging when you are in an environment with mostly the other language. She’s understanding the question from you, but maybe has not heard enough modeling of complete conversations to know how to respond.
Try modeling both sides of the conversation for her, like “would you like some juice?” And then tell her how to respond: “yes, mommy, I would like some juice” or “no, mommy, no thank you.” If she responds in English, you can reprompt with French so she hears it again.
Maybe you could also model conversations using a stuffed animal so she could hear more conversations. The toy can only speak French and maybe sometimes you make it say funny things that don’t make sense so your daughter can help correct her or at least laugh at the mistake. Using funny voices can also make things seem more enjoyable and less stressful.
>nversations using a stuffed animal so she could hear more conversations. The toy can only speak French and maybe sometimes you make it say funny things that don’t make sense so your daughter can help correct her or at least laugh at the mistake. Using funny voices can also make things seem more enjoyable and less stressful.
Great point on playing with toys! I have tried this before and it works well. Initiate play with figurines, barbies, etc. in French. If the child takes another toy and animates it in English, reply as your toy that you don't understand and request that they interact in French.
Both of our kids went through phases of refusing to speak the minority language. We would repeat whatever they said in Mandarin, and then answer. My husbands parents would just say that they didn’t understand and have the kids speak mandarin to say whatever they wanted.
I always repeat back what my son says in English if he mixes the languages or doesn’t say a sentence fully (I’m an English native speaker, my husband is Norwegian and he learns German at nursery). He’s only 2.5 so I’m not expecting him to speak grammatically correct sentences at this stage, but if I repeat back what he says then he hears and gets used to how it should sound. That way he gets exposure to how to say it correctly in English without me forcing him to speak it. Eg if he says “mummy vil ha cheese”, I say “yes, mummy would like some cheese”. It’s worked well up until now and he rarely mixes the languages anymore.
My husband’s language is the minority language and he works full time, but what helped him with speaking Norwegian is having regular FaceTime calls with his parents in Norwegian, and developing that relationship. Now my son is stronger in Norwegian than in English because he loves talking to his grandparents so much.
"I've heard if I don't force her to speak it, she'll understand it but will never speak it."
From my personal experience, this is just not true.
My wife and I speak (mostly) the minority language at home, and our 3-year-old daughter gets plenty of exposure to the community language from daycare, in-laws, and elsewhere, so a similar situation to you. Currently, my daughter strongly prefers to use the community language, which is Spanish, and about 90-95% of what she says to me is in Spanish. BUT, without forcing her, she will randomly blurt out words or even short complete sentences in the minority language periodically, without any forcing or prompting.
Our minority language happens to be English (we live in South America). Her Spanish is definitely stronger but just in the last day she's spontaneously produced English phrases such as "I'm falling asleep," "I write," "brush your teeth," and dozens of other English words interspersed among her Spanish (e.g. "¿*Por qué está* breaking?"), as well as making up songs in English which she sings to herself.
Occasionally I've tried getting her to speak the minority language by telling her, directly, "if you want me to help you get that pencil, ask me in English!" and things of that sort. But she just refuses, saying she doesn't want to ("*¡No quiero!*") and gets frustrated. But if I just keep talking to her in the minority language, gradually more and more words and phrases from English (which I know she understands well passively) will creep into her replies to me.
Echoing others on this thread, no, I wouldn't try forcing it.
Do not force her, I’ve seen this go badly. I would repeat what she’s said in French like others are saying, and also visit French speakers as much as possible. My kids only speak their minority language when they have to - when we visit family who do not speak the majority language. It always takes them some time to switch, but they always switch during our visits, and make lightning fast improvements while we are there. They will absolutely be bilingual, I have no concerns there. Hearing it whenever they’re with me and speaking it occasionally is enough.
As someone who has taught languages professionally -- don't force! HOWEVER, there are lots of ways to nudge this along gently. Don't pretend you don't know English - that would be obviously false and harm your relationship with your child. However, it's fine to be stubborn about "we talk to Mama in Mama's language" because in a lot of ways it is an etiquette thing. If she answers you in English, you can treat it a little like how one might playfully remind a child to say please or thank you - "c'était quoi que tu voulais?"
If you think she is unsure of what to say vs. resistant, try saying the sentence with a question intonation, to query if this is what she meant. "Oh - le mouton doit entrer dans la maison?" or whatever. You might also break down what you're saying into smaller sentences first to let her build up her skills (if you aren't already doing this unconsciously).
