Learning About Bilingualism

At the end of last semester, I was involved in a week-long teacher training session, and facilitated a course for Japanese teachers of English. When prepping the lessons, I found a wealth of resources on the British Council teacher's site for both teachers and students.

And now, I've even found themed materials on bilingualism at the British Council Learn English site! It includes some information, a story, and several games. Although the suggested links are a bit outdated, the lesson material seems very interesting and engaging for high-level English language learners. Sometimes university students ask me if we're teaching our daughter to speak both English and Japanese, and I've found that some students express strong opinions about the issue of bilingualism. As most of these students are English majors, I would like for them to think about their opinions dealing with language issues, such as when the schools should start teaching English and how parents can support second language development at home. The more educated about bilingualism, the better decisions we can make!

Resources:
British Council
British Council (resources for teachers)
Bilingualism theme
Languages theme

What happens?

Hi all!!! I know it has been a long time since I have added anything to this wonderful blog, but time and a long distance move have complicated things : ) We are now living in Argentina where my children are talking to everyone in English. They are so used to being in a biligual atomosphere that they think everyone is bilingual. To their surprize it isn´t so. Nicole stopped speaking Spanish about a month ago. Although she understands everything perfectly, she has just decided it is easier to speak English because everyone around her understood. What a surprize for her when we arrived here 2 weeks ago and no one speaks much English...We have to say....Spanish Nicole...Grandma doesn´t understand you. hahahahaha poor thing...Has anyone else had this experience? Dorinda