Bilingual Kids Rock Podcast: Raising Multilingual Children, Multicultural Living, Growing Up With Multiple Languages.

Mary-Pat O’Malley is a Language and Speech Pathologist. She holds a PH degree in Linguistics in Trinity College, Ireland. She is an lecturer, author,  researcher and lover of all things to do with speech, language and communications. She has over 20 years of working with families and 14 years experience teaching in the university.

Mary-Pat  is the founder of Talk NUA. Talk Nua is for making communicating with your child easier & more meaningful. Her goal is to help parents feel skillful when speaking with their children. She lives in the gorgeous city of Galway, West of  Ireland with her husband and daughter.

Introduction to Mary-Pat O’Malley

Do you think bilingualism causes a delay in children?

What is a normal development of bilingual children?

Are there any signs to be aware of when it comes to your child’s speech development? What are the red flags that you should look for?

Is it normal for children to mix languages?

How to deal with stuttering in multilingual children?

Starting stress-free classes in relation to stuttering

What does the word NUA mean?

How to have meaningful conversations with your children?

How to avoid conversation killers with their children?

Preparing yourself for your child starting school

Fun and creative activities with your child for speech development

Discussion of 20 ways to love language ebook – Email Mary-Pat to get your copy!

Learning & Educational Toys

Code-Switching vs. Borrowing in Bilingual Children

Is Your Child A Late Bilingual Talker?

Dr. Mary Pat-O’Malley’s Background

Talk NUA

Killer Questions

Email Mary-Pat O’Malley 

Mandie Davis is the founder of Les Puces Ltd. early years classes. Les Puces is a pre-school group teaching French in a natural and accessible way. She has two daughters, Willow who is bilingual and India who is trilingual. They both learned French and German by living in those countries and being immersed in the language and culture. Neither of them had any formal lessons on language learning.

Why is it important to teach your child a language at such a young age?

Mandie Davis’ family language portrait

Why did she decide to create bilingual books?

The natural way of learning languages at Les Puces Ltd.

The importance of child’s interest in learning a language

Why did she create her own format for her bilingual books?

How did acquiring languages happen for her daughters?

How did she support her daughters’ languages when she went back to the UK?

What are the obstacles did she have to deal it with raising bilingual and trilingual daughters?

How can you inspire a lasting love of reading in your child?

Did she enroll her daughters in formal classes when they went back to UK?

What would be her advice for parents looking to raise bilingual kids?

Les Puces Shop

How To Raise A Bilingual Child?

Setting the Goals for Your Child’s Bilingualism

How to Foster Children’s Pride in Their Minority Culture and Language

Ksenija Popac is the founder of School Placement Consuting and University Study Consulting. She holds a BA in English Language and Literature, from the University of Belgrade, and Language, from the College of New Jersey.

She is an experienced educational consultant and educator who has been living and working internationally for over twenty years. Her expertise includes educational consulting, teaching, management, curriculum development and implementation for both Business English and the International Baccalaureate English and History, development of exams and training materials. Ksenija and her Dutch husband are teaching their daughter to speak 4 languages.

Ksenija’s background

Do you find more expert families learn a new language or looking for the close community to stay with people who speak the same language?

How did Ksenija learn 5 languages

Her tips on raising a multilingual child – how she’s teaching her daughter to speak in 4 languages

The importance of not mixing languages

Her daughter’s learning process in 3 language

Reading is extremely important in raising bilingual child

How does it work to learn and speak many languages at home?

The importance of learning the heritage language at home

How Ksenjia taught her daughter how literacy  in Cyrillic?

Dealing with  your child’s refusal to speak the heritage language

Her daughter’s impressive conversation with the taxi driver

Discussing holidays and culture in their household

How to deal with cultural differences?

Why it’s important to join and reach out to your local language community

How bilingual kids can apply learning languages in class

Items mentioned in this episode:

Reading to your bilingual babies

Code switching vs Borrowing

How parents can stick to speaking heritage language

How to foster children’s pride in their minority culture and language

“Don’t be afraid to make mistakes when learning a language”

Today’s question came from a reader who speaks Arabic to her kids.

