I owe you an explanation, I know… What’s up with me? Lot’s actually…

Now as most of you know, to be true to my mission to bilingualism I run two blogs, Bilingual for Fun, in EN, and Bilingue per Gioco, in Italian. Well I realised I wasn’t getting what I wanted out of either and decided to invest time and energy to bring at least on of the two blogs to the next level, to make something really impactful out of it. I chose Bilingue per Gioco because I felt that’s where I could make the most difference. There are great bloggers on bilingualism in English, but it’s a virtually unknown subject in Italy.

I think I can now say the efforts where well worth it! Please have a look and judge yourself: www.bilinguepergioco.com. Have a look even if you don’t speak/read italian, just to see what it’s like, please! I promise I’ll soon put the same work into Bilingual for Fun too, just give me the time to recover…

I am also starting a couple of projects in Italy, making playgroups a reality, and that takes a tremendous amount of work and passion and a vision. And quite a bit of stupidity too one might say, at least that’s what I say when I feel overwhelmed. I do happen to feel overwhelmed a lot lately, so you get the drift…

And I have written an E-Book!!! Yes I did! It’s in Italian though… I’d love to get it translated. It went out yesterday and I’m checking emails and stuff like crazy. The title is In che lingua giochiamo? Which in English would read something like Which language shall we play in? In other words it’s one those things that really don’t translate well. I’d have to find a decent English title, ideas welcome… Anyway as you can imagine it’s a book on bilingualism, specifically on all the incredible tool we have (but rarely use) to give children exposure to the minority language in a fun and natural way. It’s 66 pages, including Cover, Index, and Bibliography, granted, but still…!

I am giving away the Ebook for free to those who are registered in Bilingue per Gioco’s newsletter as a way to say Thank-you-for-sharing-the-journey-with-me, but I know that also among Bilingual for Fun’s readers there are quite a few people who read Italian, so I’ll give away a copy here too. To get the copy just comment on this post or on FB and share the link to this page In che lingua giochiamo? with your contacts on FB, Twitter, blogs, anything by Sunday next week, Jan 31st. Which happens to be my birthday too… Go figure! I’ll then do the usual thing of picking a lucky winner!

What else… I’ve been missing my fellow bloggers a lot. I’ve been missing the Carnivals and all the really interesting interactions I used to have with the broad bloggers community. I’m back, and looking forward to this new year!

Thanks for everything, I hope you are all well!

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2. English, French, German (etc.) Playgroups for Bilingual Children in Italy
3. Learning a second language is good childhood mind medicine, studies find

Playgroups are kicking off in Rome, at  S.Saba, thursdays at 17.30.

Playgroups motivate children to speak the minority language, which is normally the language spoken just by mom or dad and becomes instead the language spoken by children too as well as a necessary means to communicate in an environment where no other language is spoken.

However Playgrous are important for parents too, as they find an opportunity to share experiences about raising bilingual children and boost their own motivation. In fact demotivation and the consequent inconsistency in applying the chosen method is the main reason why many families are disappointed about their children’s bilingualism.

The Playgroups are for preschooler, i.e. up to 6 years old, max 7, and take place on Thursday at 17.30 in S. Saba, Rome of course.

For more information please contant Bilingue Per Gioco at 320 1156419 or bilinguepergioco AT yahoo DOT com.

Image from A Journey Round My Skull

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• Playgroups in general, any language
• English Playgroups
• Where can you find a Playgroup
• How to start a new Playgroup

Warning, I’ll cover some general concepts but practically speaking at present we operate in Italy only.

