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?
Tag: language choice
Family Language Plan: When and why?
Every family raising bilingual children needs to have, at the very least, one family language plan. Ideally, they should start the planning process at the same time as they start all the other planning for baby preparations - during pregnancy. A family language plan is a longitudinal plan that follows a child from birth (or … Continue reading Family Language Plan: When and why?
When the Mother Tongue becomes a minority language: Changing your family plan
This post was inspired by a reader question, and fits well with the theme of the month, so I am putting my thoughts in a post. This family is from the Middle East, and has Arabic and English as the two languages in their language plan. They began their family in the Middle East and … Continue reading When the Mother Tongue becomes a minority language: Changing your family plan
Being Bilingual: Words I like from other languages
One of the best thing about being bilingual is being able to pick and choose le juste mot - to say exactly what you want to say. Some of the greatest words in language relate to how people think and see the world, so it follows that some things just can't be said "right" in … Continue reading Being Bilingual: Words I like from other languages
#IMLD: Top 5 Reasons to Choose Bilingualism for your Child
The limits of my language mean the limits of my world. – Ludwig Wittgenstein One of the main reasons I started doing seminars for parents was the lack of information among many monolinguals in our community about the benefits of bilingualism. In the expat world, we meet many, many bilingual families, but there are also … Continue reading #IMLD: Top 5 Reasons to Choose Bilingualism for your Child
International Mother Language Day
February 21 is International Mother Language Day. Recognised by the United Nations as a day "to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world It is a day when all involved in multilingualism, whether personally or professionally, should stop and consider where they can make a difference. February 21 … Continue reading International Mother Language Day
Reading: Who does what, and why?
One of the questions that comes up in almost every seminar I do is related to reading. Most of the families I work with are lucky enough to have available children's books in both family languages. Children (being often contrary) tend to pick up a book from the "other" language and refuse any attempt … Continue reading Reading: Who does what, and why?
Reblog: Dialect or Not, That is the Question.
After my last post on dialect, Yin kindly directed me to her post about this very same issue. I come to the dialect/language question from a professional perspective; I have never personally been faced with this difficult and emotionally weighted question. So I share with you this post which I think demonstrates very well some … Continue reading Reblog: Dialect or Not, That is the Question.
Two languages or two dialects?
My kids were watching TV the other, and they were watching in French. That is, they were watching a TV station from France, but the show was made in Quebec. So it had subtitles, so the French kids could understand the "non-standard French". Really? French kids can't understand Canadian French (Quebecois)? Strange, because my … Continue reading Two languages or two dialects?
Being Bilingual: Words I like from other languages…
One of the best thing about being bilingual is being able to pick and choose le juste mot - to say exactly what you want to say. Some of the greatest words in language relate to how people think and see the world, so it follows that some things just can't be said "right" in … Continue reading Being Bilingual: Words I like from other languages…
