When your children are speaking with you, do you give them your undivided attention?  Do you provide answers that show that you are really listening?  Or are many of your answers in the form of, "Uh-huh" or "Mmmm"?

If we want our children to want to speaking with us in our language, then we need to make sure to let them know that we are listening when they speak.  If you realize that you have been responding with a lot of "Mmmm" lately, don't feel too bad... we all do this!  Especially after a long day at work and we are exhausted.

If you notice that you are doing this a lot, try to find ways to set aside at least half an hour of time each evening (much more on the weekends) when your child gets your undivided attention.

Thank you, Alice, our Multilingual Living editor, for reminding us of this tip!!
 

If you feel that your child is resentful toward you for making him or her speak your language, then it is time to take a breather.  Step back and try to see things from a different perspective.  Often children become resentful if they feel that they have been made to do something they don't want to do.  So the trick is to encourage them to speak their second language without it feeling like a burden!

Look through our other tips and activities for ideas on making language learning fun.
 

Do you want multilingualism supported more in your school, community, neighborhood?  Then tell people all about your family and what your needs are.  Since many aren't reaising their children multilingually, they won't know what you want unless you let them know.

You don't have to be aggressive about it.  Find ways to bring it up in conversations with your neighbors, set up a meeting with your child's teacher and send a letter to your local officials.  And tell your multilingual family friends to do the same.
 

To provide your child with the kind of interest you hope he or she will have for your culture, you need to make sure you are instilling an interest in cultures in general. 

Check out different books from the library that talk about children from other cultures.  Books with pictures of children from other cultures is especially interesting for children.

Attend multicultural festivals and events.  Point out the different foods and clothing, languages and customs.

Your child may not appreciate all of this knowledge and understanding at this point but later down the road it will have an impact!
 

Consistency can be very important to some children and not an issue for others.  Whether your children seem to care or not, it is still a benefit for them to have a good idea of what to expect.  Try to make sure that you and your spouse are clear on your plans, even if you don't always follow them.  It is very likely that you will adjust your plans based on different factors but you have to first have a plan to be able to have something to adjust.  Review our article: "Ask Yourself: Why, What, Who, When, Where?" every once in a while to make sure you are still clear on what your decisions are.
 

It will be hard for your child not to answer you when you play this game with them!  During the day make statements to your child that are clearly wrong.  For example, when pointing to a cat say, "Oh, look, there is a dog!"  Your child will find it hard not to say, "No!  That is a cat!"

You can encourage even longer sentences and discussion based on your statments and questions.  For example, you might say, "Your math teacher, Mr. Smith, sure did give you a lot of reading homework!" when you know that your child's math teacher is named Mrs. Kennedy and the reading teacher is named Mr. Hill and neither gave any homework on that day.
 

Before your child starts school, make sure to reassess your feelings, thoughts and decisions about raising your child bilingually.  Once you feel you are clear on these issues, then make sure to make an appointment with each of your child's teachers to discuss your family bilingualism and biculturalism.  You want to make sure that your child's teachers not only understand that your child is bilingual but to also help them understand how they can help you maintain a balance between the school day and home life. 
 

Often parents forget to keep their language alive while living in another country.  Don't forget to read books, articles, essays and more in your language.  With the internet at our fingertips these days, it is hard not to at least find something in our language.  You will be benefitting your children by keeping up to date with your language as well.
 

Why not cook some spaghetti and have fun creating letters?  Or if you'd rather not cook the spaghetti, you can use dried spaghetti and break it into pieces to create different letters.  Make sure you don't just leave your children with all of it or you'll probably end up with a crazy mess instead of using the time to have fun with letters.

If your language has especially complex characters, then conside other items that you can use so that your children can have fun with writing.  Maybe strings?  Or rubber bands?  Use little pebbles for the dots?
 

While outside with the sprinkler or at home in the bathtub or sink, have fun with water and all of the vocabulary that goes with it!  Add to the mix different containers and talk about how the water flows differently through or from different things.

To have even more fun, add soap to the water after a while and have fun with bubbles!