PLAYGROUPS IN GENERAL, ANY LANGUAGE
Playgroups’ primary objective is to provide a social context for the minority language, so that the child associates the language to other children and a playful dimension as well as perceiving the need to speak it in a context where the majority language is banned. So Playgroups are designed for children who already know the language, i.e. who understand it and possibly speak it, or at least use some words actively.
For most languages this concept is easy to grasp and works perfectly. Children who attend the Playgroups are indeed bilingual, although they might master the language differently depending on age, personality, family circumstances, etc. When it comes to English though, it’s a different story…

ENGLISH PLAYGROUPS
Parents feel a very strong need to make sure their children learn English, so they really want to put their children in a Playgroup with other children who are English native speakers. Except the parents of these children are obviously concerned, they want to help their children to speak their own language, not turn them into English teachers for other children…
Let’s try to rationalize. Children who attend English Playgroups are divided into three groups:

• Native speakers
• Italian Children who are taught English at home
• Italian Children whose parents would like them to learn English

For children who have English as a mothertongue there are of course Playgroups for bilingual children, who are the classic Bilingual For Fun’s Playgroups.
For Italian children who do not speak any English we have specific Playgroups, based on the method Hocus & Lotus, which has been developed by University La Sapienza (Rome) and has been extensively implemented and tested across Europe. These Playgroups can be run only by someone who has been trained on the Hocus&Lotus method AND has a very good command of English. In practice, I personally run these Playgroups in Verona, but I don’t expect to be able to offer them in other cities in the short term.

With regards to Italian children who are consistently taught English at home, in general they understand it quite well but don’t speak it. Some of these children may very well join the group of native speakers, it will obviously dependon their command of the language and how much exposure they already get, bearing in mind that in a Playgroup for bilingual children there should be max about 3 children who are not native speakers. As an alternative, wherever possible a specific Playgroup can be created for these children, which will be very similar to the native speakers’ Playgroups.

WHERE CAN YOU FIND A PLAYGROUP
As Shakespeare put it ”There is no world without Verona walls, but purgatory, torture, hell itself” (Romeo and Juliet). That is to say that Bilingual For Fun was born in Verona and here we have Playgroups in English (both for native speaker and Italian children), in German and soon also in French.
From September on we are planning to start Playgroups in other cities. We are currently talking about English (native speakers) Playgroups in Perugia and German and French Playgroups in Rome. If you are interested please let us know. We also hope to add more soon.

HOW TO START A NEW PLAYGROUP
Playgroups are not language courses, they are rather opportunities to play and have fun. That said, Bilingual For Fun’s Playgroups are run in a very professional way:

• They have a fixed time and place, usually once a week
• The premises must be suitable for children from 0 to 6 years and be organized and equipped to promote play and some specific activities, and also to facilitate interaction between parents and children
• Some activities’ are proposed each time in the same way, to motivate children to talk without even if realizing they do…
• The person who runs the Playgroup makes sure that all the necessary material and equipment is available

That is to say that the Playgroups are not improvised but are planned and designed with care, however providing instructions are followed it is not difficult to manage a Playgroup, also because we offer constant support.  Playgroups in fact can, and indeed should, be managed by a parent (not necessarily a mom).
Finally, last but not least, Playgroups are obviously not free (prices will be decided at local level, taking also the costs in consideration), otherwise it would not be possible to achieve this level of organization, necessary to guarantee a positive experience for children and parents from all points of view:

• Opportunities to meet in a serene and enjoyable environment where everybody is at ease
• Motivation for children to speak the minority language
• Support for parents, who often feel very isolated in their experience of bilingualism

So if you are growing your children bilingual why not starting a Playgroup in your area? Call me and we can talk about it: 320 1156419. Trust me, it’s fun and not difficult at all, above all it’s a way to create yourself the opportunities that you would like to offer to your children.

Related posts:

1. English, French, German (etc.) Playgroups for Bilingual Children in Italy
2. Playgroups help bilingual children speak English, or French, or German…
3. The Importance of a Social Context (think Playgroup) for Bilingual Children

 An italian mom who is raising her child bilingual in English, although none in the family is an English native speaker, asked some tips about how to find Enlish speaking opportunities for the summer vacation. Of course a trip is always a good idea, although the trip is expensive and is always done with family, which speaks italian… Here’s a nice alternative idea, which suits nicely both children that live in Italy and children who live abroad and have some italian origins: Arte al Sole.

Arte al Sole is a summer camp for international children focussed around fine arts, promoting creativity, enjoying nature and local cuisine. It’s run by Shannon: mom, american (she lives most of the year in the States), fine arts expert, passionate about Italy and italian arts.

