Question Hi there, I would like to ask for your advice. My husband is Portuguese and I am Hungarian and we live in England. Our daughter is almost one year old, and we mostly speak to her in English. She does hear conversations in both other languages, when we...
changing a language
Is it too late to introduce your language to your child?
“You must start speaking your language to your baby from day one!” “She is already three and you haven’t started yet? She won’t sound like a native!” “If you don’t introduce the language before he goes to school, you have missed your chance!” “Older than seven and he...
Q&A: How to adapt the family language strategy when the minority language changes?
Question Hi, I follow your blog and have found your advice extremely helpful in bringing up my daughter as a bilingual child. A little background, my husband and I are both perfectly fluent in English and Spanish both verbally and written and in professional and...
Q&A: Our son only answers in English
Question Our son is 3 years old and we live in England. Since he was born, my partner and I have spoken to him in English and our first language Portuguese. I speak English to him because English and Portuguese are my first languages and his dad speaks mostly...
Bilingual children: 7 reasons why it may not happen
Parents who want to bring up their kids to speak more than one language can learn a lot from families who have been successful at bringing up bilingual children. However, I also think that a great deal can be learnt from those parents whose children grew up to be...
5 practical tips for (re)introducing a minority language
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...
The voice behind the blog
I am so excited to share with you an interview I did earlier on this month. Thank you to Olena Centeno, one of the co-founders of Bilingual Kids Rock, who did all the hard work for this interview. [audio...
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...
Pricken – the Swedish speaking kitten
Today I will tell you the story about Pricken, the Swedish speaking kitten, that came to play an important role in my eldest daughter Minna’s language learning. It shows how a little bit of creative thinking can come to rescue when you are bringing up a bilingual...
“Is it too late to start speaking my language to our son?”
“You must start when he is a small baby!”, “No point trying after he has turned three!”, “Definitely begin before he goes to school!”, “Older than seven and he will not get fluent!”, “He’s a teenager – no way!” Those are some of the answers you may get – and do you...