When I last took stock of our son’s language skills at 20 months – almost a year ago – we were expecting a language explosion starting any day. After all, that is exactly how it happened with his sister. Well, let me just say that we probably should have had learned by then that each […]
Languages
My 5 Commandments for Staying Consistent as the Minority Language Parent
“Are you a drop-dead-OPOL-mom?” an acquaintance inquired when I published my last update of Birdy’s language progress. I laughed out loud and then started wondering: am I? In our family, we follow the OPOL – one parent one language – strategy (you can read all about our approach here). In this constellation, I’m the minority language […]
Bamm-Bamm Talks: 20 Months
Welcome the first instalment of the new “Bamm-Bamm Talks” series! After following my daughter’s language progress in the series “Birdy Talks“, I’m excited to be starting a new series about her brother. I know, I know, one should not compare the kids. That said, most parents will probably agree that – willingly or unwillingly – […]
Learning Latvian: the Best Resources for Kids
Speaking a small language has its perks but, as most Latvian parents living abroad will agree, finding books and other resources is not among them. Fortunately for us, the Internet can make learning Latvian a little easier and a lot more fun. Read on for a collection of useful webpages, mobile apps, book stores that deliver […]
Different Language, Different Personality?
I was a shy child who often preferred to stay home reading a book to going out on adventures with other kids. As a teenager, I was at times more comfortable with telling my deepest thoughts and emotions to my diary than sharing them with a friend. Yet I am sure that many people who […]
Birdy Talks: 3,5 Years
As another year rolls to a close, it is again time to take stock of our firstborn’s language progress. Growing up with three languages continues working well for Birdy and her language skills in Latvian and German – our two main family languages – are age appropriate overall. These days our 3,5-year-old aks ‘why’ a thousand […]
Our Favourite Multilingualism Resources
I’m a complete nerd (or is it a geek?) about keeping things organised. I love, love, love lists. So I suppose it’s only natural that, when I started looking into resources about multilingualism, I was fighting the urge to organise the multiple sources in a nice, easy to overview manner. And then I realised: why bother […]
Trilingual Baby’s First Words
Do you know what your first words were? According to the little book that was given to every parent upon the birth of a baby in Soviet Latvia for noting memorable milestones, my first words were mom (mama), dad (tata), and poo (kaka). To be honest, I found my choice of a third word a […]
Our Trilingual Family: the Building Blocks
In our little multicultural and trilingual family we use three languages on a daily basis – German, Latvian, and English. Here’s how we manage this language mix in our day-to-day lives To begin with, we are applying the method known as OPOL – one parent, one language: Birdy and Bamm-Bamm hear Latvian from me and German […]
Birdy Talks: 2 ⅔ Years
Last time I took stock of Birdy’s language progress almost 6 months ago. It may not sound like much but a half year makes a world of difference for a budding speaker! The language balance If you asked me which language is currently Birdy’s strongest – German or Latvian – I couldn’t tell. I’m often surprised […]