Question Hello, I'm a Russian mother living in the U.S with my two sons, ages 13 and 9. I may be an odd one out compared to other parents in regard to languages. My husband and I speak a mix of Russian and English, and though my boys understand Russian, they prefer to...
minority language
Q&A: Should parents of bilingual children not speak the majority language at all?
Question Hello! We are Americans living in Kuopio, Finland (for over 10 years). We have a daughter who is almost 19 months and goes to Finnish päiväkoti (=kindergarten). I was told by the neuvola doctor (paediatrician) to not mix languages and only speak...
Q&A: How to convince a 3-year-old to answer in the minority language?
Question Hello I'm British, living in France for the past 13 years. I speak French to my French husband, and we have two girls, a 3-year-old and a new-born. Our 3-year-old was a late speaker (first words at 17 months) and I am the only person who speaks English...
Q&A: How to pass on two minority languages? What about adding a fourth language?
Question Hi, I have some questions concerning the language acquisition of my yet-to-be-born child. Her dad and I live in France and we always communicate in French, which is dad’s mother tongue and the only language he speaks fluently. We live in a 99% French...
Q&A: How to encourage a child’s minority languages and arrange language exposure?
Question Hello, I am a Spanish native speaker living in Canada with my Jordanian husband and h little boys aged almost two and five. At home we speak three languages: me Spanish, husband Arabic and all of us English. My husband and I speak English to each...
Q&A: How to maintain a five-year-old’s English when the majority language changes to French?
Question Hi there, My daughter Ophelia is five years old. She was born in the French Caribbean, I am English, and her father is French. She attended a French nursery until last year and could speak French very well (for a 4-year-old!). She has always spoken...
Q&A: How to introduce German alongside three other family languages?
Question Dear multilingual parenting team, My name is Wioletta and I am a Pole who has lived in England for 12 years now. My partner is Scottish. We have a 3-month-old daughter to whom I speak exclusively in Polish and he does in English and Scottish. I am...
Q&A: How strict should OPOL-parents be with their languages when speaking to a small child?
Question Good day, Thank you for the good advice on multilingual parenting. I am Dutch and married to a Jordanian (Arabic-speaking). We talk English amongst each other but try to stick with our mother tongues (Dutch and Arabic) when talking to our 15-month-old son. He...
Q&A: How does a third language through daycare affect a child’s minority language?
Question Dear Rita and all the Family Language Coaches, Let me begin by thanking you for providing such a fantastic resource for multilingual families! I would really appreciate your input on developing a family language strategy for my 15-month-old son. I was born in...
Q&A: How to juggle several languages in the home – what if you move?
Question Hello, congratulations for the excellent website! It's great to hear about the experiences of other multilingual families and be able to get advice from a Family Language Coach, as it is often difficult to decide how to handle this subject. I would...