The Future is Bilingual

Today's interview is with Nur, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer for CopyCat Cafe , a language-learning platform that helps you pick up languages the natural way by copying what you hear. She and her French partner founded the platform, which offers a 7-day free trial, and are working on including more languages and releasing an app soon. Nur grew up bilingual as the daughter of Turkish i...

Today's guest, Vanessa, is a multilingual mom from Germany raising her young kids using OPOL with her Egyptian husband. She and her husband write bilingual children books about traveling to different places around the world (based on their own travels) which are available in 3 languages - German/English, German/Arabic, or Arabic/English. Vanessa starts the episode by telling us about her own j...

In part 2 of my interview with Dr. Ute Limacher-Riebold, we get into the details of her family's languages and how a multilingual family actually interacts on a day-to-day basis. She takes us back to when her children were little and exposed to 5 languages to the present day where they are grown adults still curious and continuing to learn new languages. It wasn't always easy and smooth sa...

I had the pleasure of sitting down and talking with the brilliant Dr. Ute Limacher-Riebold, a renowned scholar who grew up multilingual and has been working in the field of linguistics and multilingualism for decades. This first part of our talk focuses on Ute's journey growing up multilingual in Italy with German parents and being immersed early on in many different languages and dialects. We...

In this short solo episode, Heather goes over what you need to consider when you're looking to increase the amount of exposure your child is getting to their languages. The same is also true for anyone who is learning a new language and wants to increase their input and improve their learning. Listen to give yourself the motivation to take an honest look at you or your family's schedule and curren...

Happy Friday! Today's guest, Alicja, is a Polish mom raising her two kids in the UK with her Polish husband. Sounds like the perfect recipe for raising bilingual kids, right? Not so fast! Bilingual parenting takes planning and intentionality, even for two parents from the same country. In this episode, Alicja tells us about all the choices, actions and dedication that go into ensuring her chil...

In this episode, Heather talks about some of the fears and false beliefs that may be holding you back from raising your child bilingually or learning a language yourself. This episode is inspired by a talk Heather gave at the Women in Language Conference back in 2021 called "Puis-je le faire ? Élever des enfants multilingues (Can I do this? Raising multilingual children)". This talk went...

It's been almost a year since I last published an episode, but today we are back and ready to relaunch The Future is Bilingual Podcast! This podcast is for everyone interested in languages and in making the future more multilingual, multicultural, diverse and inclusive. If you would like to be a guest, please reach out to me at tfibpodcast@gmail.com or contact me via my website https://thefutu...

Today's podcast guest is Urmi, a polyglot who speaks 4.5 languages (I love this description!) She grew up in Italy speaking both Italian and Bengali as her first languages. She currently resides in Montréal, the largest city in the French-speaking Canadian province of Québec. She tells us about living and working in a bilingual city and how they know which language to use with clients at work....

Today's interview is with Christina, Heather's friend and colleague at Freestyle Languages. Christina's life has brought her into contact with many languages and she has embraced each opportunity to broaden her horizons and learn more. She tells us about how she learned Italian, Spanish, Hebrew, French and Moroccan Darija, and not only that but how she maintains them. Our discussion covers many to...

Suzy is an Armenian-American EFL (English as a foreign language) instructor, multilingual poet and mom raising two young multilingual children. She grew up bilingually and much of her poetry focuses on the immigrant experience, especially for children of immigrants like herself. She shares with us her journey learning her various languages, how she met her French husband, and how they are raising...

Today's episode is a deep dive into the complex linguistic reality in India with Dr. Devina Krishna, assistant professor of linguistics at Patna Women's College in India. Not only is she an expert in the field but she is also raising her son to be multilingual. We get into the languages they speak and what communication looks like (spoiler: there is some code switching happening!). India has 22 of...

So many truth bombs and inspiring tales in this interview episode with Anita, the founder of Bhasha Kids (⁠@BhashaKids⁠)! Anita is a Malayalam-American mom whose company helps kids (and adults!) connect with South Asian Languages and Cultures. Anita and Heather talk all about raising multilingual kids and the best ways to support them in their language learning journey, like why it's worth getting...

