Bilingual Avenue With Marianna Du Bosq

On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, I pick up on our podcast series for how to raise a bilingual child.  We talk about the most popular types of language plans to help you identify one that will work for your family.  If you are on the fence about which language policy to use, check out this free resource to help you decide: www.bilingualavenue.com/languagestrategies

On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, I provide six steps on how bilingual parents can introduce chapter books to their children. This is a follow on from a previous episode (episode 127) where I chatted with one of the members from the Bilingual Avenue Members’ Club on reading strategies for her children.

On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, I host a consulting call with a member of the Bilingual Avenue club, Amber Money.  We chat about how to make the most out of the language explosion, what to do when children mix languages and how to set expectations around language. 

On this episode of the podcast, I start a three part series on how to raise a bilingual child.  This first part is ALL about setting a strong foundation in your home.  We talk about the importance of increasing exposure, creating a need to use the language and choosing words that are relevant to your child!

On this episode of the podcast, I speak to Diana Sampedro the author of the book Baby English. Diana is a non-native English speaker raising a bilingual child.  She shares her perspective, tips and strategy. 

Is traveling with kids in the near future for you? Do you have enough tricks up your sleeve? Traveling can be a great time for a family but there's something about that plane ride that can be somewhat stressful for families especially on long flights.  Check out these ideas to keep you kids entertained while working on language skills!

On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, I chat with Amy Liermann about her family's language journey with her baby.  We chat about how to use motherese in Spanish, sticking to the target language when you are out and about in the community and how to flood her son with Spanish when he come home from daycare. 

On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, I read an excerpt from my ebook The Essential Guide to Raising Happy Bilingual Children debunking seven myths about bilingual individuals.   Are any of these myths holding you back?

On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, I chat with Kerstin Cable from Fluent Language.  She shares very helpful tactics and strategies for memorizing vocabulary and learning about grammar while having fun. 

On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, I host a consulting call with Conchi Manresa, a member of the Bilingual Avenue Members’ Club! We talk about how to transition to a One Parent, One Language policy, strategies for helping her children's reading development and how to maximize a visit from an English speaking au pair this summer. 

On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, I answer a member's question on what kinds of games can be played in the car to infuse language. Tune in to hear 4 games I play in the car and one that I do with my baby as well!

On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, I interview Adam Beck, the creator of BilingualMonkeys.com and the Bilingual Zoo.  Adam chats with us about his book, Maximize Your Child's Bilingual Ability.

On this episode, I answer a future mother who is hesitant about speaking her mother tongue to her child.  Spoiler alert: I challenge her to do it! Tune in to find out why! 

On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, I host the very first consulting call podcast episode.  I chat with Alice Jansen, a member of the Bilingual Avenue Members’ Club! We talk about games for language development, the pros and cons of TV and how to establish a solid foundation for her daughter to learn Spanish!

We are a Spanish couple living in a bilingual area where Spanish and Valencian are spoken equally. Our son is 3.5 years old. I have always talked to him in English since he was born. His father has talked Spanish to him. And he has been exposed to Valencian since he was 2 years old, first at nursery school and now at school. He understands everything I tell him in English but only on rare occasions does he answer me back in English. He says some words in English, but he’s hardly never able to build simple sentences spontaneously. I have used different strategies when he answers me back in Spanish. I usually repeat the sentence in English and then he says “yes”, but he doesn’t repeat them in English. In the last days I pretended not to understand what he was saying in Spanish to see if I could “force” him to speak English to me. But then he went to talk to his father and asked him the question in Spanish. Sometimes I think he is not getting enough exposure to English. He is at school from 9 to 5 and some days

On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, I interview fellow podcaster and multilingual mother, Olena Centeno about her language journey and the work she does to support bilingual families worldwide.

On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, I share seven tips for finding resources in the target language.  Question: Hi there I'm a Venezuelan mother of a three years old boy.  I have spoken Spanish to my son from birth, I communicate in English with my husband, and my husband speaks Croatian to my son (he has no problem with the Spanish as he speaks Italian too and understand most of the Spanish words ) My son speaks Spanish and speaks-understand a bit of English and some Croatian! We actually live in Australia and it is very hard to find materials in Spanish.  I would love to know where I can find resources in Spanish and how to keep my son motivated ! My son started preschool three weeks ago and sometimes he asks me questions in English, I always reply in Spanish. Answer: Thank you Maria for submitting your question! This is such a common struggle that multilingual families have.  We are working hard to add more exposure to our children and so it often feels like we never ever have enough resources.  You also

On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, I chat with Lorraine Ladish about the challenges of raising bilingual children.  She shares her particular struggles while also providing great advice and perspective on overcoming common challenges when raising bilingual children. 

On this episode, a father wonders what language policy would work best for his family. Should they consider the Minority Language at Home strategy to increase the exposure? Or should they give the One Person, One Language strategy a shot? I share my thoughts on what is more important quantity or quality of exposure!

On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, I chat with Kimberly Scanlon about some of her favorite strategies to promote language development in toddlers! She shares wonderful ideas to help our children express themselves and have fun with language. Kimberly chats with us about: Her professional background and how much she enjoys work with parents of children birth to three year olds;Her book My Toddler Talks all about how to build communication skills in toddlers;How play and language development go hand in hand for children;What parents can take away from observing their child play with their toys;The benefit of creating a predictable routine for children and how they can boost language;The value of doing silly routines with younger children;The benefits of speaking to your child in a sing song manner;How giving your child choices instead of open ended questions can help to get your child talking;How anticipation can get your child to use more of their vocabulary;Some of the mistakes she sees parents make when tr