Question I would like some advice on how to continue the language acquisition process for my son. He is 22 months old. We live in an area which is part Dutch, part French but English is the common language used. Although I have some knowledge in both Dutch and French,...
Q&A: Can we pass on a third and possibly a fourth language to our daughter?
Question Thanks for your blog, it definitely gives some motivation to maintain all languages spoken by the family. I need your advice regarding talking to a child in a language that was learned, not mother tongue or second language from the family. Me and my husband,...
Q&A: Bilingualism, language delay? and maintaining a minority language
Question I am an Arabic speaking mom of a 2 year old. I left my country a year ago (when my son was 1) and moved to Turkey. Because I had to work I had to send my son to a daycare (all the staff was Turkish-speaking) and he spent about nine hours there. My son hasn't...
Q&A: How can I make my sons answer me in Catalan?
Question I have 5 years old twin boys. I have spoken only Catalan to them since birth, my husband only English. We live in the USA. Their nanny has spoken to them in Spanish since birth and still when she babysits. I work full time as a Spanish teacher. They spoke...
Q&A: I am not a native speaker, can I teach my daughter French and help her become bilingual?
Question My husband and I are both native English, but we're trying to bring up our daughter bilingual (French). I speak French (BA Honours degree), although my French is by no means perfect. She's now 16 months old, and I've spoken French to her since she was born....
Q&A: Which language should I speak to our bilingual son?
Question We want our son to be at least bilingual Spanish/English and hopefully have a good command of French too. I look after my son full time since my wife works during the day. So I am desperately trying to work out the best way to approach making sure our son...
Q&A: Should we change our OPOL strategy when moving to another country?
Question I'm American, my husband is Italian and we have been living in Italy. My husband and I speak each others' language and our conversations flow between Italian and English. We have used the one parent, one language approach to help our three-year-old son become...
Q&A: Should we drop a language?
Question Our first son learnt to speak both of our family languages really early, but our younger son is taking a much longer time. Our family doctor told us that it is because he hears us speak different languages and that we should only stick to one language to...
One parent feels left out
Question My husband can not speak my mother tongue and I am afraid that he will feel left out if I teach our child my language – what to do? Answer It is great that you think about the scenario in advance. If you haven’t already done so, speak to your husband about...
Child answers in the wrong language
Question My toddler answers me in the “wrong” language, what to do? Answer First of all, don’t panic – this is something that happens to more or less every parent bringing up a bilingual child, especially if you are the one passing on a minority language. At the stage...
