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

by Madalena
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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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The End of a Multilingual Living Era

by Corey
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There are many websites supporting families raising bilingual children nowadays. Some support specific languages and cultures while others support parents in general with sections that focus on bilingualism.  However, when we first started ours at the end of 2002, there was nothing. You could find a page or two of information and a few listservs, [...]

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Dual Language Schools: Can Children with Speech Issues Attend?

by Madalena
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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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Trilingual Child: Which Languages Should We Choose?

by Corey
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Dear Madalena, I am a Dane. I can speak 6 languages and I currently live in China with my Chinese wife (we speak English at home). We are pregnant and I am so confused regarding how to go about this bilingual issue. We are planning to stay in China for at least 6-7 years more [...]

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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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