[updated 12 December 2023] When we use more languages either on a daily or regular basis, or across our lifespan, we might not be aware that the languages who “stand in the foreground” can shift into the background at some point. When we grow up surrounded by language yellow, blue and green[1] in the first […]
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How to adjust your international language
When I saw this interview with Roger Federer the other day, I couldn’t resist but share it in my facebook group Multilingual Families. It is a perfect example for why, when we use our language in international settings, we shouldn’t assume that sayings, metaphors (and abbreviations!) are universal. https://twitter.com/thefield_in/status/1409944054020722693?s=20 In this particular example, […]
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Language use in multilingual families during lockdown
When we all went into our first lockdown due to COVID19 last year, I published a short video for multilingual families who do NOT speak the community language at home, about how to keep up with the school or community languages during lockdown. Especially for very young children who maybe just started daycare, spending more time […]
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En parlant du bilinguisme avec François Grosjean (podcast Tea with KBC)
– Interview with Prof. em François Grosjean par Kathryn Baxter from Tea with KBC (you can find the English transcript of this interview here) Dans un interview Prof. em. François Grosjean avec Kathryn Baxter (podcast Tea with KBC) au sujet du bilinguisme, il partage son parcours personnel, ses théories, les principes, la définition, sa mission. Même si […]
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Do multilingual children automatically become multilingual adults?
Everyone is talking about multilingualism. Until recently there were still many concerns about a multilingual upbringing – it was feared that children would not be able to speak one or the other language ‘properly’ (whatever this means!) – we now know that multilingualism has all sorts of positive effects on speaking, thinking and acting. It […]
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