switching languages Archives – Multilingual Parenting

Q&A: How to start speaking your native language after years of using the majority language with your child?

by Rita Rosenback | May 3, 2018 | Coaches, Language development, Q&A Being the parent in a multilingual family, Rita R, School-aged children

Question Hello I'm very glad to find this website. I have three years old daughter. Our language is Urdu but we start communicating with our daughter in English. In start it was okay but now we are feeling difficulty to explain things to her in English as she...

Q&A: How can a parent switch the language spoken with a toddler?

by Rita Rosenback | Apr 5, 2018 | Coaches, Q&A Being the parent in a multilingual family, Rita R, Toddlers

Question Hi from Turkey! I have twins, a boy and a girl and we have been speaking in our mother tongue since they were born, and it's been 20 months. I can speak English fluently and I wonder if I start to speak only in English with them to make them bilingual...

Q&A: What are the implications of switching the language you speak with your baby?

by Rita Rosenback | Mar 16, 2017 | Babies, Challenges, Coaches, Q&A Being the parent in a multilingual family, Rita R

Question Dear Language Coaches, Can you please give any advice on my family's language situation? My wife is fluent in both English and Afrikaans, with HL (home language) Afrikaans. My HL is English and my Afrikaans is good enough for us to successfully...

Q&A: Should a parent change the language spoken with a child in anticipation of an international move?

by Rita Rosenback | Mar 12, 2017 | Coaches, Q&A Choosing the right family language strategy, Q&A Moving to another country with a bilingual / multilingual child, Q&A The trilingual+ child, Rita R, School-aged children

Question Hello! We are a Spanish\Catalan family who has lived in China for nearly four years and our child speaks the three languages without no problem as we do OPOL and she goes to a Chinese school. We are planning to move to England in November or so, so we...

Q&A: How to introduce a second minority language to a child?

by Rita Rosenback | Mar 9, 2017 | Coaches, Q&A The trilingual+ child, Rita R

Question Hello, I have been reading your website with interest and hope you can help me in introducing French to my two-year old son. I am half English and half French and fluent in both languages, although my dominant language is English. My husband is Iraqi...

Q&A: How not to exclude others when you speak a minority language with your child?

by Rita Rosenback | Feb 26, 2017 | Babies, Challenges, Coaches, Q&A Being the parent in a multilingual family, Rita R

Question Hello, I am from Hungary and live in the UK with my British husband. At home we speak English, as my husband doesn't speak much Hungarian. We have a 3-month-old baby, with whom I have been talking in Hungarian when it is just the two of us, or if we are in...

Q&A: Should a parent stick to the minority language when others are around?

by Rita Rosenback | Nov 27, 2016 | Coaches, Grandparents, Q&A Being the parent in a multilingual family, Rita R

Question Hi Rita, I recently was recommended your site to get advice how to raise my son bilingual. Our family background. We have a 1-year-old boy, who's just starting to form some sounds. My husband is British and I'm Hungarian, we live in the UK. So far I was...

Q&A: Can a bilingual mother speak both languages with her child?

by Rita Rosenback | Sep 18, 2016 | Coaches, Q&A Being the parent in a multilingual family, Rita R

Question Hi, My question is: how to choose a language when the mother is bilingual herself? We live in France, so our community language is French, while our home language is Italian. The point is that I'm bilingual myself, Italian-French, so which language should I...

switching languages