Ich freue mich immer, wenn ich neue Initiativen zur Zwei- oder Mehrsprachigkeit sehe. In Bremen gibt es seit kurzem einen deutsch-chinesischen Kindergarten mit Krippe, Drachenkinder e.V. Intressant zu lesen ist das Infoblatt “Immersionslernen” (PDF) auf der Website des Vereins, nicht nur für Deutsch-Chinesisch.

As our little girl is closing in on her second birthday, I can’t help comparing her language skills to those of her peers. Her daddy told me the other day about his colleague’s girl (two months younger) who put her sleeping bag on her parents’ bed and declared “Moi dodo là.” That’s a full sentence, […]

Following on the heels on my post from earlier this week reporting the first bilingual expression of our little girl, yesterday I did my first bilingual correction. We were on the phone with my mom. That is to say, I was on the phone with the loudspeaker on, and my daughter was listening. She said […]

I proudly announce that our girl is now officially bilingual: Today she said for the first time a word in French that she already says in German. Which one? Good-bye. That is to say, “aurvoir” (still contracted) after “tschü-tschüß” about two months ago. With the handful of recognisable words she says, it seems to me […]

It’s always nice when the subject gets positive treatment in the mainstream media. Here is a recent article from the NY TImes / International Herald Tribune titled “Why Bilinguals are Smarter – The Benefits of Bilingualism”.

This weekend I discovered that sometimes a lesson in bilingualism doesn’t need more than a little goodwill and basic (and I mean very basic) muscial skills. You see, our little girl is the proud owner of a xylophone – and the only tune I can play on it is “Alle meine Entchen”. There might be […]

Remember our attempts at sign language? I thought it was exciting, but given our lack of using the signs, our little girl has mastered a grand total of two signs: all done and cheese. Today I had a look at the website of Baby Signs® and found an article on signing in a biligual setting […]

Do you know the difference between German and French fire-fighters? The German ones drive a big red truck with a blue light and a siren that goes “tatütata”, as any German child will tell you. The French ones drive a big red truck with a blue light and a siren that goes “pim-pom-pim-pom”, as any […]

Over the Christmas holidays at her German granny’s, our little girl (18 months old as of yesterday) has perfected the art of saying “yes” and “no” with her head. We have made some educated guesses at the syllables that she’s been uttering in the past two weeks: “ga-ga” – (rubber) duck – from “quack-quack” (sound […]

We know for sure our girl understands both our languages. Whether Mommy asks “Gib Mama ein Küsschen auf die Wange” or Daddy requests “Donne un bisou à papa”, she knows we are asking for a kiss on the cheek (and we usually get it, unless she’s crying or really occupied). For some reasons, her Dad […]