Category: Family meetings

Mother Tongues, Mother Tongues Dublin, mother tongues, multilingualism, raising bilingual children Dublin, bilingualism, Dublin

Bilingual families meet up and Language Explorers workshop at Rua Red

On April 5th from 10 to 11.30 we will meet at Rua Red South Dublin Arts Centre in Tallaght for our first Bilingual Families Meet Up in South County Dublin.

Our bilingual families meet up are an opportunities for families to get to know each other and talk to experts about bilingualism. If you have a question, a concern, or you would just like to share your story or hear other people’s stories, this meet up is for you! Our meetings are very informal, and children are always welcome.

To celebrate our first Bilingual Families Meet Up at Rua Red we will offer a free Language Explorers Workshop for bilingual children. Children will learn about the sounds and words from many different languages, and they will play fun language games. The workshop is designed for 5-10 year olds, but children of all ages are welcome to join the families meet up.

Entry 3 Euro per family. No booking required.

Rua Red South Dublin Arts Centre is served by the Red Luas – see map

Mother Tongues, Mother Tongues Dublin, mother tongues, multilingualism, raising bilingual children Dublin, bilingualism, Dublin

Bilingual families meetup now also in Tallaght

Bilingual families meet up open to all!

Starting on 1st March 2018, every first Thursday of the month our bilingual and multilingual families meet up will be held in Tallaght too!
So now you have two options: one Saturday per month at the Outhouse (Dublin 1) or in Tallaght, every first Thursday of the month 10 – 11.30 AM, Green Room, Rua Red Gallery.

  • Talk to bilingualism experts
  • Meet other families
  • Share tips on raising bilingual children
  • Browse resources on bilingualism

Entrance 3€ per family.

For more info email Claudia: claudia@mothertongues.ie

Mother Tongues, Mother Tongues Dublin, mother tongues, multilingualism, raising bilingual children Dublin, bilingualism, Dublin

The principal of the Dublin School of Mandarin Chinese visits our group in December

It has been fantastic to have Evan Furlong as our guest speaker for the Christmas edition of our families’ meeting. Evan moved to the cold emerald isle from exotic Taiwan 17 years ago and she is raising two multilingual children.
Evan talked to the group about some of the challenges of raising bilingual children in families where parents speak different languages and shared some of her tips based on her experience as a parent and a teacher of multilingual children.
In her experience, despite much research has shown the benefits of using two languages from an early age, it is still common to meet parents who give up their mother tongue.
In her talk, Evan tried to encourage parents to persevere and to use their mother tongue when talking to their children as much as possible.
Evan does not believe in the stereotypical “Tiger Mom” methods but believes that it is important to encourage children to learn their parents’ language and to also learn about the culture of their parents’ countries of origin.
Evan has a Masters in Education from UCD, and she is the principal of the Dublin School of Mandarin Chinese, which has its base in Greystones, County Wicklow.
The school offers weekly classes and summer camps to primary and secondary school children.
To find out more about the Dublin School of Mandarin Chinese, you can visit their website www.dsmc.biz/ and their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/DublinMandarinSchool/
Evan will also run an exciting Chinese papercutting workshop for kids 8+ at our Mother Tongues Festival. Find out more here.
Claudia Kunkel

Mother Tongues, Mother Tongues Dublin, mother tongues, multilingualism, rising bilingual children Dublin, bilingualism, Dublin

Aline and Cintia visit our group in October

During our second gathering of bilingual and multilingual families, we had two special guests, Aline and Cintia, who are involved in the running of AMBI, the Associação das Mães Brasileiras na Irlanda. AMBI is an organisation that has been running for many years, providing a space for Brazilian families to socialise and to transmit their language and culture to their children. Our speakers talked about the activities run by AMBI for young children, and about their future plans to teach the language to primary school children. They also described their experiences as parents of bilingual children. They reminded us how important it is for parents to persist in speaking their language to their children, and they explained the key role a community and voluntary organisation such as AMBI had on their early experiences as new parents in a foreign country. Groups such as AMBI can be extremely valuable for new parents who feel the need of support, and they can help newcomers feel at home and integrate into Irish society, while maintaining the link with their language and culture. To find out more about AMBI’s work, visit https://www.facebook.com/ambiirlanda/