Comments on: The Questions About Bilingualism You Were Afraid To Ask

By: Salma

Salma — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 22:10:07 +0000

My biggest concern is how I can pass on language equally to my children. I can see the difference between the first attempts with my older children, the energy annd confidence that I put into it all, and with my last child (the 5th).

By: Stéphanie

Stéphanie — Fri, 25 May 2018 21:19:12 +0000

Thanks for that. It’s very reassuring. I like your idea of making Italian visible. We do have some French toys and bilingual books but not enough. Although I just received some beautiful bilingual flashcards from likollo that I can’t wait to use! ? And what are your thought on learning to tead in both languages at the same time. Could learning phonics for French and English be confusing? Is it better to hold off with the French (as the minority language) until the English is sufficiently integrated or go ahead with both? Although I am a languages teacher, this is very different. I try to research info in the subject but there are a lot of contradictions out there on the subject. X

By: Alex Nicoletti

Alex Nicoletti — Sat, 19 May 2018 19:25:53 +0000

In reply to Stéphanie.

Hi Stéphanie,

Thank you so much for your comment. Your child absolutely can be truly bilingual. It is natural to worry about exposure to the minority language. Our minority language at home is Italian, and we follow the one parent, one language approach. My husband spends most of his time with the children on the weekend (he is at work in the week), but both are speaking Italian fluently relevant to their respective ages (four and two). There are several things we do in order to manage this, the first and most important is that Gianluca has never spoken a word of English to them. I also make sure Italian is really ‘visible’ at home; everything is bilingual from our chalkboard in the kitchen, to posters in the children’s room, through to our book shelves. We do allow some cartoons, and they are only in Italian. There is much more I can share on this subject – and i’ll be writing it all in a blog post soon. I hope that helps a little and please do email me alex@lilollo.co.uk

Also if you haven’t joined Adam Beck’s forum http://bilingualzoo.com/ please do, it is a treasure trove of brilliant advice.

By: Stéphanie

Stéphanie — Mon, 14 May 2018 17:05:03 +0000

My main concern is whether my child will truly be bilingual or not. He goes to Nursery full time and he learns French with me but our time during the week is very limited. He is 2 and I have noticed that his vocabulary is increasing much faster in English. My friend’s little one is 4 and understand German perfectly but doesn’t speak it. Thsibis despite the benefit of spending 2 whole days per week with her German mother. How do I prevent this from happening.