my ACTFL handout on language teaching at home!

love and languages for my little ones

If you're  interested, you can download the handout from my recent presentation at the ACTFL convention (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) here.  (You have to register to become a member of the ACTFL Online Community first.)

Here's the blurb:

Language Teaching at Home: Strategies, Challenges, and Resources

You teach a world language at school--but at home, do you speak English with your family? This session will explore how, when, and why to share a second language with your children, examining concerns, challenges, and recommended activities. The presenter will provide an annotated list of resources for parents.

Rather than lecturing about bilingualism to a group of language teachers who probably know more about the topic than I do, I asked the participants to introduce themselves and explain their experience with raising children with more than one language.

And what a variety of backgrounds and experiences!  Everything from a single mom speaking Spanish and Hebrew with her toddler to an American planning to move to Benin with her trilingual African husband; from parents with teens and parents with babies to future parents; from parents who are curious about teaching their kids a second language to parents who are despairing that their school-age children have turned their backs on their second languages to parents wondering whether they can use a second language with their children with learning disabilities or developmental delays.

I only wish I had all the answers!  Fortunately, websites such as Multilingual Living exist and I was able to direct people to wonderful websites and resources like those listed the sidebar on my blog.  Go visit them already!

After hearing each attendee's stories, we broke up into four smaller groups to discuss our specific situations and suggest ideas: parents beginning this bilingual adventure; non-native-speaking parents using Spanish with their families; parents with older children; and those using three or more languages in their family.

I so enjoyed being among a group of 30+ teachers who wanted to share and strategize and commiserate! I came home with a revived interest in adding more resources and reviews and advice to this blog and a determination to read more books on bilingualism, plus the support and encouragement of my peers as Griffin, Gwyneth, and I continue on en francais.

Next up, if all goes well: A similar submission for AATF (American Association of Teachers of French) in Chicago in 2012. focused just on French!