My daughter (almost 11 now) and her friends from her school with a dual bilingual program (French-English and French-German) have managed to surprise me once more: at a recent birthday party, they sang Happy birthday not in their three school languages, not in four langauges as they already did five years ago, but in five […]

Tonight, my daughter (almost 8½ now) was doing her daily reading in German from the first Harry Potter book. I try not to interrupt her all the time to correct, but occasionally I do. This time, apparently, it was too often, for she told me: “Mama, korrigiere mich, aber mach da nicht so einen Käse […]

Near the place where we used to live is a park with a playground. On the way home, we came past a high school. For some reason, my daughter would make a speech on the steps of the high school entrance every time we came past. When she was almost three years old, I filmed […]

For her 6th birthday party (advanced due to the early start of the school holidays), my daughter invited six classmates – representing a stunning seven nationalities. I was prepared for that, witness the cake: What I was not prepared for was the guests singing Happy Birthday in not two,  not three, but four languages, thanks […]

Aujourd’hui, j’ai reçu cet article d’un ami : C’est vrai qu’on se demande comment ils font. Et moi, je me demande aussi, comment font les chercheurs pour obtenir leurs réponses ? Ils doivent trouver des moyens ingénieux, comme nous avons vu nous-mêmes lors de nos diverses participations à des études sur l’acquisition du langage.

The other day we met our former neighbours in the playground. The mom is German too, and her son is three years older than my girl and already fluently bilingual. We used to meet frequently when they still lived next door. The kids played together and we talked until it was time to leave. As […]

Parfois ce sont les petites choses qui font sourire. Deux situations récentes : Ce soir, en fin de repas Mama : “Willst du Käse?” (Tu veux du fromage?) Notre fille (28 mois) : “Non, pas kä!” Elle court au frigo, visant le camembert. Papa : “Tu sais, le truc rond [la boîte de camembert], c’est […]