Multilingual Montessori

In this episode of the Multilingual Montessori Podcast, Gabrielle and Jenna answer a question from a parent raising her son with Portuguese while he attends a Spanish-language preschool. She’s concerned that the similarities between Portuguese and Spanish, along with her own occasional mistakes in Portuguese, might lead to confusion or affect her son’s Portuguese language development.

We talk about mutually intelligible languages, cognates, and language transfer, and why learning similar languages can actually be an advantage for multilingual children. We also discuss how parents can help children notice the differences between languages and develop metalinguistic awareness without worrying about language confusion.

Plus, we share practical strategies for increasing minority-language input when local resources are limited. We also discuss the complementarity principle and why multilingual children don’t need to know the same words or have identical vocabularies in all of their languages!

Along the way, we share some of our own multilingual adventures, including Gabrielle’s experience volunteering at the FIFA World Cup in New York and what Jenna has learned from having her phone in German for the past four years. We also discuss the language-related books we’re reading, endangered languages, and how television can actually support children’s foreign-language vocabulary acquisition!

Have a question you'd like us to answer on the podcast? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Submit it here!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Things we mention in the episode:

• Gabrielle's ⁠Parenting Multilingual Children Workshop⁠⁠
• How to Kill a Language by Sophia Smith Galer
• ⁠Why Save a Language (Sophia Smith Galer interview on WNYC)⁠
• Language City by Ross Perlin
• The Language Archive by Julia Cho
• In the United States, Every World Cup Team Is a Home Team (NY Times)
• German study about children's language acquisition through watching television

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In this episode of the Multilingual Montessori Podcast, Jenna has a recap of her trip to Ireland! We discuss the revitalization efforts that have been made in the last few decades to bring the Irish language back to a place of prominence in Ireland, and Jenna even shares a phrase in Irish that she learned.

Gabrielle is also thrilled to share that her new workshop, Parenting Multilingual Children, is now available! ⁠Check it out here.⁠

This month, we’re answering a question from a US-based parent who wants to start a Spanish language playgroup with families in her area, but is concerned that the children will speak to each other in English, especially those who know each other from school. Tune in to hear our advice to her!

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Things we mention in the episode:

⁠Gabrielle's Parenting Multilingual Children Workshop⁠

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Today’s conversation is the fourth in a series of check-ins with my good friend and bilingual mom, Samantha! We previously checked in when Samantha’s daughter was 12 months, 15 months, and 18 months old. (If you missed our previous conversations, you can go back and listen to them: they are ⁠episode 50⁠, ⁠episode 56⁠, and episode 59.)

And then...I took a hiatus from the podcast! Now it's been two years since our last check-in, and Samantha's daughter is three and a half years old. She has been attending a Montessori school and speaking a lot, in both English and Italian. Listen in to my conversation with Samantha to hear about how bilingualism is going in their family now that her daughter is three.

Things we mention in the episode:

Parenting Multilingual Children Workshop

Italian Audiobooks: https://www.ilnarratore.com/it/ and https://www.libraccio.it/

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In this episode of the Multilingual Montessori Podcast, we have a Broadway-themed episode! Jenna and Gabrielle are both working on Broadway shows this season, and Jenna is taking her kid to see the Broadway production of Frozen in Germany soon.

Gabrielle is also thrilled to share that her new workshop, Parenting Multilingual Children, is now available! Check it out here.

This month, we’re answering the question: Should you be speaking only the minority language at home? And does this answer change based on where you're located, or what the minority language is?

Have a question you'd like us to answer on the podcast? ⁠⁠⁠⁠Submit it here!⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Parenting Multilingual Children Workshop

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In this episode of the Multilingual Montessori Podcast, we have an Olympics recap!

Gabrielle is back from volunteering at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and has learned a lot of new vocabulary. And Jenna has an update on the big kindergarten decision and where her child will be going to school next year!

This month, we’re answering the questions: Why isn’t television considered high-quality language input? What makes it different than reading a book out loud to kids? And can screens ever be beneficial for language learning?

Things we mention in the epidode:

- Muzzy commercial on YouTube

- "The Parents Aren't All Right" - The Daily

- Snack Homiez SNL skit on YouTube

Have a question you'd like us to answer on the podcast? ⁠⁠⁠Submit it here!⁠⁠⁠

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In this episode of the Multilingual Montessori Podcast, we're talking about dual language programs in the NYC public school system, how we define fluency when talking about multilingual people, and answering the question: Is it possible to raise a child bilingual when only one parent speaks a second language?

Things we mention in the episode:

- How the 'Italian Fairy' Spends Her Day Teaching Children to Sing (NY Times)

- Globalskolen: Online education for Norwegian children abroad

- The Bilingual Brain by Albert Costa

- The Bilingual Edge by Kendal King and Alison Mackey

Have a question you'd like us to answer on the podcast? ⁠⁠Submit it here!⁠⁠

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In this episode of the Multilingual Montessori Podcast, we're talking about the Winter Olympics (Gabrielle is going to be there as a volunteer!), the recent NY Times Social Q about non-English speaking children, and answering the question: What if your child blatantly says no to learning your language?

You can learn more about Gabrielle on ⁠⁠Episode 20: How Multilingual Montessori Came to Be⁠⁠.

You can learn more about Jenna on ⁠Episode 46: Jenna Clark Embrey, Dramaturg at Lincoln Center Theater⁠.

Have a question you'd like us to answer on the podcast? ⁠Submit it here!⁠

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⁠Courses and Workshops

Welcome back to the Multilingual Montessori Podcast! We're returning in 2026 with new episodes and a new co-host, and we'll be here every month to answer your questions about raising and teaching multilingual children from a Montessori perspective.

You can learn more about Gabrielle on ⁠Episode 20: How Multilingual Montessori Came to Be⁠.

You can learn more about Jenna on Episode 46: Jenna Clark Embrey, Dramaturg at Lincoln Center Theater.

Have a question you'd like us to answer on the podcast? Submit it here!

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In this episode, I interview a former teaching team about their time working in a bilingual Montessori classroom together in Oaxaca, Mexico!

Charlotte Peck is a 3-6 Montessori educator and certified Positive Discipline Parent & Early Childhood Educator. Charlotte has over 13 years of experience working in non-profit youth organizations, public and private education, and Dual Language Montessori programs in the U.S. and Mexico. 

Guadalupe Tinoco, or Lupita, is a 3-6 Montessori educator living in Oaxaca, Mexico. Lupita has worked in Education for almost 20 years and now runs a own Montessori program in Oaxaca called Ambiente Montessori with a dear friend.

Charlotte and Lupita met when they were the English and Spanish teachers, respectively, in a bilingual Montessori 3-6 classroom in Oaxaca, Mexico. During our conversation, they shared the structure of their bilingual classroom, what worked and what they needed to adjust as they went along, and what their co-teaching experiences were like. Charlotte also shares what life outside the classroom was like for her as an American living in Mexico, and Lupita shares what it has been like to start her own Montessori program.

Follow Charlotte on Instagram: @montessoricharlotte

Follow Ambiente Montessori on Instagram: @montessori.ambiente

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Today’s conversation is the third in a series of check-ins with my good friend and new bilingual mom, Samantha. We previously checked in when Samantha’s daughter was 12 months and 15 months.  If you missed our first two conversations, you can go back and hear them (they are episode 50 and episode 56).

We recorded this update back in the spring, when Samantha’s daughter was 18 months old, right after her family returned from a trip to Italy to visit her partner’s family.

I hope you enjoy this 18-month check in with Samantha!

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