I asked Shannon whether she thinks Arte al Sole camps would suit bilingual children, that’s what she says:

“Our summer camp welcomes a few bilingual children every year, and many from Italian American families who are not necessarily bilingual but have had Italian language exposure or instruction throughout their childhood.

It’s interesting, because, as I’m sure you know, there are many English language intensive summer programs for Italian children to practice their English, but I’ve heard from Italian parents these past few years that in many cases their children don’t perceive this option as a “fun” experience, and so they inquire about Arte al Sole because it has an appealing artistic/cultural curriculum that they feel their children would enjoy, but is conducted primarily in English with staff and other children who have the ability to speak Italian if necessary. So, the “playful” or “fun” aspect seems to subtly lend itself to the variety of multilingual experiences among the kids.

It is different every year, but the children really do enjoy sharing their language abilities among each other in a relaxed, natural way, which is so endearing. This year we have a few children who attend international schools in Italy and a few who attend Italian state schools from families with Italian mother/American father or vice versa. The remainder are American families organizing their summer vacation in Europe around attending this camp, many of whom are Italian American or have a strong connection to Italy .

So, in summary, the program supports bilingualism truly through an emphasis on the “play” aspect and on the children’s natural desire for cultural exchange. I can very strongly say that when the kids are allowed to proceed on their own level and at their own initiative in language exchange, they flourish more than when it is perceived by them as imposed or mandatory. Furthermore, we have some wonderful local Lucchese artists, cooks, and a book author who conducts our tour of the center, so the children are always so polite and in a sense honored to share their Italian language/or English as appropriate in a respectful way with the teachers who have either English or Italian as their native tongue.”

I think it’s a great idea, and I believe that it takes passion to live in the States and organize summer camps in Italy, and when things are done with real passion they always have something special about them.

If you have already experienced Arte al Sole’s camps please share your experience, or if you are planning to do so please let us know too, but be fast, as the first session is sold out since April already!

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An interesting article on Bilingual Children from the Cornell language Acquisition Lab.

The article confirms that bilingualism has no negative impact on children, on the contrary it stimulates them positevely, and it also gives some very useful practical tips to parents, which I copy below (however I still encourage you to read the whole article):

Tips to teach a child a second language
• Surround the child with more than one language through conversations and social groups using different languages; the earlier the better.
• Maintain home (heritage) language when a second language is being learned outside the home.
• Expose children to multilingual settings and give them plenty of opportunities to play with children who speak the second language.
• Provide fun and interactive language-learning environments (e.g., music, dance and film) in both languages, and often with children of similar age.
• Promote reading and storytelling in multiple languages.
• Maintain a positive attitude toward languages and cultures children learn.

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It is commonly accepted that monolingual children learn how to talk from many people: mum of course (that’s where MOTHERtongue comes from to start with…), but also teachers and children they see at school, TV (or rather videos), etc. Funny enough though, what is widely accepted for monolingual children is not really taken into consideration for bilingual children. But bilingual children learn to talk exactly in the same way, i.e. from multiple people and interactions, only they have a lot less opportunities to interact… If this is not factored in, it is very likely that the children will understand the minority language, but won’t speak it, as so many bilingual parents report. When this happens the children are missing out on a great opportunity (relatively speaking though, because let’s never underestimate passive bilingualism, which is already a big achievement!) and all too often the parents feels betrayed and frustrated, if not guilty of “not getting it right”. But the relevance of a social context for the development of a language can’t be overestimated, it is an essential component to motivate children and parents just have to come to terms with he limits of their own role, fundamental in shaping a child, but not sufficient.

Barbara Zurer in Raising a Bilingual Child (to be reviewed on this blog) rightly points out that parents must provide children with “opportunity” and “motivation” for the minority language. However a common mistake is to assume that if the parents is motivated, so will be the child. Unfortunately it is not so… The parents’ motivation is rooted into his/her experiences and projections. Much in the same way, a child’s motivation is rooted into his/her experiences, the language must have a purpose and a meaning according to his/her view of the world. Only in this way will motivation come from within, as opposed to doing something “to make mummy happy” (or daddy of course).That’s why it is important for the child to feel the urge of using the language in some contexts, with people and activities that are uniquely associated to the language.

