Question Hello! I’m expecting my first child in February. I’m going to be a single parent – my son’s father is Mexican and I’m white. My son’s father will not be in his life whatsoever, but I want my son to know his culture and know who he is on the inside. I want him...
Question Hello, I have a three-year-old daughter who is bilingual. I speak exclusively English and my husband speaks exclusively Czech to her (since birth). In a typical day, she is exposed to about 70% English and 30% Czech. She listens to music and looks at...
Question Hi! I'm German, my wife is Greek, we live in Greece. Our daughter is 3 1/2 years old. I speak only German to her (and she responds in German). My wife and everybody else speak only Greek to her (and she responds in Greek). My daughter's Greek is...
Exciting news from the real life of our fictional multilingual family! Monday Sorry for not writing for a long time, I have not been very well … or actually, I am feeling fantastic, over the moon to be precise! Yes, you guessed it, we are having baby number three! If...
New year, new (and old) challenges for our fictional multilingual family! Monday Oh my, I haven’t written in my diary for what feels like ages! Christmas and New Year have passed and we had the opportunity to spend some time with both sets of grandparents. Lots of new...
Question I’m American and speak English to my children (now aged 12 & 9). We live in the Netherlands. My husband is Dutch by birth (and speaks Dutch to them), but his mom is Spanish/Catalan and his dad is Czech/Slovakian (but also speak only Dutch to the kids)....
Should you be able to speak a language without an accent to call yourself bilingual? Can you acquire a native-like accent in a language you learn later in life? Do others guess where your accent is from? Does it really matter? Do you care? I have recently discussed...
In a recent radio program on multilingualism the bilingual poet and Professor Gustavo Perez Firmat stated that he feels very differently about his two languages, with English being a happier language than Spanish. He also answered ‘Yes’ to the question whether he felt...
No two multilingual families are the same and children learn their languages differently, but some things that parents of bilingual children experience seem to be universal. As a parent bringing up your child to speak more than one language, you… 1. Become more aware...
Some time ago I wrote a post on what you need to consider when you want bring (back) a family language into your child’s life. I also wrote a piece on motivating your child to use the minority language and become an active bilingual. Many parents have asked me to...