Multilingualism in my family (Claudia's story)

This week for our Multilingualism in my family series we meet Claudia who lives in England with three languages: Norwegian, English and Brazilian Portuguese.

1. Name

Claudia

2. Blog

Filhos bilingues

3. In what country do you currently live?

England

4. How many children have you got and how old are they?

One, 13.

5. Who speaks what to whom (in the home)?

Mom + dad = English, some Norwegian

Mom + daughter = Brazilian Portuguese

Dad + daughter = English, some Norwegian

6. What language do your children hear outside home ?

English, Portuguese, Norwegian

7. If you had to put a percentage on the languages your child(ren) hear what would they be?

70% English, 25% Portuguese, 5% Norwegian

8. Did you set out to follow a particular method to raise your child(ren) multilingually? Why? Why not?

No, we just did whatever felt natural

9. What works with your current family language set up? Why?

We continue to do what feels natural

10. What doesn’t work? Why?

My husband does not speak Portuguese – this creates some difficulties in certain social interactions where everybody else does

11. What would you do differently if you could or would have to do it again?

I can’t think of anything as far as languages are concerned

12. Any other comments.

There are no set formulas. What works for one family may not work for another.


Thanks to Claudia for her contribution.
Are you a multilingual family? Would you like to share your story? Contact me at annabhu at gmail dot com.