One Person One Language: raising trilingual children when both parents speak a different language

Bilingualism, multilingualism - How to raise trilingual kids using the OPOL method: One Person One Language? Interview with a Polish mum who is raising her trilingual children together with her Italian husband in the UK. Tips and advice.

[@le-my4032]

I grew up in a multilingual household with 4 languages flying around at any given time, which was very much my 'norm' growing up. My mum spoke to me solely in her native tongue of Mandarin, my dad spoke to me solely in his native tongue of Cantonese, my parents communicated in Vietnamese (which was their mutual tongue, so I picked up Vietnamese by ear), and growing up in England meant that I used English at school and with all my friends. I also went to Chinese school every Saturday for 8 years (6 years of Mandarin, 2 years of Cantonese) where I learnt how to read and write Chinese characters. The most interesting thing though is that my parents didn't intentionally raise me and my brothers multilingual - those were simply the most convenient (and only?) languages for them to use with us and each other, so it was almost happenchance that us kids all ended up learning 4 languages in one go 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@amirahclark4989]

Yeah I’ve noticed that happens a lot naturally especially in Asia where many languages are common/used in one area or country. So your parents are Vietnamese and Chinese then?

[@amirahclark4989]

Also in Africa I meant to add.

[@mariam6950]

Are you fluent in every language and which language is the more dominant for, I’m trilingual and English is the more dominant for me

[@prestokrs1]

They spoke vietnamese together. How interesting 🤔

[@PicklesFiona]

Bien hecho! She has a very positive and natural approach to raising her kids with the languages of their heritage. What a great gift,

[@omarcruz6326]

I have seen maaaaaany videos about this topic and this video I didn't like it... I just loved it ! She's a great mom. She has the ideas very clear in her head ! 👌 Bravo !

[@norma94]

I grew up with both English and Spanish. Spanish at home, English at school and with the rest of the world. But I must say that I think reading was a great way for me to not lose my Spanish living in a predominantly English speaking country. I think they taught me to read around age 6 or 7. My parents would read and expose me to a vocabulary that was way above my level. I think this helped because you hear words and phrases, and learn things automatically through context. I would ask a lot of questions and I remember my father always taking the time to explain question after question. Movies, music, reading, writing, and speaking. Both parents would read with me. Over time English became the language I’m better at because of school, entertainment, and it being the language I use with everyone, but Spanish follows closely after.

[@LULUTOMOFFICIAL]

Great interview! Thank you! We do the same at home, my son is almost 3 years old and he communicates with his father solely in English, with my mom solely in Spanish and with me solely in Mandarin Chinese (even though that’s not my mother tongue), we have used American Sign Language as a bridge between languages. Here and there I have introduced some French to him and now he keeps on asking how to say some things in French, it has been organic for him since little ones learn languages different at that age. So I definitely encourage everyone who is bilingual to give the gift of languages to their children.

[@msdbism]

What a great interview!! Really interesting questions and really knowledgeable lady! Thank you

[@loveujiminiee]

My best friend speaks 4 languages- Both her parents speak different language + English + Hindi.. ever since she was born.

[@sbtcvd6498]

Thank you for the talk! I am researching and applying this approach for my baby ❤

[@clynt7452]

I grew up learning and speaking 4 languages in Malaysia :) Cantonese at home , Mandarin with friends, Bahasa Malay and English at school. Definitely gave me an advantage at work.

[@BozhyaUgodnitsa]

You have a good channel, thanks for trying on it!

[@mariaeduardapereiragarcia1270]

I don’t know how to do with my future kids. I’m afraid to confuse them, because I speak Portuguese, my fiancé speaks Danish and we speak English to each other. We live in the German side of Switzerland, and they will have to speak that at school. Plus, i speak Italian quite often because of my stepfather and his family.

[@mydogisbailey]

Let them learn German and English in school

[@leandronovaes3836]

My family experiences something very similar to Julia's. My wife is also Polish, I am Brazilian, we have a 3 y.o. daughter and we live in Australia. So my daughter grows up in a Polish-Portuguese-English language environment.

[@jadziahaupt8653]

My kids are also multilingual. I speak Polish to them ,my husband speaks Afrikaans and enlish is all around them as we are in South Africa

[@mostlyharuno9923]

I m multilingual , i speak in gujarati with my parents ,hindi in social events , korean in korean classes normally english in my college and also learnt marathi and sanskrit in school and know little bit Spanish 😂😂

[@veronicaarmijo8903]

Well done. I do the same at home. My children are now 9 and 11. They are trilingual in english, french and spanish and they are able to communicate, understand read and now learning to write in Spanish. Of course they are still some gaps especially in spanish as we have less time to practice it. Most of the time they practice english and french at school as they are in a bilingual class. At home we use the 3 languages. Mum speak spanish, daddy french and the kids speak english to each other. You may think we are a crazy family 🙂🤔. Fortunately we are all trilingual so we do understand each others...

[@harshmnr]

Interesting interview! I'm curious about what language(s) the children use with each other when they're not talking to the parents. ~:~

[@pennywiseballoon4646]

Lol that's a great question. never ever thought of that

[@olivia5030]

It's always English in cases like this lols

[@R0L0s]

They've just given both their children a job for life

[@user-vv4hg7me1q]

Yes, you've got it.👏

[@soskika419]

Warm regards from Brazil 🌽🌶🥥🥦🍉🍍🍌🐒🐗🐥🐦🐸🦉🐊🦆🐢🐌🐛🦋🐠🐟🐝🐞🌳🌻🌴

[@just.be.youtself]

I wonder if it would work if not introduced from the beginning when kids are baby's but later in child's life, I mean with much older kids. Anyone has an experience or opinion?

[@fiorinamartucci]

Admirable and tiring

[@tataxx05]

I've made a mistake. My native language is portuguese, but since I live abroad with close to no contact my home country/expats and I was afraid that my child would be behind in terms of school, I kind of stopped speaking my own language very earlier on. Now, my child is 4 and doesn't speak Portuguese at all - which is challenging for me, as I have to educate and raise a person in a language that I'm not 100% perfect. What should I do now? Is it too late?

[@olivia5030]

I hope you just started. That's the best thing you could do is to start and improve your method as you go along. You can improve your language at the same time.

[@Profe_de_FisicayQuimica]

In my family happens the same: I just speak in Italian while my husband just uses Valencian, so our child speak both and then Spanish as third language. It is also true that I have a C1 in Valencian and a C2 in Spanish so I can easily understand their conversations. My husband is on his way in learning Italian....

[@pennywiseballoon4646]

I live in america and there's so many polish people here. I guess they speak polish and sound a little american, but mostly do have a polish accent. this lady mostly sounds polish but sounds English with some words she says. Adorable. Interesting

[@sitihajar6287]

B

[@nin3689]

Why should parents care what people think. Whatever good for their children they do

[@prestokrs1]

Honestly her husband should just learn Polish 😂

[@veronicaarmijo8903]

I know, it should be easier. But even like this. That lady is giving to her children a (gift) skill for life.

[@maligrish4173]

What the entire fuck.