The Future is Bilingual

Episode 50 - Today's interview is with Yoshito, also known as @multilingual_dad on Instagram.  Yoshito was a guest on Episode 35 of the podcast where he told us his own story about growing up bilingual and how he and his wife are raising their two sons multilingually.  In this episode, we focus on Yoshito's newest book "In Search of the Lost Words".  This graphic novel is designed specifically wit...

Episode 49 - Today's guest is Misty, a self-proclaimed small-town girl from the US. She and Heather, the host, met while studying abroad in France, and Misty takes us back to those first days arriving in a new country and realizing how much she still had to learn, despite years of studying French.  She met her French husband there and we talk about how they've balanced their use of French and Engl...

Episode 48 - Today's guest is Heidi, an American expat raising her two young children first in Italy and now in Germany.  She tells us about her experience learning languages later in life and recounts some of the struggles of raising multilingual kids when you're still learning the language yourself.  She shares how she dealt with expectations related to her kids' and her own language learning an...

Episode 47 - The New Year is almost here and many of us are reflecting on what we'd like to improve in our language learning and/or family language plan.  In today's episode, Heather and Marcin discuss 10 things you can try doing more of in 2022 to have more success passing on and/or learning one or more languages.  No matter which tips you decide to try in 2022, remember that success comes from s...

Episode 46 - In this episode, Inna and Heather talk about what's been happening since Inna published her bilingual children's book "Trilingual Me! Moi, trilingue!" last year.  We discuss how she's been promoting her book, highlights from the year, workshops she's done for teachers, and an after-school program she ran at her local library.  She also does virtual classroom visits so reach out to her...

Episode 45 - Today's guest, Sandra, is a multilingual mom from Peru.  She tells us how she started teaching her daughter Spanish at 4 years old and why she creates her own materials about Peruvian culture.  She takes us on a trip around the world as she recounts how learned her multiple languages, how she met her husband, and how they're blending their two languages, cultures, and religions.  You...

Episode 44 - This episode is a brief update about Heather's new life in Canada.  She talks about some expressions she's noticed used a lot in Quebec, which courses she's taking at the University of Ottawa, and how her language studies are going.

Episode 43 - Today's guest, Natalia Simons, is the author of two bilingual children's books and the founder of Bilingo Books.  Her first book is called "The Spanglish Girl/La Chica Espanglish" and her second book is "The Mexiglish Girl/La Chica Mexiglish".  We talk about her motivation to write these books, how she was able to publish them on her own within the same year, and what other books she'...

Episode 42 - In this episode, Heather speaks with Tetsu Yung, a well-known polyglot and multilingual father in the bi/multilingual parenting community.  Tetsu himself grew up multilingual and is now raising his four children to speak five languages (Mandarin, Japanese, French, English and Spanish).  We first talk about his journey learning languages and all the places it took him before focusing o...

Episode 41 - Marcin and Heather tackle the topic of language immersion.  What is it?  Why is it important?  How can we as parents and language learners create an immersive environment for ourselves and our children?  We tell you about all that and more from the perspective of a language learner and a parent raising multilingual kids.  We end the episode with an ideal immersion day for each of us....

Episode 40 - This Multilingual Motivation (MLM) episode is all about watching TV in your target language (TL).  Why should you watch TV shows or series in your TL?  What if you're a beginner?  We will answer these questions and discuss what you can do to get the most out of this "study" time. --- I'd love to hear what shows you're watching or have already watched in your TL.   Are there any you've...

Episode 39 - In today's episode, Heather speaks with Marisol, a multilingual mom originally from Mexico but raised in the U.S.  She tells us how she and her husband are raising their daughters in three languages using the OPOL (one parent, one language) method. We discuss the role their daughters' international school plays in their multilingual upbringing and how much exposure they get to all of...

Episode 38 - This Multilingual Motivation episode is all about Duolingo Events.  No idea what those are?  You're not alone.  Whether you use the app for language learning and/or dabbling or not, these events are a great way to practice all 4 language skills and broaden your cultural knowledge.  Click the link to see the upcoming Duolingo Events on their website. --- Listen to Erin's podcast "Exhal...

