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...
It is fascinating to observe children learning to speak, and it is mind-boggling how quickly they get skilled at using their language to get something, first by directly asking to soon finding an imaginative way of using language to manipulate their parents to act in...
“… language is paramount for children to become socialized and develop a sense of belonging within cultural settings” This is a quote from an article from a Japanese magazine about the importance of passing on the culture of a language alongside the language itself....
What to do when your young son questions why he should keep speaking your language? How to respond when he says he is never going to need it? These are questions that are not only hard to answer, but difficult to hear. Take a deep breath and don't get upset. Your...
So you have decided to bring up your son to speak your family’s languages – what will this mean for your family life? What will be different? 1. A little bit of extra effort There is a bit of extra effort to be put in for you to succeed in raising your son to become a...
Parents in multilingual families face the choice of teaching their child both of their languages from the start or wait with the next language until the first is established and the child is fluent in it. The decision whether to go for one language at a time (also...
What to do if a teacher tells you that your daughter’s progress at school is hampered by the use of the minority language at home? How to react if the school thinks that you are making her learning more difficult by insisting on her becoming bilingual? Hearing...
Beautiful flowers with accompanying thistles. Teenagers love to rebel, that’s how it is, has always been and will always be. Better just be prepared for it. If two languages have been the norm so far in the family, you might just be about the experience a major...
[ted id=1075] Today I want to share with you a talk by Patricia Kuhl, Professor of Speech and Hearing Sciences at the University of Washington. It is a fascinating insight into how small babies pick up distinct features of a language. The talk only lasts about ten...