| How did the Multilingual Network Start ? |
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Here is a short write-up on how I got into the topic of multilingualism and how the workshops, the Multilingual Network and the book "Make Your Child Multilingual! The 10 Step Success Plan To Raising Bi/Multilingual Children" were born.
When our daughter was born in French-speaking Switzerland, I was overwhelmed with the task ahead of me - even though I am passionate about languages and speak German, English, French and Spanish myself (and have studied some Arabic and Mandarin). My native language is German while my husband grew up bi-lingual with English and Urdu. I had no idea how I was going to handle 3-4 languages (German, English, Urdu, French) in the life of my new baby girl. So I studied everything about the topic I could lay my hands on. The fact that I had studied psychology helped me a lot with my research into children's language development. At the time I was on maternity leave from my high-power job as Marketing Manager at Procter & Gamble and for my little girl I decided to handle this project as professionally as running a Pantene haircare project. Beyond studying books and research findings, I attended a workshop on multilingualism that allowed me to interact with linguists and exposed me to other parents with similar issues. I made my language choices, set my objectives, developed a strategy and acted on it to my best abilities. When we left Switzerland for the UK, our daughter turned 2 and I was asked again and again how I had managed to get my daughter to respond to French and speak back to me in German when her environment (nursery, playgroups and her Dad's language etc) was all in English. Over and over again I shared my approach, my tricks and tips and helped other parents find new ways and correct mistakes. I learned a lot about other parent's challenges. By the time we moved to multicultural Dubai in 2004 I had become somewhat of an expert and with the high number of mixed families in Dubai I repeated my tips and my approach to more parents than ever. Parents were so grateful for my help, that they told others to come to me for advice. That's when I decided to develop a workshop about the topic to allow more parents to benefit from my knowledge. The workshops were hugely successful with 98% of attendants saying it fully met their expectations and 100% willing to recommend it to a friend. I knew that a workshop alone would not be enough, as language learning is not like taking a pottery course. It's a journey that takes a few years not a 3 month hobby. During that journey new questions come up that didn't seem important earlier (e.g. how do I handle homework in a language other than the one I speak to my child). So I decided to start the Multilingual Network, a non-profit parent support group that empowers parents to successfully raise their children with more than one language. In our monthly meetings I always shared some new knowledge about raising multilingual children, we discussed issues, shared tips and ideas and set up playgroups and language groups run by the mothers of the group. Our group consists of exceptionally dedicated parents - incredible people to be around with. I always felt so great spending time with our members in person (many have become friends). When we left Dubai in 2008, parents asked me to summarize my extensive knowledge and the coaching approach to it in a book. That's how and why the book "Make Your Child Multilingual! The 10 Step Success Plan To Raising Bi/Multilingual Children" was created - to provide the workshop in the form of a work book and empower more parents and their children to successfully grow up bi- or multilingual.
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