Episode 37 - Part 2 of my conversation with Guillaume, a polyglot and language teacher from Belgium.  We kick off this part of our discussion with a quick recap of his 9 languages IN those languages.  I challenge you to not skip ahead and to use your knowledge of other languages to try to understand what he's saying.  Click here to read the transcript and translation on my website. Guillaume is no...

Episode 36 - Today's episode is part one of my interview with Guillaume, a polyglot and language teacher from Belgium.  In the first few minutes, you'll hear Guillaume speak two of Belgium's official languages (read the transcript and transliteration here), but don't worry, we switch back to English for the rest of the interview.  We talk about the complex linguistic situation in Belgium and what...

Episode 35 - In this episode, I talk with Yoshito, a fellow French and Spanish teacher and multilingual parent.  Yoshito, who is half French and half Japanese, is raising two multilingual boys with his Korean wife in the UK.  We discuss how he learned and uses his various languages, how he became a teacher, and what the linguistic situation looks like in his house and community. --- Yoshito has wr...

Episode 34 - Today's Multilingual Motivation is all about social media - one of my favorite topics!  If you have a social media account (FB, IG, Snapchat, TikTok, etc.), you know how addicting they can be.  That's good news for us because we are going to take advantage of the time we're already spending on social media to engage more with content in our target language(s).  Listen to hear the 5 ea...

Episode 33 - Today's interview is with Lera, a multilingual mom, linguist, and investment banker.  Lera and I cover a wide range of topics during our talk.  We start with how she learned her many languages (Russian, English, German, Korean, Polish and Dutch) and touch on some similarities and differences between languages that we've noticed.  We also dive into her family's goals and plans for thei...

Episode 32 - This week, we dive into identity and growth mindset. How do you see yourself as a language learner? What words do you identify with?  Do you have a growth or a fixed mindset? Tune in to find out! --- Sources: https://www.mindsetworks.com/science/ https://sites.dartmouth.edu/learning/2017/05/18/understanding-the-growth-mindset/

Episode 31 - Week two of Multilingual Motivation is all about music!  Do you listen to music in your target language?  Whether you already do or you don't yet, you will find useful tips to actively engage with music in your target language and improve your skills.  ---  Please share this episode as well as any songs, groups, playlists, etc. that you find on social media and tag @TheFutureIsBilingu...

Episode 30 - Welcome to the first episode of Multilingual Motivation!  In these short episodes, Heather will talk about a resource or idea you can use to increase your exposure to your target language(s) during the week. This first episode is special as it's coming out on the Monday before International Day of Multilingualism, which takes place on March 27th. You will learn more about this day and...

Episode 29 - Do you have a goal you'd like to make into a habit?  In this episode, Heather gives you the 5 steps you need to take if you want to instill a new habit into your life.  She offers multiple examples from her own life and explains how she finds time to study and maintain her languages while being a busy mom of two toddlers.  You can follow Heather and the podcast on Instagram @thefuture...

Episode 28 - Marissa is a Polish-American polyglot whose latest project is relearning her native language.  We talk about learning languages at school vs. on your own, making your target language part of your everyday life, and maintaining multiple languages.  Immigration and questions about identity come up before we dive deep into heritage languages and what it means to be a heritage language sp...

Episode 27 - Marcin and Heather bring you a wealth of different terms of endearment from around the world in celebration of Valentine's Day this weekend. While this is in no way an extensive list, we hope you will learn something new and laugh along with us (not at us!)  We do want to apologize for any mispronunciations or misrepresentations.  Thank you so much Etai (@justetai), Yoshito (@multilin...

Episode 26 - My guest, Mali, is a French-Lao mom of three who has been living in Spain for over twenty years. We talk about how she is raising her three children to speak three languages fluently. She gives us a lot of practical tips and things we can start implementing today to support our children's minority language(s). We talk about being a multicultural family and how to blend traditions. We...