Every child is good at something and as parents we love seeing our children do well. Bilingual children have an added advantage in different situations in their lives – and they often get really good, and – depending on their personality – sometimes cheeky with their...
“How fantastic that your child will learn many languages!” and “I think you should stick to the majority language only!” Those are the two extreme reactions that parents may hear when they say that they want their children to become bilingual. My hope is that most...
Consistency – you have heard it from me and many others: to be in with the best chance of raising a bilingual child, who can confidently speak the family languages, the recommendation for parents is to be consistent with their choice of language. You may have decided...
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Question Our first son learnt to speak both of our family languages really early, but our younger son is taking a much longer time. Our family doctor told us that it is because he hears us speak different languages and that we should only stick to one language to...
Question My husband can not speak my mother tongue and I am afraid that he will feel left out if I teach our child my language – what to do? Answer It is great that you think about the scenario in advance. If you haven’t already done so, speak to your husband about...
Question My toddler answers me in the “wrong” language, what to do? Answer First of all, don’t panic – this is something that happens to more or less every parent bringing up a bilingual child, especially if you are the one passing on a minority language. At the stage...
Question In our family it’s a bit crowded, I’m Romanian, my husband is Chinese-Dutch – born and raised in the Netherlands. We met in London, so we spoke English. We then moved to The Hague and now we have to daughters: one just turned 2, and the other is 3 months. My...
Question I have a question about OPOL (one person, one language). We tried this method with my eldest, who is now 4, but the problem we had from day one, that isn’t factored into this method, is grandparents – my Japanese husband’s parents live next door and see my...
“What if I don’t understand what my child is saying?” is one of the bigger concerns a parent of a budding bilingual child can have. It can be a worry especially for parents in families who follow the one parent, one language (OPOL) strategy. Parents who do not...