Question Hi Rita and team, Could you help me with advice on an upcoming dilemma? We're a family with three languages in the house but every family member's ability and willingness to speak them vary greatly. Dad is Spanish, is fluent in English and understands...
In this section, you can find Q&As to support you as the parent in a multilingual family

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.
Q&A: In which language should children watch films in an OPOL-family?
Question Hello everyone! My partner and I bring up our children (3 and 4 years old) bilingually. I speak English as I am from England and my partner speaks German as he comes from Germany. The children’s biological father also speaks German to the children as he is...
Q&A: Can a bilingual mother speak both languages with her child?
Question Hi, My question is: how to choose a language when the mother is bilingual herself? We live in France, so our community language is French, while our home language is Italian. The point is that I'm bilingual myself, Italian-French, so which language should I...
Q&A: What to do when the other parent is against speaking the minority language?
Question Hi, I am Chinese and my husband is English. I speak English but my husband doesn't speak any Chinese. I am excited about my daughter learning to speak both languages and I've set myself goal since I was pregnant that I will teach my daughter Chinese, talk to...
Q&A: Should a minority language parent also help a toddler with the majority language?
Question Hello! Me, my husband and our 11-month-old son (and another baby coming very soon) are living in Australia. My husband is Australian and talks English to our son and I am Norwegian and talk Norwegian to our son. I have some questions that I would like to get...
Q&A: How not to exclude a monolingual family member?
Question Hello I have two grown-up children who were born in France but have lived the majority of their lives in the US. I grew up in the UK with a French mother, and am completely bilingual, as are my children. Their father is French and we spoke only French at...
Q&A: How to convince partner that bilingualism is good for the child?
Question Hello, I'm looking for some advice on how to raise a bilingual child when one of the parents is against it. We are a mixed family. I'm Polish and my partner is English. We have a two-year-old son and live in the UK. It is very important for me to teach my son...
Q&A: How to be consistent speaking the minority language AND include the other parent?
Question Hi. I am sure this question has come up a lot in the past, but I figured I would ask again. I live in New York. My husband is American and only speaks English, I am Colombian though was raised multilingual (French, English and Spanish). We have a 10-month-old...
Q&A: How strict should you be when your bilingual child answers in the “wrong” language?
Question Hello, How strict should you be when your child answers in the wrong language? My almost two year old is learning Spanish, Catalan and English. Spanish and Catalan from nursery (we live in Spain). Spanish from mum and English from dad (native) and English is...
Q&A: Is it a good idea to introduce two additional languages to a preschooler?
Question Hello, My daughter is in Kindergarten in a German School, where they use the one person, one language method. Both my husband and I have Spanish as mother tongue and we live in a Spanish-speaking country. We don´t know how to speak German, so at home we only...








