The Future is Bilingual

Today's interview is with Nur, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer for CopyCat Cafe, a language-learning platform that helps you pick up languages the natural way by copying what you hear. She and her French partner founded the platform, which offers a 7-day free trial, and are working on including more languages and releasing an app soon.

Nur grew up bilingual as the daughter of Turkish immigrants in Germany. She tells about that experience and what helped her maintain her Turkish, even while German became the dominant language for her. She and Heather discuss the differences in the German school system vs. the American one in terms of language learning but also the freedom to choose and change your path.

The discussion is full of language comparisons and comments about how languages shape the way we think. Ever wondered what language(s) multilingual couples use to communicate? Or maybe you hope your partner can be your language teacher since they're a native speaker. Nur tells us about her experience with her French partner, how they met, and what language they speak in.

Stayed tuned until the end to hear about Nur's pround bilingual moments and her favorite Turkish word (I wasn't expecting that!)

Try out CopyCat Cafe now with a 7-day free trial!

(Quick note, the link above is an affiliate link. Using it may earn me a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you and happy learning!)

Follow Nur on IG @lihaerys

Follow Nur on X @emerald_springs

Today's guest, Vanessa, is a multilingual mom from Germany raising her young kids using OPOL with her Egyptian husband. She and her husband write bilingual children books about traveling to different places around the world (based on their own travels) which are available in 3 languages - German/English, German/Arabic, or Arabic/English.

Vanessa starts the episode by telling us about her own journey learning various languages (English, French, Spanish, Arabic) and we touch on the topic of confusing similar languages. Sometimes we don't appreciate the similarities between 2 languages until we study others.

Vanessa tells us how she learned Arabic, from volunteering with refugee to studying abroad in Jordan to now being married to an Egyptian. We discuss how OPOL works in their house and how their "secret" language didn't stay secret for very long with their oldest. She opens up about some things she would like to change to make sure their children's Arabic stays strong as they get older.

Listen to get the background story on why they write their bilingual kids books and what they hope people will gain from them. Vanessa purposely put interactive elements into them and even a choose-your-own-adventure into one of the latest ones.

Make sure you listen to the end to hear my new favorite German word!

- Follow Vanessa on Instagram ⁠@polyglotparents⁠.

- Find links all of their books & audiobooks ⁠here⁠.

- Check out and buy their books internationally on ⁠Amazon⁠.

- Listen to the ⁠Egyptian Arabic Stories for Kids Podcast⁠ Heather mentioned.

In part 2 of my interview with Dr. Ute Limacher-Riebold, we get into the details of her family's languages and how a multilingual family actually interacts on a day-to-day basis. She takes us back to when her children were little and exposed to 5 languages to the present day where they are grown adults still curious and continuing to learn new languages.

It wasn't always easy and smooth sailing, though. Tune in to hear what Ute did when her twins created a secret language that no one else could understand and how she reacted when challenged by another parent at school. She also tells us about traveling as a multilingual family and the positive impact peers can have on our children's languages.

To work with Ute, please visit her website Ute's International Lounge and check out her 4 different YouTube channels and free monthly workshops.

Near the end of the episode, we mention Yoshito Darmon-Shimamori and Tetstu Yung, both of whom have worked with Ute on various projects also been guests on the Future is Bilingual Podcast:

Ep. 35 - Raising Multilingual Readers and Writers (Yoshito)

Ep. 42 - Raising 4 kids in 5 languages (Tetsu)

Ep. 50 - "In Search of the Lost Words" (Yoshito)

I had the pleasure of sitting down and talking with the brilliant Dr. Ute Limacher-Riebold, a renowned scholar who grew up multilingual and has been working in the field of linguistics and multilingualism for decades.

This first part of our talk focuses on Ute's journey growing up multilingual in Italy with German parents and being immersed early on in many different languages and dialects. We touch on the distinction between a language and a dialect, as that is not always so clear, and the richness that dialects and regional variants bring to a language and to us as the speakers or learners.

Given that much of Ute's language learning happened in an immersive or natural way, we talk about the natural approaches that she has found most helpful, such as watching TV, observing and mimicking how people speak, and picking up the culture through observation.

While there are clear challenges inherent to learning a language that is very different and linguistically far from our own or the ones we speak, it can also be challenging to learn two languages that are similar with slight variations. Ute shares with us what it was like for her to learn 3 languages that are very similar, namely German, Swiss German and Dutch.

We end this first part of our talk with a discussion on code-switching and language mixing and what it means for the bilingual or multilingual child and family. Is it okay? When should we be worried about it? Listen to find out.