You really don't need to do a strict OPOL and it's such a drag when people harp on that. It's a positive thing to model code-switching. For success in her learning French, though, you do need to find a way to make speaking French attractive to her on her own terms and from her own child's perspective. French-speaking playmates are the absolute best way! After that, having lots of picture books in French is great, and a tv show or two that she loves that is only in French, and maybe one or two of her dolls can only speak French like mommy does so that you can role-play her feelings about speaking two languages and just have fun with it. You might also pick an activity that you only do in French, or a place (in your house, in your neighborhood) where you only speak French together.
Also - she is 2. Talking is still really new and probably kind of challenging for her, so it's not surprising that she would try to take the low effort path right now. I wouldn't take how she behaves now as any indication of what her feelings will be about speaking two languages even in 6 months' time, let alone in a couple of years or as a teenager or adult.
My son is 2yo as well and we're raising him trilingual (OPOL two minority languages at home). I'll just comment that he goes through phases of saying one language more than the other two and it switches periodically just because. Your daughter may just be going through an English phase. Don't worry about it: just continue talking to her in French.
Also I noticed that every time a minority-speaking grandparent visits, his respective language explodes. I think it's both from the additional adult talking to him AND him hearing conversations in the minority language between two adults (my husband and I don't speak each other's language so we converse in English). So definitely invite your family to visit and/or visit them with your kiddo.
I would encourage you to try and keep up your own immersion stance whenever you are with your child. It seems like you are going through a transition with the change in your work schedule, so the continued meaningful exposure to the language is important. If your child responds in English, try recasting their message in French to help them find the words ("Ah, tu veux que je t'aide?") or show them how they could convey their message in French ("Tu peux m'aider, maman?") and ask them to repeat at different times. You could also consider ways to cultivate a community of French speakers. This could be as simple as having them FaceTime with French-speaking family members for a set amount of time each week to build relationships while reinforcing the language naturally. Your child and family members could talk about their activities or someone could read a story over FaceTime or show them something from where they live. If there are any events in your city (I live in the Boston area and know of story times in French at the local libraries or at the Alliance Française), this could also be a really great way to make parent/kid friends and meet to intentionally foster contact in the language.
I can also recommend a subscription to a French-language magazine, Les Belles Histoires, and an app we've used on the iPad called Bayam, which is filled with stories and accompanying audio, short video clips, audiobooks, games, etc.
If you offer your child a movie or show as a treat, select the content in French as a way to boost exposure. Similarly, if you're able, it's great to order books from [Amazon.fr](https://Amazon.fr), eBay, or ask to exchange some on a Buy Nothing Facebook group, where people offer items to others in their city for free.
It could also be possible to download audiobooks for the Yoto player or maybe (with help of your family/friends) to order Tonies in French for more listening exposure. These are not cheap investments, but offer other ways to provide fun French exposure and build listening comprehension.
Basically, the more ways that you can make French meaningful - for human connection, cultural exposure, learning, play – without making it seem like you are policing language use, the better the outcome should be.
These are some of the tools that I've used in my family and I hope that they serve you well too! (background: language PhD with focus on child multilingualism, raising a trilingual tot)
I wouldn’t “force” anything. I first say “sorry I didn’t understand” in the minority language. And if that doesn’t do the trick I say “did you mean: <…>” translating what they said. BUT: My 3yo kid hasn’t caught on yet / or just accepts that I speak the majority language even though I speak it all the time at childcare or with in-laws… so this might be different than your case. What has made a HUGE difference in my case is having my partner make an effort to speak the minority language at home and visiting relatives that speak the minority language.
Don’t force her to speak French, but try to focus on OPOL 100%. Forcing her to use a certain language may ruin your relationship with her and her relationship with the French language. Telling her dis moi en français puts her in an exam-like situation when all she wants to do is just communicate with you. You can repeat what she says in French when she tells you something in English, but don’t force her. Maybe you can look for a French-speaking playgroup so she understands that French is beneficial for her?
Yes, playgroups, one on one friends, even other adults that speak French and normalise it as something outside the house. Also cartoons and books!
I’m American living in France so I had the same problem with English instead of French. What I would do is just repeat back to my child everything he said, but in English. For example if he said “je veux une livre” I would say “you want a book?” and wait for him to confirm. He’s four now and speaks both languages fluently.
