It’s a long time since I last wrote about A. language development, but recently I read two blogs written by mothers who document the linguistic development of their bi/tri-lingual children, and I realised how useful these posts are, not only for the writer but also for the reader. For the writer it’s an opportunity to [...]
I recently landed on a beach, together with A. of course, like most Italians this time of the year and I want to share some reflections on the experience of using the One Parent One Language technique (OPOL), outside of one’s habitat .
Quite often in OPOL families parents give up using the minority language in presence of the extended family, a sign of respect towards those who don’t understand the language. It is certainly a very good thing to involve the whole family, but it doesn’t necessarily need to happen at the minority language’s expenses. And by [...]
Does your child start a sentence with one langue and finish it with another? Yes, that happens a lot, but what this really means strongly depends on how you react to that. If you think you just react normal, keep reading, there are at least 5 different ways of reacting normal, they are all normal, [...]
A. is 19 months old, and says only few words in either language.
Active words in Italian: Mamma (Mum), Nonna (Granny), Nonno (Grampa), Pappa (Food), Acqua (Water)
Active words in English: Mummy, Mimmy (which is still Mummy, only trying harder…), Daddy, Car, Cake, No.
Quite frankly Car and Cake are just some sounds with a C in it, [...]
Lisa has three children, and she has succefully raised them trilingual. Her recipe is simple: each parents speaks his/her own language, the third language is learnt at school. However she does have a secret ingredient: the whole family follows the (OPOL) rule, always and without exceptions. That’s not easy to do, but it seems to pay off…
I am [...]
All bilingual families from time to time should try to find the time to stop and think, to check how they are doing and whether the method they are following is the right one. All families raising bilingual children have a technique, irrespective of whether it is an explicit one supported by rules, or an implicit [...]
Bilingualism at 23 months, II
Tags gestures
I read few articles stressing how gestures play a key role in facilitating learning (see here, and here), particularly among young children. I also spoke about it with some experts and have seen children of 1.5years old achieving impressive communication efficiency by using gestures. So I am convinced that gestures are useful, important, and armless [...]
Read More »