I have mentioned the term passive language skill a few times time before in my posts: if you have a passive knowledge of a language you can understand some or most of it but you are not able to communicate in it yourself. Mostly there has been a bit of a warning...
While picking some juicy blackberries in the back garden for my breakfast cereal, I noticed how well the pears are coming on this year and will soon also be ready for my morning muesli. Except for cutting the brambles back once in a while, it hasn’t required much...
Having fun while you are learning must be one of the best ways to keep the motivation going. The same applies for when you are helping your son on his way to become bilingual. You can easily introduce new words when you are playing with your little boy. Today I want...
After meeting a family where the children no longer actively speak their parents’ native language as the parents had decided early on to switch to the majority language, I reflected on how much joy our language skills have given my daughters and myself. Today I will...
Like any other “project” in your life, bringing up your son to become bilingual is much more likely to have a successful outcome if you plan ahead. You may ask: “Why do I need a plan? I grew up to become bilingual without anyone making a plan for me!” This is true – I...
We’re enjoying a relaxing holiday in Finland at the moment and I took the chance to speak to my younger daughter Daniela about her languages. Which languages do you know? - I know English, Swedish, Punjabi, German and a bit of Finnish. How did you learn all your...
Being aware of potential pitfalls is vital to ensure that the family’s languages are passed on to the next generation. This is the last post in a three-part series on things that could go wrong. Here are the links to part one and part two. Being afraid that you will...
This is the second post in a series of three about the things that can go wrong when raising a bilingual child. This week’s topics mainly deal with your confidence as a parent and your ability to pass your language on. Read part one of the series here, part three is...
Bringing up a child is never without its challenges – the types of things we have to tackle just varies depending on the age of the child. Adding another language to the mix will bring its own stumbling blocks. In this series of three blogs I will discuss the most...
I don’t know how many times I have heard comments along those lines – someone regretting that one of their parents didn’t pass on their language. I have never heard the opposite though, anyone regretting that they learnt a language when they were small. This speaks...