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Struggling to Raise a Bilingual Child in a Non-Native Language

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Dear Madalena, Our language strategy has been that my Arabic husband I (American) try to use Arabic as much as possible with our daughter, which means my husband uses it all the time, and I use it maybe 40% of the time. Our biggest challenges are that I am not fluent in Arabic. I am [...]

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Dual Language Schools: Can Children with Speech Issues Attend?

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Dear Madalena, I am a Dual Language Teacher at a school in El Paso, TX. We follow the 90/10 program at our District, which means that the instruction of the second language (in this case Spanish) starts at 90% in kindergarten and 1st grade and only 10% of English. Then as the students progress to [...]

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What Is Wrong with My Children’s Accents?

by Madalena
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Dear Madalena, My daughters’ (age 5+) spoken language sounds like it has an accent. It is widely asked if they have an accent, especially when they are around strangers. I know they definitely sound different. Some say that they sound like cartoon characters, which upsets me. Others say they sound like foreign speaking kids. Their [...]

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When Is the Best Time to Teach Bilingual Children to Write in Their Languages?

by Madalena
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Dear Madalena, I read so much about bilingualism, but it all focuses on the “oral” part. I have many questions about the written part: Is it better to learn one language in writing first and then the other? After how many years can you add the writing of the second/third language? Or can you do [...]

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Are DVDs and a Native-Speaking Babysitter Enough Language Exposure?

by Madalena
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Dear Madalena, I am the mother of two beautiful children 3 years and 18 months. I am absolutely determined to raise them bilingually in English and Italian. Both of us parents are Italian and we live in Rome. I would say that both of our kids are already bilingual (with the help of my poor [...]

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When Should We Start Teaching Our Bilingual Child to Read in Our Home Language?

by Madalena
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Dear Madalena, I am British, my husband is Spanish and we live in Spain. We have two boys (aged 5 and 3) who go to a Spanish speaking school. Since they were babies, I have always spoken English and my husband in Spanish, which seems to work very well as they both understand and speak [...]

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How Can We Help Our Adopted Child Become Bilingual?

by Madalena
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Dear Madalena, We just recently brought home our 16 mo. old daughter from China.  We live in Germany.  My husband is German.  We have one daughter, who is bilingual in English and German.  We speak English at home but German outside the household. Do you have any suggestions on how to deal with the bilingualism [...]

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