Everyone has a very personal way to learn a language. Some of us just learn by repeating what they hear, others need to learn the structure, the grammar in order to consolidate the new language. Every new word that we hear does make a long way to land […]
We all know that the best way to help our children become (and stay!) multilingual is by talking the languages we want them to become proficient in as often as we can and by providing an attractive context (with friends, family etc.). By acquiring other languages, our children […]
Linguistic diversity is a tool for achieving greater intercultural understanding and a key element in the rich cultural heritage of our continent. Today, throughout Europe we celebrate the European Day of Languages. In 2001, the Council of Europe established to celebrate an European Day of Languages every 26th […]
The conventional wisdom is that the Portuguese term saudade doesn’t have an equivalent in any other language. But according to an entry in wikipedia, there are quasy-synonyms in several languages. Saudade is… According to the Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, saudade can be described as follows (my translation): […]
Have you ever wondered how many languages a child can learn at once or if there is a ‘window’ of opportunity? Can it ever be “too late” to learn another language? Can we learn multiple languages at any time? And what are the cognitive benefits of learning more […]
This post is for this month’s Raising Multilingual Children Blogging Carnival hosted by Headoftheheard. This month’s theme is “Hidden Opportunities”. When you are multilingual and start having kids, you have to choose which language you’ll talk to your children. Linguists always recommend to talk your “mothertongue” to […]
If you really want to become a multilingual, you will succeed. You probably know about the girl (Mabou Loiseau) who speaks 7 languages. This case did provoke all sorts of reactions from linguists, parents etc. who were questioning the way this child is acquiring all those languages and […]
When asked where their home is, TCK’s (Third Culture Kids) usually don’t know what to answer. And this is not because they don’t know the feeling, but because they can’t specify one – and only one! – specific place they would call their home. The reaction of FCK […]
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