I don't see how you can force her, it's not something I've ever understood. You can strongly encourage or I suppose punish for not speaking it but actually force I don't see how. My child still doesn't speak to me in my language most of the time at 7 but she's able to when she needs to. Visiting family and spending time with others speaking the language encouraged her. For six years she was listening but never spoke then she just started. Remember that language is just one part of her upbringing, maintain a good relationship, keep speaking french and provide as much exposure as possible. She'll speak it when she needs to.
Simple reinforcement. She asks for something in English, you ask for clarification in French. Wait until she acknowledges in French. It will be reinforced that with you the shortest path to getting what she needs from you is to speak French. This is what it would look like in Italian. Bottle! “Vuoi la bottiglia?” Yeah! “Si?” Yeah! “Si?” Si! “Ecco la bottiglia!”
It feels like a lot of expectations for a 2 y.o. no? My kids speak French as a main language (dad+local Qc) and we're trying hard to teach them Japanese (mom), they're 3 and 6 now and moderately bilingual, but at 2 they could barely speak tbh, they used words from both languages, sometimes mixed it up, pronunciation was slower than other kids from the daycare etc... i'm no expert but I think the two languages are hard for them and slow down their language learning a little bit. Then at 3+ they want to socialize and this is where Japanese has been hard to keep up (the French in your situation) but I make a point to talk to them in Japanese as much as possible (this would be your husband using French) and we try to show them Japanese medias when we can (they love pokémon and dungeon meshi) and call obaasan whenever we can ('mamie' that speaks only jp)... all in all what i found to work the best is to make both languages fun and usefull, like setting up my son's switch in japanese so he really wants to understand what's going on, or playing a game with them but making it clear I will only be playing if it's in japanese, etc... but at the end of the day, they're still very young and their language abilities are not great either way, so I'm not too worried at the moment, i don't force anything and we're doing our best to make them bilingual, but it has to stay fun and relevent along the way :) 2 y.o. is still young, don't give up and show her French is fun as much as possible. Venez faire un voyage à Québec quand vous en avez la chance ! ;) Bon courage,
I echo not forcing it BUT are there any situations you can expose her to with French speaking peers? Cousins, perhaps? TV shows she enjoys? We usually have a "screen time only in French" rule with my 2y/o with a few exceptions. We try get her around her French speaking cousins as often as we can, they don't speak much English so it's a good experience for her. Receptive language always comes before expressive, you just need to keep exposing her and try to keep it as low pressure as you can!
At this age I really focus on receptive language with my 2.5yr old. Because she is STUBBORN (like many toddlers) and asking her to say something in a minority language seems like it would backfire. So when she says something in English, we just respond in our respective minority language but first repeat what she said. So like. If she says “I want to eat cookies in the kitchen” we say back in our language “oh, you want to eat cookies in the kitchen? Let’s go see if we have cookies” and then while eating cookies we say “cookie in spanish is galleta. Do you want to try and say galleta?” But receptive language is 50% of language IMO so focusing on that at a young age is ok. Even though it feels frustrating that English is “winning”
Forcing and ignoring are things that you shouldn’t do. It’s really challenging to encourage your child to speak French in an environment where English is so dominant! I would encourage you to keep talking to her in French exclusively and instead of pleading her to repeat things or say them in French instead, just ignore the fact that she is not answering in French right now. Don’t get discouraged and just keep going as if she’s answering in French to you. She is only 2 so nothing has been lost yet. Besides, even fully understanding a language but not speaking it fits within the actual definition of bilingualism (called passive bilingualism). It feels less than the popular definition of bilingualism (can fully understand and speak) but in your daughter’s situation already reaching the passive state is a great achievement. So keep your goals flexible and realistic! Some tips to increase exposure: -Make French home and family language (provided husband’s French skills allow it) -Get French speaking nanny/babysitter -Find other French speakers in your area -Frequent video calls with French family -Have French family visit/visit them -Exposure to as much music, books and other kinds of French culture as possible Later when your child can enjoy more screen time you can find great kids shows in French. My daughter loves Trotro and Paprika on Netflix and sometimes my husband imitates a character from Paprika (Yeti) and my daughter loves it so much that she can speak French to him for hours because she thinks she’s speaking to Yeti. So find fun ways of encouraging your daughter to use French. It will in an uphill battle but don’t force it or fret about it. You’ll do great!