Obviously there are many way to create and nurture a social context for the minority language, the extended family is a great resource in this direction (creating not only a social but also an emotional environment and bonds), friends can be of great help too, more difficult instead – at least in Italy- is to identify a child centered social context, what we mean by that is Playgroups, or other forms of children get-together.

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We like to think of a place (both real and virtual) where kids and families of multiple nationalities, languages and cultures can meet. Both to help each other nurturing a language, and to help children see the diversity of the world’s languages and culture.

We started from Verona for practical reasons, and there we have two English, a German and French Playgroup. We are now looking for opportunities to launch Playgroups in other towns. Perugia (English) and Rome (French and German) are already on the list, but the sky is the limit. Playgroups are set up by Bilingual For Fun, but the day to day activities are run by a parent. So if you are looking for a Playgroup for your children let us know, and if you think you might run one definitely give us a shout, it won’t take much of your time at all.

This is how we run our playgroups: parents and children meet to play and there is only one rule, we don’t speak any Italian, only the Playgroup’s language. This doesn’t mean that everybody must be a native speaker in that language of course, but everybody must be fluent in it.

Playgroups are targeted at preschoolers, i.e. 0 to 6 years old. In some cases we also organise the playgroups by age range, one for small children, from first months up to about 3 years, and one for older children up to 6 years, although this is not always practical, particularly for families with more than one child.

The format is rather easy: we always sing few songs and then which we do different things: play with toys, read books, act a situation (like Let’s all catch the train!), jump, eat a snack, do the animals’ sounds, in short anything that grabs children and parents’ attention. However songs are always among the most beloved moments, some children dance sitting on the floor, others really sing (its simply amazing how children can sing in a language they don’t speak!). With older children it’s really impressive to see that the same children that see no reason to speak English at home (mostly following a perfectly sound logic) eventually speak it without even realising while playing.

See here for more informations on Playgroups and how they help children learn and speak the second language.

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1. More information about Playgroups. What, When, Where and most of all Who
2. Playgroups help bilingual children speak English, or French, or German…
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Playgroups are effective in this sense as they complement the efforts of the family. A playgroup is not a language class, it’s an opportunity to speak and hear a language in a context other than home, it’s fun as it is a chance for kids and babies to play and it’s very effective because it requires interactions with multiple people and children. In any case, it  is essential for parents, or other people very close to the child, to attend, both because these are the people that primarily transmit the use of the language, and because young or very young children would feel much more comfortable and safe. Parents’ presence is important also to provide consistency. Ideally some of the activities we do at the playgroup could and should be carried on at home, for instance reading the same stories or singing the same songs or just by returning on the themes and words we used at the playgroup. By hearing sounds, words and phrases repetitively it will be easier for children to recognise them and learn to use them.

Playgroups are particularly important for very young children, and this is an aspect easily underestimated. The first years, and the first year specifically, is when babies are most receptive to languages, so it is essential to create ample opportunities for hearing and using the language early on.

Finally, let’s not underestimate that playgroups are important also for the parents themselves. Playgroups help parents to stay motivated and to be consistent, offer opportunities to compare and review their methodology and also to see the results of their efforts, some children who refuse to speak English at home happen to speak it without even noticing while they are playing.

At the end of the day the secret to raise bilingual children is motivation (which by the way is a key ingredient of success in most circumstances). Parents need motivation to stick to a methodology and be consistent. Children need motivation to speak the language. One of the main objectives of the playgroups is precisely this, keeping parents and children motivated.

See here for more info on the Playgroups that Bilingual For Fun organizes in Italy.

Related posts:

1. The Importance of a Social Context (think Playgroup) for Bilingual Children
2. More information about Playgroups. What, When, Where and most of all Who
3. English, French, German (etc.) Playgroups for Bilingual Children in Italy