code switching Archives – Multilingual Parenting

Q&A: Should parents raising bilingual children avoid code-switching?

Question Hello, My name is Benedicte, and my husband and I are expecting a baby boy in the next few weeks. We live in France and are both bilingual French-English. My husband was raised by an American father and French mother. I was raised by French-speaking...

Q&A: How to do OPOL as parents if you are used to mixing languages?

Question Hello My wife is Australian, I am Flemish (Dutch-speaking Belgium) and that is also where we live. We are expecting and want our child to be bilingual English-Dutch to pass on both of our cultural identities. Nowadays, since my wife's Dutch has become...

Q&A: Should grandparents avoid code-switching when talking to their grandchildren?

Question I was raised bilingual in Mexico City (and have always lived in Mexico City). My father is Mexican and my mother is from Boston MA. My two boys were raised bilingual. My concern is this: my daughter-in-law (Mexican) and son who now live in Rio Rancho N.M. are...

Code-switching vs language mixing

This is an extended version of a post from January 2013. If you are a bilingual like me, you know we all do it – mix our languages when we speak to other bilinguals. When we cannot think of a word in one language or if there is a better expression for what we want to...

Notes and pictures from Malta and the International Conference on Bilingualism

Merħba! (‘welcome’ in Maltese) I am currently in Malta an enjoying myself immensely on so many levels – it is my first trip to this gorgeous island with its jovial, friendly people (and slightly nutty drivers), and I am also attending the International Conference on...

Q&A: Bilingual child minders speaking more than one language – good or bad?

Question Hi, I'm a Spanish-speaking mother married to a German speaker, living in Germany. Each of us uses our native language when interacting with our 4-month daughter - basically: one parent one language. I am now looking at kindergartens for my daughter to go to...

Q&A: What to do about bilingual teenagers mixing languages?

Question: Our children have grown up learning both family languages and they are now teenagers. We are happy they can speak both languages, but are horrified by how much they mix the languages when they speak to each other. When they speak to people who only speak one...

The importance of consistency when raising your daughter to become bilingual

Consistency is important in any aspect of raising a child, and no less so when it comes to passing on your language. While a child can learn more than one language even if the parents are not consistent in their language use, the chance of the child becoming bilingual...

Mixing languages?

If you are a bilingual like me, you know that we all do it – we mix our languages in our everyday lives. When we can’t think of a good word in one language we simply pick one from the other. Sloppy, lazy talk? Actually not, it is called code-switching and it has been...

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code switching