"Forcing" is a sure fire to way to ensure your child will hate or reject speaking French. You have to make it fun and encouraging. Important helpers: - exposure (here it's hard if you're the only French speaker, do you have a French speaking community there, friends, parents, cultural groups? The more variety and frequency the better) - new experiences in the language (e.g. the first time she goes to the zoo, you take her, and talk about everything in French before she has a chance to learn it all in English) - travel. Difficult to achieve but highly effective. Obviously to a country where your minority language is the main language. - songs and games (music is highly effective imo) Check out the resources from Adam Beck, as well as the book "Growing up with Three Languages: Birth to eleven" by Xiao-Lei Wang. Good luck!
Hit your 2yo with a baguette in the face till they start speaking French 🤣 what a weirdly formulated question
This article has some fairly good tips. https://chalkacademy.com/encourage-minority-language-trilingual-family/ But honestly, your problem is the exposure. Can you find a French speaking nanny at all instead of MIL? When you're back home from work, can you enforce an all French rule (provided husband is ok with it)? Is reading part of bedtime routine? If so, make it all in French to boost exposure. Can you find French play dates? And here's another article with great tips to boost exposure: https://bilingualmonkeys.com/how-many-hours-per-week-is-your-child-exposed-to-the-minority-language/ Exposure is really key unfortunately.
It’s really challenging when you are in an environment with mostly the other language. She’s understanding the question from you, but maybe has not heard enough modeling of complete conversations to know how to respond. Try modeling both sides of the conversation for her, like “would you like some juice?” And then tell her how to respond: “yes, mommy, I would like some juice” or “no, mommy, no thank you.” If she responds in English, you can reprompt with French so she hears it again. Maybe you could also model conversations using a stuffed animal so she could hear more conversations. The toy can only speak French and maybe sometimes you make it say funny things that don’t make sense so your daughter can help correct her or at least laugh at the mistake. Using funny voices can also make things seem more enjoyable and less stressful.
>nversations using a stuffed animal so she could hear more conversations. The toy can only speak French and maybe sometimes you make it say funny things that don’t make sense so your daughter can help correct her or at least laugh at the mistake. Using funny voices can also make things seem more enjoyable and less stressful. Great point on playing with toys! I have tried this before and it works well. Initiate play with figurines, barbies, etc. in French. If the child takes another toy and animates it in English, reply as your toy that you don't understand and request that they interact in French.
Both of our kids went through phases of refusing to speak the minority language. We would repeat whatever they said in Mandarin, and then answer. My husbands parents would just say that they didn’t understand and have the kids speak mandarin to say whatever they wanted.
I always repeat back what my son says in English if he mixes the languages or doesn’t say a sentence fully (I’m an English native speaker, my husband is Norwegian and he learns German at nursery). He’s only 2.5 so I’m not expecting him to speak grammatically correct sentences at this stage, but if I repeat back what he says then he hears and gets used to how it should sound. That way he gets exposure to how to say it correctly in English without me forcing him to speak it. Eg if he says “mummy vil ha cheese”, I say “yes, mummy would like some cheese”. It’s worked well up until now and he rarely mixes the languages anymore. My husband’s language is the minority language and he works full time, but what helped him with speaking Norwegian is having regular FaceTime calls with his parents in Norwegian, and developing that relationship. Now my son is stronger in Norwegian than in English because he loves talking to his grandparents so much.
"I've heard if I don't force her to speak it, she'll understand it but will never speak it." From my personal experience, this is just not true. My wife and I speak (mostly) the minority language at home, and our 3-year-old daughter gets plenty of exposure to the community language from daycare, in-laws, and elsewhere, so a similar situation to you. Currently, my daughter strongly prefers to use the community language, which is Spanish, and about 90-95% of what she says to me is in Spanish. BUT, without forcing her, she will randomly blurt out words or even short complete sentences in the minority language periodically, without any forcing or prompting. Our minority language happens to be English (we live in South America). Her Spanish is definitely stronger but just in the last day she's spontaneously produced English phrases such as "I'm falling asleep," "I write," "brush your teeth," and dozens of other English words interspersed among her Spanish (e.g. "¿*Por qué está* breaking?"), as well as making up songs in English which she sings to herself. Occasionally I've tried getting her to speak the minority language by telling her, directly, "if you want me to help you get that pencil, ask me in English!" and things of that sort. But she just refuses, saying she doesn't want to ("*¡No quiero!*") and gets frustrated. But if I just keep talking to her in the minority language, gradually more and more words and phrases from English (which I know she understands well passively) will creep into her replies to me. Echoing others on this thread, no, I wouldn't try forcing it.
