Activities and Play
Getting our children to do something while using their language(s) can have very positive effects on language learning overall. Hands on activities that give the opportunity to spend time together as well as use unique vocabulary are always fantastic. And with the technology out there today, there are bound to be some good digital options.
- Maria covers the expanse from technology to home-made ideas and tips in her post Improving literacy in bilingual children: iPhone apps and homemade board games. You are sure to find some ideas that work for your family!
- How about adding a new hands-on tradition for when the weather gets cold outside? Maggy teaches us how to make an easy, traditional German lantern for St. Martins Day in her post How to… make a (very quick & easy) Lantern. Give it a try and let her know how it goes!
Research
What would raising bilingual children be without some research to give us that added encouragement? Of course, there are times when we have to take research with a grain of salt (does it really matter now many neurons will be stimulated by raising our children bilingually?) but it can also give us the boost we need to maintain a literacy program at a local library or help us find our way in bilingual parenting.
- As Letizia shares in her post Speech therapists, research and bilingual children, there are some very big gaps between research and real-world application. Brain research about bilingualism is interesting but it doesn’t help one iota when it comes to answering the Hows! Find out the lengths to which Letizia went to help create some bridges over these gaps!
- In her post Krashen and the Kid, Sarah shares with us the delight of meeting Stephen Krashen, a well-known researcher in the field of language acquisition. What does he say about language learning? He says to fill your house with these very important items! Can you guess what they are?
- And along the lines of research, in her post Exogamy is the word, Genevieve does some digging to find just the right word to replace “bilingual-bicultural”! No more need for that difficult tongue-twister! Yet, will anyone be able to find our blogs if we use this new term? Will they even know what we are talking about?
The Joys of Bilingualism
Finally, to finish off this fantastic list of amazing posts, we will end with two posts that reflect on the joys of multilingualism. When all is said and done, our multilingual lives and families bring us the most immense joy, satisfaction and inspiration. It gives such meaning to who we are.
- In her post Such Ease, Smashedpea marvels at the way her children take their intertwining of languages and cultures at face value. They do not question the reasoning for it or insist on particular labels. Do we not all hope that this experience of multilingualism can continue forever in our children?
- Melissa ponders the depths of her language and cultural mixing in her post What does bilingualism\multilingualism mean to you? As she states so very beautifully, “Bilingualism makes my family possible. And you don’t get any more essential than that.”
And with that lovely final quote, we end the October 2010 Blogging Carnival on Bilingualism.
Thank you Cartside for starting this and Letizia for keeping it going! I encourage others to join in this experience, either as a host for the carnival, as Multilingual Living is doing this month, and/or as a contributor. I can not even explain how amazing it feels to be connected with such fabulous bilingual and multilingual bloggers.
To learn more about the Blogging Carnival on Bilingualism, check out the information on the Bilingual For Fun website. Sign up for the newsletter there so that you will be notified about each carnival. Melissa at Where Going Havo? is going to host next month! So excited!
Thank you everyone for your amazing contributions! I am honored to be in your midst!
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for pulling together all these posts, Corey! This is so exciting and inspirational.
Sarah @ Bringing up Baby Bilingual´s last [type] ..art and drama around the maison
So glad to be a part of this with you, Sarah! This was such a ton of fun – I can’t believe how many fantastic posts there were. I loved them all!
Thank you for putting together the carnival this time Corey. I was honored to be a part of it.
I look forward to reading through the rest of the submissions.
Lulu´s last [type] ..Ten months…
I am so glad that you joined in the fun, Lulu! It was so great to be able to do this with you. I so enjoyed your post and all of the fantastic comments that came with it. What a great group of people we are a part of!
These posts are just when I need. I’m teaching Spanish for Kids and your website is such a fantastic resource! Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed the post, Gemma! And thank you for your praise of of Multilingual Living – being part of this great community makes it all worth it!
It must have taken forever to put it together, well done it looks great. I have already started reading my way through it and will come back later with a cup of coffee to make sure I don’t miss any of these wonderful posts. Thanks for including me:)
Hah, yes, it did take a while but I enjoyed every minute of it! Definitely get a cup of coffee – it makes reading the post so much more enjoyable, don’t you think? So nice to be a part of this with you – thanks for the great post!!
Ha ha! Going through all these fabulous posts felt like «having coffee with the girls». Thanks to all, I really enjoyed it!
I so agree! It totally felt like that for me as well. I felt an amazing connection with this community of bloggers after doing this carnival. I had no idea I would feel that way, like I know everyone on a first-name basis now!
Wow, what a fabulous collection of posts! This must be the largest bilingual carnival so far, thanks for pulling it all together!
cartside´s last [type] ..Bilingual Carnival Time
Isn’t it a great group of posts? I enjoyed every, single one of them! Thank you for making this all happen and still joining in the fun!
Hi Corey,
Thanks for including me in your Blogging Carnival. I agree about the ‘tribe’ feeling you have. It is exciting to find a community of people who have the same interests as you. I also enjoyed your article on ‘Multilingual Envy’. It really does raise its head when you least expect it. Maybe it signifies that you are ready to go deeper with your language skills? I’m thinking of getting a tutor for myself. Imagine that: one hour with a teacher whose sole focus is YOU. Heavenly! Lalou
Yes, the more I am involved with Multilingual Living, the more it feels like I have found my “tribe.” What a fantastic feeling that is!
You are so right about the Multilingual Envy post. I definitely need to work on my German. I’m getting ready to start a new “challenge” at Multilingual Living to focus on just that. Maybe you will join in it? I love the tutor idea – just need to figure out WHEN I’d have the time!
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