Q: My older child is having difficulties in school, especially with reading and writing and it's not clear why. Is it is because of language, or something else? A. This is a question that is hard to answer generally, and usually requires input on a case-by-case basis. Once children are past their initial phases of … Continue reading Is it language or learning?
New blog for teachers/schools!
I've been blogging here for parents raising bilingual/multilingual children for quite a few years, and over those years I've had many interested teachers sign up to my blog as well. In an effort to meet the needs of both communities, I recently started a new blog just for teachers/schools/school leaders on my Crisfield Educational Consulting … Continue reading New blog for teachers/schools!
International Mother Language Day
A statement by the International Association of Applied Linguistics Research Network on Social and Affective Factors in Home Language Maintenance and Development. As much as these divisive times concern advocates of multiculturalism and human rights, so too do they concern linguists and educators. With the rise of populist nationalism, the threat of walls between sovereign … Continue reading International Mother Language Day
Meeting the Languages Challenge
This is a guest post that I wrote for the EAL Journal, a UK publication attached to NALDIC (National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum) about my recently published book. Click on the photo for link.
Q: How do we chose which languages to focus on with our child?
A: This is a tricky question to answer, because parents ask it for different reasons. Some parents ask this question because they have multiple languages in their family/community and are trying to formulate an effective language plan. Other parents ask this because they believe the "children are sponges" myth and want to try and … Continue reading Q: How do we chose which languages to focus on with our child?
Local language versus English education?
Q. Should we choose a local school for our children, or an English-language international school? A. This is a common question, as more families are faced with choices of living locally or holding on to international possibilities. It's also a complicated question, as there are many factors that determine the right answer for any family, … Continue reading Local language versus English education?
2018: The Year of the Q&A
I made my first blog post here exactly 6.5 years ago today, and since then I have posted 195 times (not all original content), for an average of not quite 2 posts a month. I've had periods when I posted more frequently, and periods when I posted less, always of course linked to how busy … Continue reading 2018: The Year of the Q&A
Top 5 posts of 2017
2017 was a busy year for me, and ended with the splitting of my site for parents (this one) from my site for schools (now at http://www.crisfieldeducationalconsulting.com). Although in many ways it is easier to maintain one site, and although the messages I hope to share on my blog are equally important for parents and … Continue reading Top 5 posts of 2017
Is early English-language education always the right choice?
There is a common presumption among ex-pat families, in particular, that if you have a choice between primary school in the home language and in English, the latter is the better choice. This ties in to the common myth "earlier is always better" for acquiring a new language, especially through immersion. Let's take a quick … Continue reading Is early English-language education always the right choice?
Reflecting on Family Language Planning
Two interesting things happened the other day that led me to reflect on family language planning. The first was seeing a session description on a conference website claiming that the job of "family language advisor" is a new field of work that has developed due to the rise in multilingual families. The second was running … Continue reading Reflecting on Family Language Planning
