Bilingual Avenue with Marianna Du Bosq

On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, I check in with a mother who is concerned that her son may fall behind in Kindergarten if he attends a Spanish only preschool.  I describe the different concepts that her child will likely be exposed to in preschool and assure her that many of them will be skills that he can transfer regardless of what language is being used for the instruction.  For the skills that are language specific, I give her ideas on how she can incorporate them at home.  I also share some ideas on how she can partner up with her child’s teacher to make sure she is able to help her son with the transition.  

Direct download: Bilingual_Avenue_088.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:30am EDT

On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, I interview Brynn Barineau.  Brynn is originally from Atlanta and has a BA and MA in International Communication from American University in Washington DC.  It was while finishing her Masters that she met her Brazilian husband.  Brynn eventually joined her then fiance in Rio de Janeiro and began teaching.  After moving to Vitoria, she taught economics and American literature at Escola Leonardo Da Vinci.  Brynn is currently working on building a career as a writer and publishing her first novel.  She blogs at BrynninBrazil.com  She has a four-year old daughter that she and her husband are raising bilingual in English and Portuguese.

Direct download: Bilingual_Avenue_087.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:30am EDT

On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, I give advice to a mother who is worried that changing her language strategy with her daughter will confuse her.  Currently, they are speaking English at home while her child picks up the community language, Spanish in school.  They will be moving to the United States and the target language and community language will be swapped.  She is concerned that their relationship will be impacted because her daughter feels much more comfortable conversing with family members in English.  I assure her that although it may be difficult at first, her daughter will eventually sort out the shift in language strategy. 

Direct download: Bilingual_Avenue_086.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:30am EDT

On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, I interview Annabelle Humanes,  a former researcher in language acquisition and language teacher in a previous decade.  She shares with you her tips for getting your hands on children's language development research and shares her personal family language journey which includes four languages!

Direct download: Bilingual_Avenue_085.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:30am EDT

On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, I describe the different types of language school models available to parents including two way immersion, submersion and transitional programs.  I also answer a mother’s concern of whether her child will be able to learn the community language and give her strategies to ensure that he has plenty of exposure in that language. 

Direct download: Bilingual_Avenue_084.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:30am EDT

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