She writes:

My biggest problem is that I forget to speak my native language! I am so fluent in English, and surrounded by it so much all the time, that I keep slipping back into it without even noticing! The first year I did well with both my kids in trying to speak Arabic, and often said things in both languages (my husband doesn’t speak it), then slipped after that–both times. They are 8 and 3 now and I am worried I’ve missed my chance, especially with the older one. I am considering hiring a tutor… How do you make yourself keep on track and remember? Plus, they both love being read to, but there are almost no good quality children’s books in Arabic out there, we can’t afford Arabic satellite TV, and there’s no one around from the same cultural background as me. The most they get is when they visit with their cousins twice a year and hear a little Arabic there. Any advice would be appreciated.

Jehanne.

Dear Jehanne, I hear your pain. You are the only one around who can pass the language to your children, yet it is so difficult to stick to your native language because, well, you are the only on around who speaks it!

It is especially hard if your social and professional life is rich in majority language interaction.

I am walking in the same shoes as you, because I still struggle to stick to one of my native languages – Ukrainian. You see, I am the only person who can speak both of the languages to my kids – Russian and Ukrainian. I alternate these languages every two weeks. If Russian comes off really easy, Ukrainian is a bit more struggle. I often forget then I need to speak it and slip back to Russian.

The reason why sticking to your native language is so hard is because you have long habit of speaking majority language. Now you are breaking this long term habit and creating a new one. Which could be a very difficult task indeed. But the good news that with positive attitude and persistence habit can be changed.

It will take some time to get into the habit. The magic number you will hear is around 21-28 days, but I think it is different for every person, but in general if you got through the first month – you are on the right pass.

So how can you establish the habit to speaking Arabic?

First of all, you need to switch yourself into Arabic mode. The best way to do it is to immerse yourself into it first thing in the morning. Read something in Arabic – a book, a magazine, online news, watch some videos. Also maybe you can talk to your Arabic speaking family in the morning. Listen to Arabic radio station or Arabic music.

You can also have physical reminders throughout your home:

I also embrace my kids’ support. I often ask them to correct me if I forget to speak Ukrainian. My daughter feels so proud if she can help me to remember!

Please, don’t torture yourself that you don’t stick to the language for right now, it is not just the matter of your inner willpower. There are also many external factors that contribute to majority language usage in your family.

The thing is, when you are stressed about your language, kids will pick up on your mood and will develop the same feeling to their Arabic.

Now, lets talk about if it is too late.

Kids are taught by example, not by what we say to them. So just be your best in Arabic, they will pick up on your mood and language.

I am so glad to hear that your boys love to read! And I can definitely relate that it is hard to find good books in your heritage language. Here in the united states the selection of books depends on the language. Books in Spanish are easily found even in my small rural town library, but books in Ukrainian and even in Russian are very hard to come by. Even if I find good selection online, it costs a lot of money.

The most budget friendly option is buy big load of books when you visit your family back home. We have just came back from “Ukraine recently and 2/3 of our luggage weight were books.

I actually wrote the whole article on how to find books in heritage. You can find some tips in it! The last one could be a big surprise to you. Check it out here.

Hopefully these tips were useful to you, dear reader, as well. Let me know in the comments if you are in the same situation as Jehanne and what do you do about it.

In today’s episode I am answering the question that came from our reader Carol. She writes:

Hi,

The first question her to answer is bilingualism really causes language delays?

First of all, there is no scientific evidence that bilingualism causes language delays.

As we see the idea that bilingualism is the reason for language delay is a myth and is not supported by any research.

Now, is your daughter really late talker or she is on the far edge of normal development?

Now that we know, that bilingual and monolingual children develop in the same pace lets see what 21 month old should say in her age.

Barbara Zurer Pearson in her book Raising A Bilingual Child gives us the following guideline for 18 to 24 month:

“First words come on average between 10 and 18 month. Average expressive vocabulary for boys – 75, with range from 13 to to 420 words.

The next speech milestone comes around 24 month when toddlers should put together simple 2 word phrases.”

