Your Guide to Raising Multilingual Children

Your guide to raising multilingual children

Fully Booked

Here are the top picks by parents and staff on books for the very youngest. They have just the right amount of detail and lots of fun little extras to keep baby entertained.

Even if the text is English, the books are all perfectly suited for “reading” in any language — since you really just point and talk about the pictures anyhow. They are sorted in age order, from simple to slightly more complex during baby’s first year. Baby books

Going, going, gone!

On the topic of Skype, the company was in fact so popular that eBay bought them. And, did you know that the Silicon Valley icon and billionaire founder of eBay, Pierre Omidyar, grew up multilingually? more

Tip #2: Tune In

Want to brush up on your own language, but just too busy?

Well, here are foreign language internet radio and newspapers in over 40 languages — piped in straight to your computer. It doesn’t get any easier!

Best,

Christina Bosemark
Founder

Highlight: New Language Sections

We have started off on the language sections where you can find language specific resources. Enjoy the Spanish, Italian and Chinese pages, and a special thanks to The Italian Playgroup in the UK, who were kind enough to share their excellent resources with you. Thanks!!

Want more languages? Just send us your favorite links; be they shops, parenting forums, lullaby lyrics, or any other tried and true goodies. Share your own favorites!

Tip #1: Dial S for Skype

If you don’t have this already, you’ll want it — trust me. The perfect learning tool for any multilingual child, and as useful for you. Plus, it is going to save you money. Is that a great tip, or what? The service is called Skype. They provide a FREE international phone service (computer to computer).

No computer in the other end? No problem, it is still amazingly cheap computer to phone, and comes out to less than $1.50 per hour! Let the kids talk to everyone and anyone they know around the globe. And, just in case you don’t get those holiday cards off in time… Check it out

The Buzz

Musing about losing one’s mother tongue
Daniel told me that his mother decided that her children would speak only English. In retrospect, Daniel understands his mother’s love and motivations, but he still regrets that tough sacrifice. “My mother’s decision hurt us in the long run,” he told me. “When we started working, we discovered that speaking Spanish would have been an advantage for us in the workplace.”…

Half of Europe multilingual and Language use in USA
Curious about what real numbers are telling us about multilingualism? Here you can find well analyzed statistics and charts galore on who speaks what foreign language in Europe and USA…

Foreign language power
With the Internet, TV and inexpensive travel options bringing families from different countries together daily, many parents want to teach their child a second language. “Knowing a second language can only benefit my sons in the future. They might get a better job, get paid more, have more doors open to them, plus it will enhance their social opportunities,” says Drue Ann Hargis, of California, mom to bilingual 2- and 8-year-old sons…