Multilingual Living Magazine

Hello Everyone, If you are raising a bilingual/multilingual family, I highly recommend Multilingual Living Magazine. I have just finished reading their September/October 2008 issue and it is excellent!

The latest issue (put out by the dedicated Corey Heller in the US and Alice Lapuerta in Austria) includes these topics and more:

• Multilingualism in Kindergarten
• Parenting in an Adopted Mother Tongue
• Do Media Help or Hinder Bilingualism
• Immigration and Language
• 12 Common Myths and Misconceptions about Bilingual Children
• Interview with author Barbara Zurer Pearson: Raising A Bilingual Child

It also includes lots of fun 'tid-bits' as well, for example:

(1) "Did you know that there are only four words in the English language that end in 'dous'? Tremendous, horrendous, stupendous and hazardous"

(2) "Language is the means of getting an idea from my brain into yours without surgery" Mark Amidon

(3) "Oredr of the ltteers: Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch procejt at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosnt mttaer waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter."

The online bi-monthly magazine (set to be quarterly in 2009) is currently only US$12 per year. You can grab your free sample edition here. Submissions and enquiries are welcome here.

Well done Corey and Alice. Regards, Andrea.

Researcher Interested In Bilingual Families

Hi Everyone, If you are a parent trying to raise a bilingual family, Hidy Basta is looking for you...

"Hello, my name is Hidy. I am a bilingual mom who is trying to raise a bilingual family. I am also a doctoral student in the English Department at the University of Washington in Seattle (United States). I am currently working on my doctoral research project and am seeking input from bilingual families about the advice they receive regarding raising their children bilingually. I am especially interested in the following:

• The reasons a family decides to be bilingual/multilingual;
• The strategies used by parents and children to learn more than one language;
• The way children react to strategies or develop their own;
• The success and challenges a family experiences; and
• The advice a family receives regarding their decision or their strategies.

The only requirement for participation is that you have made a decision at some point in time to raise your children so that they can speak more than one language. There are several ways you could participate in this study:

1. You can fill out an online survey that takes 30-40 minutes;
2. If you live in the Seattle area, I would like to invite you to a group interview (60-80 minutes) with other parents. Snacks and refreshments will be provided;
3. You can participate in an on-line group interview via Skype. In addition, if you have kept a journal, blog or diary entries about your family's experience, you can choose to copy whatever selections you would like to share in the study.

If you are interested in participating in any way, please e-mail me for more information. Thank you!"