American Speech Language Hearing Association developed the guidelines on what should be normal speech development. Let see when they suggest to ring alarms: So, the child:

So what a parent of a late bilingual speaker should do?

Carol, you mention that your daughter says almost nothing. My understanding she still says several words. My advice, record the words she is saying in a daily log for about a week, sometimes parents don’t even realize that their babies say more words then they think. Count even words that no one except you understands, but your daughter uses them consistently referring to to something.

Pearson also makes stress that it is even more important that your 18 to 24 month old toddler understands what she has been told.

Lets check if your daughter has a good understanding. Try this activities for a week. Intentionally give your daughter simple directions, like bring me your shoes, or throw it in the garbage (kids love to clean when they are little and then this love vanishes somehow:) and then see if she can easily understand what you are asking for.

Here is my personal experience: from this guidelines, I should say I had to ring alarms with all of my children . Well 3 of them, because the fourth one is only 10 month. It is especially true for my son. His first and single word “no” in Ukrainian came at around 24 month. And only by age three he started to produce understandable two-word phrases.

Now, after you recorded your daughter’s speech abilities, what next?

Your daughter most likely just on the later edge of normal speech development. Bluntly, it does not mean she will have learning difficulties in the future. The iconic example: Einstein did not talk until 3 years old!

But, it that small chance that your daughter could have language delay scratching your nerves, right? And again, it is not because she is being raised bilingual, it is just because there is chance for all kids – monolingual and multilingual.

So, around 2 years old I suggest you to evaluate your daughter by professional – language pathologist, preferably the one, who specializing in bilingual children. Why not just regular one? In the end, there is no difference between monolingual speech development and bilingual. The reason why, you just don’t want to have specialist telling you to drop one language so she can start talking faster. Also you want speech therapist to evaluate you daughter in both of her languages, not just one.

Carol, I hope my answer can help you and your little one.

If you, dear reader, have a question about raising bilingual children send me a quick email at [email protected] and I will try to help you as much as I can.

It was in 1998 when he founded a tuition agency named Talk Languages, connecting hundreds of language teachers in the London area with thousands of happy clients for private lessons.

In 2006, he co-founded Speekee, where children to learn to speak Spanish together. In this interview, we’ll talk about his path to his career, raising his kids bilingual and the idea behind Speekee.

00:34 Introduction to Jim Porter of Speekee – Spanish for Kids Blog

1:50 Why did Jim choose a career on language?

7:40 What should parents look for in hiring a language teacher?

11:11 Language is learned the best when it’s life vs. when it’s on paper

13:01 What is the language situation in Jim Porter’s family? How do they balance the language spoken between their kids?

15:20 “My child doesn’t have linguistic abilities” – How can we make sure that the child gets to talk in another language?

18:00 What language should siblings speak among themselves?

19:17 Switching languages between siblings

22:27 How does Jim Porter’s kids speak English or Spanish at home?

25:18 Bilingual Schools – Full immersion or half immersion?

28:09 Did Jim teach his kids to learn how to read and write in English?

29:57 What is the idea behind Speekee?

33:56 Dicussing how kids learn so fast and their interaction with other kids

35:20 What can adults learn from kids on learning another language?

35:40 What you can learn from Speekee

36:70 Closing Remarks

Speekee

Talk Languages

Code-Switching vs. Borrowing in Bilingual Children

How To Raise a Bilingual Child

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Ryan created the app after his first child, Oliver started talking. He realized that in the very early stages of speech he was mixing both languages.

00:30 Introduction to Ryan Cole and Little Lexicon

01:30 Ryan on his life in Amsterdam and Czech Republic

02:20 Experience in living in Prague and the Czech culture

03:31 Discussing the local language in Prague

05:31 Ryan’s family language portrait and bilingual system for his kids

07:30 How does Ryan teach his son English?

08:54 Is it easy to buy English books in Prague?

09:49 Did Ryan plan to raise his kids bilingual?

11:30 How switching languages work for Ryan in raising his kid

14:52 How did Ryan started Little Lexicon and his idea behind it

17:52 Did Ryan observe any frustrations between the grandparents and his son?

