multilingual parenting

Hi everyone! Our daughter will start preschool in September (maternelle/kleuterschool) and we are really divided regarding the best choice of school for her. We hope that we can find someone with a similar experience that could give some more insight before we make our final choice. Context...

My partner and I are both native in the main language spoken in our country, it's the language we speak between us, and what all our families speak. Apart from that, I grew up in the U.S. so I speak English on a native level. Many people in our country have terrible English so I'm very very sure...

I am French Lebanese and speak exclusively Arabic to my 2-year-old son. My Polish wife speaks Polish to him, and we live in the U.K., where he is exposed to English at nursery. His language skills have far exceeded our expectations: he understands Arabic and Polish very well and « speaks » both...

My daughter is 5, the community language is Japanese, but she spoke English at home with me first. She started talking before she was one, and was speaking in full sentences by the time she was two. I thought she'd have no problems picking up English because she started talking so early, even...

My son (2.5yo) was introduced to Paw Patrol in Colombia over Christmas by his cousins and we have a somewhat strict “screen time only in Spanish” rule. Paw Patrol in Colombia is on Netflix and has a ton of audio options. Here in the US though it’s only on Amazon Prime and only in English...

Hi everyone, I’m new here but it’s exactly the community that I’ve been looking for! Hubby is from a southern African country where there are 2 local languages (he speaks both fluently) and English as the main language of communication in schools etc. We speak English together but I have a...

Does anyone have any experience with names that the parents of the individual pronounce differently? Is it a no-go or completely fine? I can’t make up my mind. I’m especially interested in multilingual family situations, i.e. imagine a French-Canadian family called their son “Vincent” and the...

Our son is 2 months old and I’m trying to teach him Chinese. It’s very awkward to talk in Chinese right now (my husband speaks English but understands some Chinese) but I’m trying a bit everyday. I usually say something very simple and sometimes describe what I’m doing. I also have a few books...

My little one is 9 months old and I've only just learned about how effective one parent one language is, and I'm very much regretting not doing this from the get-go. My native tongue is Urdu, but my husband and I have been speaking to her in English (English & Spanish are my partner's native...

My husband’s native language is Spanish, I am conversational but not fluent. My daughter (3yo) understands a lot of Spanish but does not speak it unless we tell her what to say (e.g., she asks for milk and we say ask her to say it in Spanish and then tell her how). I’m not sure how to increase...

Hi, I don't know anyone to ask this question. My family doctor is really chilled about her development. But I'm getting worried as she is going to 1st grade this year. My daughter's case is a bit unusual. She is 5.5 yo, born in the US. Her dad and I both speak Mandarin and English but we keep...

After a long wait, here is the Italian-inspired Miss Rachel. It's called 'Laura Maestra per i Piccoli.' My wife speaks Italian and English, while I speak German and English. Since she always complains that the kids only speak German and English, this comes in quite handy

My son is turning 3 next year and will attend preschool for 4 days a week. I've specifically kept the 1 day a week at home with me so I can continue speaking Mandarin to him. Community language is English. We have been doing OPOL and he's fluent in both Mandarin and English. My question is...

We speak Arabic and English at home. My daughter only says two words, mama and mai (Arabic for water). She points at things and says "ma" for everything. She stopped saying any other consonants (she used to make the b and z sounds too, but no more). We constantly encourage her to speak but she...

Hi all! We have an almost 1-year-old baby and we are doing OPOL. My husband and I have basic knowledge of each other’s language but not enough to be conversational. We speak English to each other. We noticed that when we say words or phrases in the other parent’s language, baby finds it...

Mom of 2 here in a cross cultural marriage (I’m Jordanian and the hubby is American). We live in the US now and learning Arabic has been a challenge for my family. I’m a former teacher so I started building these for them. You guys it’s been working!!!!!! They’re daily lessons, and I can hear...

So, I am a childcare teacher living in/from Australia. First off I want to say I think it’s awesome to be raising kids multilingual and honestly I sometimes wish either of my parents knew a second language to pass to me now that I have an interest in linguistics and languages as an adult. At...

Hello! Background: I have a 6 months old with my partner who also has a 4,5 year old. I have been in her life since she was 2 years old and we all live together full time. At home, we speak language A (community language) and language B (we are both native speakers and have been practicing and...

We are a binational couple (Dutch, Israeli) currently living in the US. Before our child was born we planned to raise him with all languages - Dutch from me, Hebrew from Dad and English is the language between us and also the community language. While it sounded good in theory, practice...

We do OPOL at home. We have currently 2 kids (3,5 / 1,5) Myself I speak minority language w/ my kids and the oldest can speak it and communicate. I am actually looking for what needs to be taught and at which time. I understand is not a one size fits all but since I am not a language teacher - I...