Some things parents of bilingual children experience seem to be universal. As a parent of a bilingual or multilingual child, you become more aware of your native language and you may also consciously try to improve your own skills. In today’s world, there is an infinite number of things parents can potentially worry about or feel pressure for. Adding another language to that brings a new dimension to parenthood. You have to ensure that your child gets enough exposure to all languages and be on a constant look-out for language resources. To make up for the lack of materials, you probably end up being more creative than you thought you would ever be.
I don’t remember teaching my elder daughter to read … because I never did. I do however remember when a carer at her nursery told me that my 5-year-old used to read Finnish story books to other children. They found that she loved reading aloud to others and was able...
The custom is to make resolutions for the new year, but as we all know, most of them fall by the wayside well before the shops start stocking chocolate for Valentine’s Day. As a parent of a bilingual child, what could you do instead? My advice is to forget about...
Your first-born is on the way to become bilingual – you are so happy to see that both languages are progressing well. You have managed to arrange enough exposure for both languages and look forward to repeating the “procedure” with your next child. It should not be...
Bringing up a child to speak more than one language is not an easy task. There are days when we need all the encouragement we can find to keep going. So I asked parents what they would like to say to other mothers and fathers of bilingual children – and here is a...
Hindsight is a wonderful thing they say … well, it really is – if you share your experiences with others who are at the start of the journey of bringing up a bilingual children! I have asked parents whose children have grown up to become bilingual if there was...
Yes, I am stating the obvious – of course, all parents need patience! As a mother or father of a bilingual child, there will however be times when you need an extra helping of this specific virtue. By applying lots of patience, you will succeed in keeping the family...
Whether or not parents of bilingual children need to be consistent with their language use all the time is one of the topics that divide the opinions of mothers and fathers bringing up their children in a multilingual family. My choice of wording in the title probably...
Parents who want to bring up their kids to speak more than one language can learn a lot from families who have been successful at bringing up bilingual children. However, I also think that a great deal can be learnt from those parents whose children grew up to be...
As parents, we often wonder whether we are doing the right thing for our kids. When I read the questions from fathers and mothers of children who grow up with more than one language, it is obvious that the addition of one or more languages to the family’s life...
Kids tend to come with surprises – raising a child in more than one language can only add to the bewilderment. Bilingual children can certainly surprise their parents (and others), because they … … sometimes refuse to speak one of their languages There are several...