20:45 Discussing mixing languages and correcting it

25:16 What makes the Czech language different from other languages

28:31 Ryan discussing his plans to travel for language/family support

29:44 How are the schools in Czech Republic? Will Ryan send his kids to immersion schools or Waldorf schools?

31:00 The hard part of being bilingual and taking language exams

33:51 Closing Remarks

Lexicon

Switching Languages

One Parent, One Language System

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Today’s guest is very interesting because it’s the first time that we have an author of children’s books. You might even have heard about the book – The Adventures of Bosley the Language Bear.

The series of the cute bear and his adventures on the different languages. The author of this book is Tim Johnson. Unlike other dual-language books, the Adventures of Bosley Bear are specifically designed with the intention of teaching young children new words and phrases in foreign languages.  The teaching methods used allow children to learn at their own pace and enjoy the learning process.

Click here to listen to Tim Johnson On How Dual Language Books Can Help Learn A New Language Podcast on Stitcher

00:45 Introduction to Tim Johnson and the Adventures of Bosley the Language Bear

01:39 Tim Johnson’s family language portrait

03:00 What language did his mother speak to him?

03:39 Studying Japanese and living in Japan for 5 weeks

04:36 Tim Johnson on learning a new language for kids

05:58 What made him decide to write the Bosley Bear books?

09:32 Where did he get the idea of Bosley Bear?

11:32 What is the inspiration behind the book?

12:44 What can we expect from the book besides the language learning?

15:14 How a dual language book can help in learning another language?

19:24 The benefits of learning a language through Tim Johnson’s books

21:16 The challenges of learning another language – “Learning by the book”

22:07 What other languages does Tim use for his book?

24:20 Where can parents find the Bosley bear books?

26:07 Getting a positive feedback for the books

27:42 Closing remarks

Quotes:

About Bosley’s Dual Language Books

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Click here to listen to Tim Johnson On How Dual Language Books Can Help Learn A New Language Podcast on Stitcher

My guest in this podcast episode is Michele Cherie and she’s the founder of Intentional Mama. She writes about making purposeful choices for culturally-rich, perfectly paced family life–with a French twist.

Michele is a former French teacher who is now dedicated to raising her two children and she’s also a non native speaker who speaks French to her daughters. I was very excited to talk to Michele about her views on language and raising bilingual kids as a non native speaker.

00:45 Introduction to Michele Cherie – founder of Intentional Mama

02:23 How did Michele learn language that paved the way to her career as a French teacher?

05:41 What made her decide to teach her daughter to learn French?

07:45 Did Michele go through French children’s books before she started reading to your daughter?

10:15 What was her family’s reaction to her decision to teach French to her kids?

12:17 Michele’s take on her husband speaking Thai to their kids

13:00 Did it take a long time for Michele to speak French to her daughter?

16:40 Does Michele have any tricks of learning French?

18:00 Did she have a hard time when she also started speaking French to her son?

19:01 What language does her kids speak to each other? French or English

24:12 Does Michele speak French or English to her children in public?

26:01 Discussing road trips and moving to a state

27:09 Michele recommends one of the best resources book for parents teaching French

29:30 Should parents continue speaking a non native language to their kids even if they feel they’re not up to par with the language level?

33:42 Does she have to put in more effort to immerse her kids in the French culture since Michele grew up in a different one?

35:40 World citzens VS one culture citizens

37:00 Michele Cherie’s career from volunteer to French teacher

39:24 Homeschooling – Is it a path that Michele wants to do for her kids?

43:11 What is Michele’s advise for parents who are looking to raise their kids

45:10 Closing Remarks

Quotes

Raising a Bilingual Child by Barbara Pierson

Les Petits Livres – French books for children

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Well to help other parents find Bilingual Kids Rock and spread our positive message – please subscribe & consider leaving a review and rating on iTunes.

You see – your reviews and subscription information is how iTunes determines what’s good, what’s bad, and what they should share with new listeners.

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Again – thank you for helping us grow and reach more bilingual families JUST LIKE YOURS