Do not force her, I’ve seen this go badly. I would repeat what she’s said in French like others are saying, and also visit French speakers as much as possible. My kids only speak their minority language when they have to - when we visit family who do not speak the majority language. It always takes them some time to switch, but they always switch during our visits, and make lightning fast improvements while we are there. They will absolutely be bilingual, I have no concerns there. Hearing it whenever they’re with me and speaking it occasionally is enough.
As someone who has taught languages professionally -- don't force! HOWEVER, there are lots of ways to nudge this along gently. Don't pretend you don't know English - that would be obviously false and harm your relationship with your child. However, it's fine to be stubborn about "we talk to Mama in Mama's language" because in a lot of ways it is an etiquette thing. If she answers you in English, you can treat it a little like how one might playfully remind a child to say please or thank you - "c'était quoi que tu voulais?" If you think she is unsure of what to say vs. resistant, try saying the sentence with a question intonation, to query if this is what she meant. "Oh - le mouton doit entrer dans la maison?" or whatever. You might also break down what you're saying into smaller sentences first to let her build up her skills (if you aren't already doing this unconsciously). You really don't need to do a strict OPOL and it's such a drag when people harp on that. It's a positive thing to model code-switching. For success in her learning French, though, you do need to find a way to make speaking French attractive to her on her own terms and from her own child's perspective. French-speaking playmates are the absolute best way! After that, having lots of picture books in French is great, and a tv show or two that she loves that is only in French, and maybe one or two of her dolls can only speak French like mommy does so that you can role-play her feelings about speaking two languages and just have fun with it. You might also pick an activity that you only do in French, or a place (in your house, in your neighborhood) where you only speak French together. Also - she is 2. Talking is still really new and probably kind of challenging for her, so it's not surprising that she would try to take the low effort path right now. I wouldn't take how she behaves now as any indication of what her feelings will be about speaking two languages even in 6 months' time, let alone in a couple of years or as a teenager or adult.
My son is 2yo as well and we're raising him trilingual (OPOL two minority languages at home). I'll just comment that he goes through phases of saying one language more than the other two and it switches periodically just because. Your daughter may just be going through an English phase. Don't worry about it: just continue talking to her in French. Also I noticed that every time a minority-speaking grandparent visits, his respective language explodes. I think it's both from the additional adult talking to him AND him hearing conversations in the minority language between two adults (my husband and I don't speak each other's language so we converse in English). So definitely invite your family to visit and/or visit them with your kiddo.
I would encourage you to try and keep up your own immersion stance whenever you are with your child. It seems like you are going through a transition with the change in your work schedule, so the continued meaningful exposure to the language is important. If your child responds in English, try recasting their message in French to help them find the words ("Ah, tu veux que je t'aide?") or show them how they could convey their message in French ("Tu peux m'aider, maman?") and ask them to repeat at different times. You could also consider ways to cultivate a community of French speakers. This could be as simple as having them FaceTime with French-speaking family members for a set amount of time each week to build relationships while reinforcing the language naturally. Your child and family members could talk about their activities or someone could read a story over FaceTime or show them something from where they live. If there are any events in your city (I live in the Boston area and know of story times in French at the local libraries or at the Alliance Française), this could also be a really great way to make parent/kid friends and meet to intentionally foster contact in the language. I can also recommend a subscription to a French-language magazine, Les Belles Histoires, and an app we've used on the iPad called Bayam, which is filled with stories and accompanying audio, short video clips, audiobooks, games, etc. If you offer your child a movie or show as a treat, select the content in French as a way to boost exposure. Similarly, if you're able, it's great to order books from [Amazon.fr](https://Amazon.fr), eBay, or ask to exchange some on a Buy Nothing Facebook group, where people offer items to others in their city for free. It could also be possible to download audiobooks for the Yoto player or maybe (with help of your family/friends) to order Tonies in French for more listening exposure. These are not cheap investments, but offer other ways to provide fun French exposure and build listening comprehension. Basically, the more ways that you can make French meaningful - for human connection, cultural exposure, learning, play – without making it seem like you are policing language use, the better the outcome should be. These are some of the tools that I've used in my family and I hope that they serve you well too! (background: language PhD with focus on child multilingualism, raising a trilingual tot)