Question Hello, We are a Spanish mum and German dad living in England, and our 18-month-old doesn't speak any words other than "no". Should we be concerned? My husband and I speak to our girl in our language always, no matter what, it even sounds strange to...
Q&A: Worried mother: my bilingual 2-year-old is not talking – what to do?
Question Hello I'm hoping you might be able to help me. I'm a first-time mummy and very worried about my 22-month-old. Her understanding is phenomenal, but she refuses to speak. She will say mama, dada, yaya (grandmummy), daddina (grandfather) and about three...
Q&A: How strict should OPOL-parents be with their languages when speaking to a small child?
Question Good day, Thank you for the good advice on multilingual parenting. I am Dutch and married to a Jordanian (Arabic-speaking). We talk English amongst each other but try to stick with our mother tongues (Dutch and Arabic) when talking to our 15-month-old son. He...
3 lessons blogging taught me about bilingualism [guest post]
Today’s guest writer is Marieke Romano-van den Hoek, a 33-year-old mother-of-two, who blogs at Speaking More Languages, where she shares her family’s experiences of bilingual upbringing. Marieke lives in Holland with her Italian husband and they raise their children...
Q&A: How to correct a trilingual child’s pronunciation?
Question Hello! My husband and I live in Belgium and before the birth of our son we were speaking English to each other. However due to our complex family and cultural situation we decided to step away from English and limit the languages to three only. Our son...
Q&A: If a child loses a language are all the benefits of bilingualism gone?
Question Hei! I am a German single mom to a soon 4-year-old boy. He was born in Finland and we've been living here all the time. At home I only speak German to him. He started to attend Finnish daycare at age 1.5 (part time), full time from age 2.5. Although...
Q&A: About choosing the language for day care, stuttering and mixing languages
Question Hello, I am Macedonian living in Finland and my spouse is Finnish. I speak quite good English but at home we speak Finnish almost all the time. We have 2,5 months old baby for whose future I'd like her to speak Macedonian and Finnish and to...
Q&A: How to ensure that a trilingual (-to-be) child also picks up parents’ common language?
Question Hi, I have been doing a bit of reading on raising trilingual children, as my husband and I are expecting our first child in January. It seems that in most cases the parents have two individual native languages, and the third being that of the country they...
Q&A: When to introduce a family language to a child who will attend a trilingual school?
Question Hi I live in Hong Kong where almost everyone is trilingual speaking Cantonese, Mandarin and English. The school I will send my baby, who is five months now, is a trilingual school that will begin at the age of two (Cantonese, Mandarin and English). My...
Q&A: Which sign language to teach a child with Down syndrome in a bilingual family?
Question Hi, We are a family of three, and expecting our second child. Our daughter will be nearly four when her baby brother is due in November. I'm Finnish, my husband Irish, and we live in the US at the moment. Even if we use English together, I've used only...