Many bilingual families across the world find themselves in lockdown. And as a result, schools are closed and children are having to be taught online and/or by their parents. What would have been unheard of a year ago has now – unfortunately – become normal. But normal, of course, does not mean easy.
How many times did you think “I’m too tired, I will give up, this is not worth it”?
The act of listening is perhaps the most underrated skill there is in education. Right now teachers are multi-tasking: teaching, preparing engaging online resources and activities, checking in with their students and families.
We are in the middle of one of the most challenging times for our society. Parents of young children, with the rollercoaster of school closures and limitations affecting relationships and community support, have not had an easy time during this pandemic.
In January 2021 300 children from Irish primary schools travelled the world with Mother Tongues and with true locals...virtually of course!
If you have small children and you’ve made talking in the minority language with your child a habit from the early days, you might find these three tips useful in getting them to talk more in the heritage language
Japanese is a very interesting language, spoken by more than 127 million people. Despite popular beliefs, Japanese is not related or derived from the Chinese language. Considered to be one of the most unique languages in the world, the Japanese language is said to have no direct derivation! How interesting is that!
When I see Alba having full (three-year-old) conversations in Spanish with my mother on videocalls or with any Spanish speaker friends, my heart swells.
2020 has been a rough year for many.
At Mother Tongues, we had to pull together as a team and get creative on how we could continue our support from afar.
On November 20 and 21, Mother Tongues in Dublin, Ireland, and Móðurmál - the Association on Bilingualism in Reykjavík, Iceland, co-organized an annual conference for their mother tongue/heritage language teachers.
