In this section, you can find Q&As about bilingual children attending nursery or school.

A crucial point in a bilingual child’s life is when they start attending nursery or school in the majority language. At this stage, there is a tendency for the school language to take over and become the child’s dominant language. The child may start to use less of the family language and may even stop responding to it. Because this is such an important phase, it is important that parents know how to prepare for it and how to tackle the potential challenges. However, the nursery or school choice can also be a supporting factor for a child’s multilingual language development.

Q&A: When to introduce a family language to a child who will attend a trilingual school?

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: How to motivate a school-aged child to speak the family’s minority language?

Q&A: How to motivate a school-aged child to speak the family’s minority language?

  Question Hi, I have an 8-year-old son who had speech problems when he was little. He did not really start talking until maybe two. I was forced to choose a language for his speech therapy classes, I chose English. My problem now is that he understands Spanish...

Q&A: Is a dual-language school a good choice for a bilingual child to become trilingual?

Q&A: Is a dual-language school a good choice for a bilingual child to become trilingual?

  Question Hello! My wife and I are native Russian speakers living in the United States. Our son is turning five in a few months and will start school. Our home language is 100% Russian. Our son speaks Russian at or slightly below the level of his peers in Russia...

Q&A: How to choose a child’s school and parents’ common language in a family on the move?

Q&A: How to choose a child’s school and parents’ common language in a family on the move?

  Question Hello! I am currently pregnant with my first child (boy) and due to give birth in two months. I come from Pakistan and my husband is German. My mother tongue is Urdu whilst my husband's is German. English is the common language at home with my husband...