In every multilingual family, members speak different languages and bring a rich tapestry of cultures and traditions into the home.
However positive, enriching and exciting this sounds, we also face unique challenges related to what can be termed the “language divide.”
Beyond simply knowing two or more languages and dialects (or sign languages), being bilingual* offers a wide range of cognitive, cultural, and future benefits that make it a skill worth cultivating
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I recently held a 3 days in-person training about “Language Consulting for Multilingual Families” for a team of experts from Iceland that supports newly arrived families and multilingual families in general. Iceland being a very language-friendly and welcoming country, the amazing support system for foreigners tends to create a unique situation where the local language […]
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Audio From Cultural Identity Model to Language Identity Model UIL I recently translated the Third Culture Model into a Third Language Model for multilinguals, and I want to share my translation of the Cultural Identity Model from D. Pollock and R. Van Reken, into my Language Identity Model©: (my design is inspired by the Cultural Identity […]
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Multilingual Parents are often keen to speak several languages with their children and can’t wait to introduce more languages. In the end: the sooner the better, right? Well, not really. If we shower our children with a lot of languages from early on, without them needing them it can become a challenge to maintain them. […]
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