Question Dear Family Language Coaches. We live in South Africa, I grew up in Germany and my husband grew up Afrikaans. Our daughter is three years old and I speak German with her, while my husband (and the rest of the family) speak Afrikaans. At kindergarten she is...
As parents of bilingual children, many of us have been there: finding ourselves in a situation where others give us advise on what is best for our children when it comes to their languages, and how we should behave as a family. Sometimes we get brilliant ideas on how...
Question Hello, My name is May. I'm Indonesian and my husband is German. We live in Germany. I have a daughter, she is 22 months old now and we will have the second one soon. I speak Indonesian with my daughter and my husband speaks German with her. My husband...
Question Dear Rita, Thank you for all the knowledge you share. Your page has been an invaluable source of information. I have one concern I wonder you might be able to help me with. I was born in the US but raised in Italy by Italian parents. My English pronunciation...
Question Hi Rita! My husband and I are scouring the Internet in hopes of finding some guidance and we'd love your thoughts! Our son is 13 months old. My husband is Iranian and I'm not. He speaks both Farsi and English fluently and I'm fluent in English and...
Babies and toddlers During the early years of your child’s “talking career” you may be holding a monologue for much of the time, but this is when you set the foundation for the language and there is a lot you can do to encourage your little one to start talking. Make...
Question Hi, I am Chinese and my husband is English. I speak English but my husband doesn't speak any Chinese. I am excited about my daughter learning to speak both languages and I've set myself goal since I was pregnant that I will teach my daughter Chinese, talk to...
Question Hello, My name is Roberta and I have only recently found out about your website and signed up to the newsletter and I'm hoping you can help with a query I have. I'm Italian and my husband is English and we live in England together we our 6-month-old son. He...
Question Hello! My name is Monique. I’m from the Netherlands originally and living in Australia with two children and my partner who is Australian. At the moment I’m a little lost as to what is the right bilingual system in particular with our youngest boy. He does...
“We are doing OPOL and I find it impossible to stay consistent in my language use – is my child’s bilingualism doomed?” – this question (or perhaps a less dramatic version of it) often pops up in forums for parents raising bilingual kids. Among the replies you will...