By Kimine Mayuzumi Following up with the popular blog post, Beyond Bilingualism: 4 Tips for Raising Trilingual Children, I have decided to dig through my old file to find the piece I wrote six years ago and share with the readers. In the piece, I tried to see things from the perspective of my 8-year-old son when I wrote it. But, of course, it is obvious that my adult views are very much implicated. I…
By Beronda Montgomery The human need for affirmation is real. We see it from the very early stages of human development when one of the most common phrases parents hear from young ones seems to be “look at me.” The request is as much a plea for well-placed affirmation for a “job well done” as an expressed need for a spectator. Even in the very last stages of my time on the planet, I imagine…
By Kimine Mayuzumi What kind of summer do you want to have this year? What many people (including myself) tend to do for planning their summer is to first think about what to do and where to go instead of envisioning their summer as a part of their larger life vision. We tend to rush into making another to-do list and scheduling a few entertainments and/or family events. What’s missing is reflecting on the above…
By Kimine Mayuzumi Do you ever get to the end of the weekend and wonder where the time has gone? And then feel disappointed? I have been there many times. At the end of the weekends, I was disappointed because: the weekend did not turn out the way I wanted; I was left with house chores I should have taken care of; I was so busy running around and taking care of others that I…
By Kimine Mayuzumi and Riyad A. Shahjahan As a transnational couple, for years, we’ve encountered the following question: “How do you raise trilingual kids?” Simply living a transnational and inter-linguistic marriage/relationship does not guarantee an inclusive multilingual home environment. There are moments and situations when children may question multilingualism, particularly when surrounded by monolingualism (in our case English). At times, we may question offering a multiple linguistic environment to our children as we may feel…