Today's interview is with Tanner, a college student majoring in music business and minoring in Japanese. We talk a lot about Japan and Japanese culture, but first we discuss the other languages she has studied and what got her interested in Japanese. We touch on how her classes are taught using a flipped classroom model, which Heather also uses when teaching with Freestyle Languages. Tanner sh...

Today's interview is with Maria Twena, a second-generation Latina, a bilingual children’s book author, and the creator of "MariVi: The Master Navigator". Maria tells us about what it was like growing up and straddling not only two languages but also two cultures and two opposing worldviews, one collectivist and one individualist. She only realized as an adult how challenging her expe...

Today's guest, Jesse, is a multilingual father of two and a seasoned English teacher living in Spain. He first started teaching English in South Korea and shares stories of his seven years spent over there. Throughout the episode we talk about the importance of intentionality when raising our children, for example we both make a concerted effort to expose our children to different cultures and...

Bienvenue au premier épisode du podcast "The Future is Bilingual" en français ! 🎉 Nous savons que les mots "natif" et "non-natif" sont problématiques, mais ils font partie de notre réalité et peuvent sembler inévitables. Réfléchissons un peu plus sur ce sujet. Cet épisode est divisé en trois parties : 1. Mes expériences personnelles en tant qu'apprenante de langu...

In this episode, I attempt to tackle the highly controversial topic of native speakerism and what it means to be a good language teacher. The episode is divided into three main parts: 1. My personal experiences learning multiple languages, including a shameful secret 2. My professional experiences as a teacher of 4 languages 3. What I learned from others during an open discussion I lead at the Pol...

Episode 57 - Tiffany takes us on a journey around the world from Colombia to France to the U.S. and back again. She tells us about her adoption, growing up bilingual in France, what it was like going to an international school, how she met her husband, and how they are raising their two children multilingually. So much wisdom in this episode! Tiffany works as a communications associate at The Sabi...

Episode 56 - Today's episode is with Lauren from Polyglot Station and Language TV Club ! She is a language enthusiast and a speech language pathologist. She tells us how she started Polyglot Station and where the idea for the Language TV Club came from. They regularly have clubs in German, Italian, French, and Spanish, but they also include other languages. The idea is we all watch the same show o...

Episode 55 - In this episode, Heather chats with Mackenzie, one of the hosts of the podcast The ABCs of Matrescence , about how she is raising her two children completely in French while living in the US. Mackenzie's husband is Vietnamese and she tells us about how they considered adding Vietnamese into their family language plan and what their final decision was.  We get all the details...

Episode 54 - Looking for new ways to practice your language without breaking the bank?  No matter what language you're learning or how advanced or rusty you are, this episode gives you close to 40 ideas to try without spending a penny.  Let me know if I forgot something or what you favorite tip is!  You can find me on Instagram @thefutureisbilingual , on my website or by writing to...

Episode 53 - This short episode invites you to say goodbye to 2022 and welcome in the new year with one simple question. The end of the year is an exciting time with lots of energy, but it's also a difficult time for many and can be filled with negative thoughts and self doubts. Let's focus on what we love and what brings us joy as we create plans for the new year. I will tell you about 3 things I...

Episode 52 - In this episode, Heather talks about the idea of celebrating a "weekly win" as you go about your bilingual parenting or language learning journey.  What is a weekly win and why do we need them?  Tune in to find out.---This idea came to life during a work meeting at Freestyle Languages, where Heather teaches French and Spanish.  To learn more about our classes, teaching style...

Episode 51 - Stuck in a language learning rut?  Wish you had a more consistent study routine?  This short episode gives you a weekly plan with different ideas for each day of the week.  To see the original instagram post click here. --- Enjoy this podcast?  Please take a minute to leave a rating & review here or on your favorite streaming service (Spotify, Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, etc.) Yo...