Are you expecting a bilingual baby, and wondering how everything will work out? If yes, then this diary will help you understand what may lie ahead and give you confidence for the future.

“Diary of a Bilingual Mother” is a fictional journal with real-life situations from a multilingual couple’s parenting journey. Through Mama’s diary entries you follow the ups and downs, challenges, funny moments, and joys of the family’s everyday life while the children are raised to speak the family languages.

If you already have bilingual children (or grandchildren), you will identify with several of the scenarios the family experiences. While reading how they tackle these situations, you will find tips, ideas, and maybe even solutions to your own multilingual family dilemmas. At the end of the book, there are links to further reading on the featured topics.

“Diary of a Bilingual Mother” is the first in a series of journals written by different family members to give you their perspective on multilingual family life, and how they navigate the challenges the many languages present at different stages of their lives.

I know it can feel lonely raising a bilingual child. It isn’t just about passing on the family languages. There is so much more riding on it: cultural understanding, family relationships, heritage, identity. This is hard to explain to someone who isn’t bilingual.

Many parents have told me how they long for someone to share their thoughts with. Their challenges may feel unique, and it can be difficult to find someone who understands and doesn’t think you are making a big deal out of nothing. They have found it comforting to find other families
like them and to know that they are not alone with their worries.

Considering that more than half of the world’s population speaks more than one language, I think it’s about time to feature a multilingual family that so many can identify with!