Question Dear Family Language Coaches, My first son will soon be born and my husband and I have to make the difficult decision which languages to speak with him. I am German and we are living in Germany. So one of his languages will definitely be German. My husband’s...
Q&A: Should grandparents avoid code-switching when talking to their grandchildren?
Question I was raised bilingual in Mexico City (and have always lived in Mexico City). My father is Mexican and my mother is from Boston MA. My two boys were raised bilingual. My concern is this: my daughter-in-law (Mexican) and son who now live in Rio Rancho N.M. are...
Q&A: Should we choose the majority language or a third one as our family language?
Question Hello, We are Czech-Finnish couple living for 3 years in Finland and we just got our first child. We tried to agree on our family-language-strategy before our son was born, but we couldn´t agree on one. What was sure was, that each one of us wants to speak to...
Q&A: How to introduce my native language to my bilingual school-age children?
Question Hello, let me introduce myself to guide you to my request/question. My name is Rita, born in Slovak republic from a Hungarian mother and a Palestinian father. I lived all my childhood in the United Arab Emirates where Arabic and English are the languages...
Q&A: Should I switch to using my native language with my bilingual children?
Question Hello, We are a family of four, two kids, age 5.5 and 2. Father is fluent in Arabic, French and English. I, the stay-at-home mother, am fluent in English and semi-fluent in Arabic. We live in the US, talk to Arab relatives on Skype weekly, and spend a month...
Raising Global Citizens: Q is for Questions
If we want to change any injustice in the world, we first have to question why it exists in the first place. By asking the right questions we can understand the underlying reasons and together with other like-minded people become the trigger for change. When we are...
Raising Global Citizens: L is for Language
When someone asks me who I would like to share a meal with if I could choose anyone (dead or alive), I say: Mahatma Gandhi. Not only would I meet my all-time hero and be able to soak in his grace, wisdom and vision, but I am sure we would also be served a lovely...
Q&A: What questions should we ask the teacher of our bilingual child?
Question Hi there, I am hoping you can give me some advice. I am from England however I live in Brazil and I have a son Josh who will be four in July. My husband is Brazilian and our home language is English. Josh has for the past four months been attending a private...
10 things parents of bilingual children should avoid
When you are raising your child to speak more than one language, it is important to know how to go about it – this is the raison d'être of my blog! It is however equally important to be aware of the things you should avoid when bringing up a bilingual child....
Q&A: Two family languages, children want to speak only one
Question Hi, I was wondering if you could give me some feedback on how to encourage my passive bilingual kids to "produce" or speak the minority language in our home. I have 4 children ages 10, 9, 6 and 4. Both my husband and I are bilingual English/Arabic speakers. I...