There are so many places to find Ute on the web, but I will put 2 here from which you can find links to all 4 of her YouTube channels, her services, her free monthly online meetings and so much more!

Ute's LinkTree

Ute's Website

In this short solo episode, Heather goes over what you need to consider when you're looking to increase the amount of exposure your child is getting to their languages. The same is also true for anyone who is learning a new language and wants to increase their input and improve their learning. Listen to give yourself the motivation to take an honest look at you or your family's schedule and current language use so you can better plan for today and the future.

Happy Friday! Today's guest, Alicja, is a Polish mom raising her two kids in the UK with her Polish husband. Sounds like the perfect recipe for raising bilingual kids, right? Not so fast! Bilingual parenting takes planning and intentionality, even for two parents from the same country.

In this episode, Alicja tells us about all the choices, actions and dedication that go into ensuring her children grow up speaking their heritage language. She recognizes that her kids will be a mix of their heritage and home languages, as well as their heritage and home cultures, and she works with that, not against it.

Listen to hear Alicja's advice about where parents should start, how to bolster kids' home language, and what NOT to do when trying to get your kid to respond in your language.

Alicja's kids are also exposed to a 3rd language (Welsh). Listen to hear what her kids experience has in common with kids in Brittany, France.

Follow Alicja on IG @bilingualchild_blog

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In this episode, Heather talks about some of the fears and false beliefs that may be holding you back from raising your child bilingually or learning a language yourself.

This episode is inspired by a talk Heather gave at the Women in Language Conference back in 2021 called "Puis-je le faire ? Élever des enfants multilingues (Can I do this? Raising multilingual children)". This talk went over 13 fears or challenges and gave a practical solution or piece of advice for each.

This podcast episode addresses the same themes and aims to help parents who are afraid, stuck or struggling on their multilingual parenting journey. These tips are also applicable if you are learning a language and struggling with making progress.

Some previous episodes mentioned in today's talk:

• Ep. 3 - What's your plan? How to raise bilingual kids
• Ep 4 - Challenges and Solutions When Raising Bilingual Children
• ⁠Ep. 6: The benefits of being bilingual⁠
• Episode 7 - How to become fluent (What does fluency mean?)
• Ep. 41: Creating an immersive environment at home

• ⁠Ep. 45: It's never too late - Interview with Sandra⁠
• Ep. 48: Raising multilingual kids while learning the languages yourself - Interview with Heidi

• ⁠Ep. 51: Spice up your language learning routine⁠

• Ep. 55: What It Really Takes to Raise a Bilingual Child - Interview with Mackenzie
• Ep. 57: Planting Multilingual Seeds - Interview with Tiffany (aka Mama Earth)
• Ep. 58: Native vs. Non-native Language Teachers
• Ep. 59: Enseignants de langue natifs vs. non-natifs

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Instagram - @thefutureisbilingual

YouTube - @thefutureis_bilingual

Find out more on The Future is Bilingual Website

It's been almost a year since I last published an episode, but today we are back and ready to relaunch The Future is Bilingual Podcast!

This podcast is for everyone interested in languages and in making the future more multilingual, multicultural, diverse and inclusive.

If you would like to be a guest, please reach out to me at [email protected] or contact me via my website https://thefutureisbilingual.wordpress.com/.

You can follow me on Instagram @thefutureisbilingual and @arabicwordbyword

Today's podcast guest is Urmi, a polyglot who speaks 4.5 languages (I love this description!) She grew up in Italy speaking both Italian and Bengali as her first languages. She currently resides in Montréal, the largest city in the French-speaking Canadian province of Québec. She tells us about living and working in a bilingual city and how they know which language to use with clients at work. We discuss how Urmi learned all 4.5 languages and how she continues to maintain them while also working on her newest one (Spanish). Urmi has a YouTube channel where she shares her knowledge about finances, public speaking, language learning and more. Be sure to follow her there and on her other platforms. And don't miss the end of the episode where she tests my Italian and teaches us a useful Bengali phrase ;)

Follow Urmi:

Her Blog - https://www.myways.ca/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/urmamio/

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@urmihossain

French YouTube resources:

Piece of French - https://www.youtube.com/@pieceoffrench

French mornings with Elisa - https://www.youtube.com/@FrenchmorningswithElisa

Ma prof de français - https://www.youtube.com/@maprofdefrancais

Spanish YouTube resources:

Spanish with Vincente - https://www.youtube.com/@SpanishwithVicente

Spanish After Hours - https://www.youtube.com/@spanishafterhours