“Where are you from?” that was one of the questions from last week’s post – a question to be mindful of when speaking to a bilingual or bicultural child. Many adult bilinguals have however said to me that they don’t mind being asked where they come from – and I do...
Children can be sensitive about almost anything to do with themselves – be it their bodies, looks, family, friends, hobbies, the list is endless. Languages are no exception, so adults should be mindful when making comments or even asking questions to do with their...
As the benefits of bilingualism are getting more widely known and the old myths about it dispelled, more and more parents decide to pass on the family languages to their children, giving them the gift of an additional language, fantastic! But what if everything...
When I tell people what I do and what my book “Bringing up a Bilingual Child” is about, I regularly get to hear comments such as “That’s great!” followed by “Oh, I wish I could speak my parent’s language.” It would be so beneficial for parents who are...
So you want to pass on your language to your children, but feel that they are not getting enough exposure to it – a familiar scenario for many minority language parents. You have made a quick calculation and noticed that you are not reaching the recommended thirty...
Most advice for parents raising bilingual children is based on the presumption that there are two parents actively involved in the upbringing. What if you are a single parent and don’t have the support of a partner – can it still be done? This is a question that has...
In the past few weeks several minority language parents have been in contact with me and their common concern has been: “How do I improve my own language skills, so I can pass on my language to my child?” Typically these parents are second or third generation...
I can’t tell you how excited I am to announce that my book “Bringing up a Bilingual Child” will be out in June! It is a how-to-guide for parents raising bilingual children in families with more than one language. The subtitle of the book is “How to Navigate the Seven...
I often speak about making it fun when you are practicing language skills with your children, so I thought it would be only fair that I come up with some ideas for examples of word play. Below is a list of games you could engage your language learner in – I suggest...
Motivation is the key to any language learning, never more so than for a bilingual child keeping up with the minority language. 1 - Habit If you consistently stick to speaking the minority language with your children, they are less likely to want to switch to the...