The 2013 year is behind the shoulders. It was the first year in the life of this blog.
Thank you everyone for joining me! I appreciate your positive feed back!
Even though my children and my ambitions to teach them three languages (Russian, Italian and English) kept me busy, I tried hard and I managed to find time to share my thoughts, ideas and discoveries with you.
![Pregnant belly Pregnant belly](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjae3ip1stjF0x_TFAxGrItcmhixFGK28clVrEburg7DAvYRUxmgPKrPg2vfTCyTkkJKjtYSLiY4_mQpaMADckgKUyMfW6TD8Y-j5QbCaBwP_RNlxidiIxNmZWYiAOf9BmiEkGFn8ynxjK6/s200/Belly.jpg)
I started the blog with the post
Raising Bilingual / Multilingual child. Where to start? describing our family strategy:
Exposing our kids to languages and created the multilingual family
Language Strategies page for your reference.
I believe reading is essential in teaching a child speaking and developing a rich vocabulary. Guess when did I start reading to my child? You can find the answer in
Bilingual child: when to start reading? post and the tips are in
How to read to a baby?
Do you know anything about virtual babysitters? Skype has opened a virtual window between our living room and Russian speaking grandparents. I am so thankful my parents could support me in many ways: virtual babysitting is one of it.
Preserving grandchild - grandparent bond and keeping up the minority language with video calling.
![mother walking with stroller in the park mother walking with stroller](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyaja7B5YO0XWGKxWTcEB-nCfCgAU3wxxzOZzfxnOTxzEiessxblSZNg-VrsEisxixCUBQ3jmLGeA6koOcFdxHsvyt1V1vzVwVfCS1pl06dMZPjKbH8ylrZwU3EPZVcHc7C2XDCw6nuywX/s200/walk.JPG)
How do you call the languages you and your spouse speaks? I believe
Naming languages with their proper name also helps children to separate the languages easily and gives a wider view without limiting to only family boundaries.
As a parent teaching children a minority language I learnt how not to pass on an opportunity to expose them to new words:
Walking with your baby and showing him the world.
Ha ha ha or correcting your child's pronunciation problem. post was born after a lot of worries about my son's wrong pronunciation of the Russian letter "X".
I asked myself and answered a question:
How much time do we have to influence a child's minority language development?
When my younger child started speaking I was wondering what language she would speak with her brother:
What language do multilingual siblings speak to each other? I am so glad that as of today it is still Russian - the minority language and hope it will stay this way for at list one more year.
I should stress once more that it is important to be proactive in introducing new vocabulary in minority language:
Being proactive in exposing your child to the new vocabulary .
I answer the question:
Should I correct my child speaking?
As parents speaking a minority language, we also need to work on being a good example for our children:
How to prepare yourself to be a speaking model for your child.
Many of us have ups and downs on the way to multilingualism. The right motivation helps a lot in staying on track, but this is the reality:
"No English!" Motivation is the key.
![Drawing Drawing and wood toys for language learning](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPpIQz51m0LwVk-N_AOlXPQnYc-gcoLSI4k1RcUuOkj8FHRLeB4sdepzLJtp4y2Dbro-QAf7uD3A_Rdy2MhiPTIsCwMO0iSJej957l0P4X7dIrJoGMcQ6zTAuCc5Ix2e7KCnLssUUHkb45/s200/Drawing.JPG)
Some fun activities for language development were born while interacting with my daughter:
Mixing art, material objects and imagination - a recipe for language development.
My friend asked me a very good question I found an answer to:
Can babies distinguish foreign languages?
I welcomed Amalia, a guest on my blog pages with her amazing
Life story: A Journey to Multilingualism. If you are bilingual or multilingual from birth and would like to share your story, feel free to contact me via email: trilingualchildren [at] gmail [dot] com.
![Child cuting paper makes russian letter Child cuting paper makes russian letter "Б"](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_gqfc4vmYpj97a9-6uWPn4Z3FG_OctJoZYTaWn9tOHycBZApp-NHHrTv-ECQWYDi1MRDUI__CB0uSh9FA8pMpVCKmg2nI7FpL1wK2zB07uOP2OsnYW-w__G70yOXl-DtDcI02z1vl7h5Z/s200/Child-cuts-paper-makes-russian-letter.jpg)
Many of you agreed that
Teaching the letter sounds before letter names helps in facilitating teaching a child to read.
If you know good documentaries about nature, please share them in the comments of
A touch of nature on a rainy day post.
If you are expecting a child and/or still have to figure out how to merge the multicultural traditions, reading the post
When to give your child Christmas presents - an international family challenge. might give you some ideas and help you to make the right decision.
![Russian Books Russian Books](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaksIyxNHRPPXcMrWOcr8nbJiuLnHsS-cQKfPBCbcuuu-246wAwbAMU13DDrp5w7-xdR2VqyvqsdBg5ohF9n_5nfk5xQ0rnkLRtNtsCoLCVacITVu-eKZktV61y4khNs3v1YAamuAqCgEG/s200/Books.jpg)
My children enjoy reading books with me and I am glad that many blog readers found very useful the
Russian children's books list . You can also review my kids favorite Russian cartoons and movies at the end of the book list. Some more resources in Russian:
Russian winter season kids songs and
books review.
Happy holidays to everyone!
Let the 2014 bring you love and happiness!