From the Founder
May-June 2006

New online magazine: "Multilingual Living"!

WE HAVE A WINNER! Susanne Gustavsson (who lives in the UK and is raising her children in English and Danish) is the winner of our Magazine Naming Contest! As you can see, we now have a monthly online magazine with the wonderful name of Multilingual Living. Susanne will receive prizes from our naming-contest sponsor, Language Lizard. We would also like to thank each and every one of you who sent in name suggestions for our magazine. We read through every one and each was sent to our judges for review. We hope to have more contests in the future so keep an eye on our magazine and the Bilingual/Bicultural Family Network website! And a big thank you to Karen Wegehenkel whose quick turn-around provided us with our Multilingual Living magazine logo!

We look forward to MULTILINGUAL LIVING becoming an integral part of your life. We hope to make it your trusted, intelligent resource for living multilingually and multiculturally. Our goal is to empower YOU to make decisions that work for you and your family and to be inspired by the special circumstances of your life. You know your family best so let yourself be empowered, inspired and educated through Multilingual Living.

Please share with us what you like and dislike, what works for you and what doesn't and what we are missing in Multilingual Living. The good news for those of you who dislike having to read our magazine via the internet is that we are working on making a printable version of Multilingual Living with nice formatting and all. Stay tuned!

Multilingual Living Editor, Alice Lapuerta

We are delighted to annouce that Alice Lapuerta has come on board as our Multilingual Living Managing Editor! Please join me in welcoming her in this new role. If you are interested in writing an essay, article or other contribution for Multilingual Living, please review our Submission Guidelines and then send your submissions to Alice at editor@biculturalfamily.org. If you haven't had the chance to get to know Alice, check out her monthly Column or via her blog. It should be noted that the title of Editor doesn't do justice to the tremendous amount of involement Alice has had in both the Bilingual/Bicultural Family Network and Multilingual Living. Alice is constantly thinking up fabulous ideas and providing valuable input. And a big Thank You to our Contributing Editors, Clo, Lilian, Colleen and Sharon, who not only provide inspiration via their columns but provide advisory duties for the direction of Multilingual Living and the Bilingual/Bicultural Family Network.

In this month's magazine, the essays in our Features section all include a theme of culture and its integral connection with language and identity. Marjukka Grover, the co-founder of the publishing house, Multilingual Matters, shares with us her thoughts and recommendations after having raised her grown multilingual and multicultural children. Alice's mother, Waltraud Kim, also looks to the past as she examines the emotional journey that brought her, an Austrian, together with a man from Korea. Waltraud's essay reminds us of the tensions that existed surrounding bicultural relationships. Although times have changed, many of us today are still confronted with similar tensions from our extended family members. Harriet helps us navigate these sometimes difficult roads of cultural communication with our in-laws in her essay this month.

Michelle and Irene explore the intertwined connection between identity and culture and in my essay this month, I try to answer my mother's question of how I can speak a second, non-native language with my children. Tracy helps us examine reasons why our children might refuse to speak our language and may not want to associate with our or our spouse's culture. Tracy's essay also reminds us that our children are going through more than just issues of language and culture; they are simply children going through the trials and tribulations that the normal stages of life present.

STAY TUNED for some big changes in both the Bilingual/Bicultural Family Network and this magazine. We have some exciting plans in store and can't wait to share them with you once we get the details in place.

A CALL TO ACTION has been set forth via the Bilingual/Bicultural Family Network. In an attempt to keep language alive in families around the world, I am asking for your input on what works and doesn't work in your family, community, city, country and school when it comes to raising multilingual and multicultural children. Please take the time to fill out our "Call To Action" form with your thoughts and input. At the very least I'd be delighted to have information from you to share in a brainstorming forum of parents, teachers, administrators and community leaders to help identify ways we can keep language alive in our communities around the world. The United States is especially lacking in support, so we can use whatever information you are willing to take the time to share!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all you mothers out there! This is your day, so I hope you had the opportunity to enjoy every minute of it! Raising children is strenuous enough; adding multilingualism and multiculturalism makes it even more demanding! Just remember how important your role is in the lives of your children, so make sure to take time to take care of yourself! Don't forget that sometimes time away from your spouse and children is necssary for reflection and rejuvination. Hopefully you had all of this and more this Mother's Day!

If you are inspired, frustrated, delighted or confused by any of the articles or essays that appear in our magazine, please write to the authors and share your thoughts and opinions. They look forward to your feedback. Or send your comments to us. We'd like to know what is on your mind.

We at Multilingual Living are honored that you are taking the time to share in our magazine. It is a magazine born from the heart - the hearts of all of us parents raising multilingual and multicultural children around the world. May your journey be one of inspiration and joy.

Corey Heller
Founder/Editor
Multilingual Living
May 2006