Most parents have an ideal picture of what they want their children to become like when they grow up. Some parents are more specific than others with regards to the personality traits and behaviours they wish for their children, but I’m sure words like ‘happy’,...
“… language is paramount for children to become socialized and develop a sense of belonging within cultural settings” This is a quote from an article from a Japanese magazine about the importance of passing on the culture of a language alongside the language itself....
When you have always been bilingual, like I have, you quite often take it for granted and forget how important an aspect it is in your life. So today I want to shout from the rooftops (or tweet from the top of a tree) the first 20 reasons for being thankful for all...
Today, as on the 6th of November every year, the “Finland Swedish Heritage Day” is celebrated in my home country. On this day all things to do with the Swedish-speaking part of Finland is brought to attention and appreciated. I am one of the Finns who state Swedish as...
We’re in that part of the year when people all over the world are celebrating lots of different traditions: Halloween, Diwali, Eid and Dia de los Muertos to mention a few. Of course I have to include my favourite since moving to England: Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes...
What to do when your young son questions why he should keep speaking your language? How to respond when he says he is never going to need it? These are questions that are not only hard to answer, but difficult to hear. Take a deep breath and don't get upset. Your...
Whether or not to correct your child’s mistakes is a question all parents with children growing up learning more than one language have asked themselves at some point. I think the answer can be both Yes and No – not a very helpful answer you may say, so let me explain...
By now you may be aware that I am in the process of writing a book on passing on the family languages to your child. Writing a book on the topic of raising your child to speak more than one language has been on my mind for quite a while, but the time has never been...
So you have successfully passed on your language to your children and they are happy to talk your language with you. Maybe they have also spoken your language amongst themselves up to now. Then the language pattern changes and they switch to the majority language....
Is the statement “First generation speaks, second understands and third loses the language” really true? Are third generation immigrants bound to lose the language of their family's home country? Is it even possible to keep passing on the language from one generation...