Today I would like to draw your attention to an interesting blog by Professor François Grosjean: Life as a Bilingual. I have thoroughly enjoyed his insightful comments on what it means to be bilingual, what advantages you gain and what challenges you can expect along...
Random thoughts about bilingualism
My brain is still a bit in holiday mood, reflecting on the relaxing time my family and I had in Finland, so in this post you’ll just find random observations about how languages affect our lives. The area where we have our house in Finland is bilingual – Swedish and...
Interview with my daughter
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...
Things that can go wrong when raising a bilingual child. Part 3 of 3
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...
Things that can go wrong when raising a bilingual child. Part 2 of 3
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...
Things that can go wrong when raising a bilingual child. Part 1 of 3
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 wish my Mum had taught me her language”
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...
The game of the day – word play!
Word games are a great way to enhance your daughter’s vocabulary. They are easy to do as part of your daily life, they don’t require much planning, and – best of all – they are free and fun to do together. Naturally, it depends on your daughter’s age what kind of...
I wish someone had told me…
I am very happy with how my daughters have grown up to speak several languages, but there are still a few things I would have liked to have known when they were growing up. The speed at which language develops can vary considerably between siblings My elder daughter...
Make it a story!
Interaction is crucial when you are learning a language, both for adults and children. A great and fun way to support your son’s language development is to make up stories together. You might at first think that you are not creative enough to come up with a story,...