rJune is report time for us. We have received the Report Cards for our children and there aren't really any surprises as we've been kept up to date by our kids to some extent as well as through teacher parent meetings.

With respect to our children living with multiple languages, I do keep an eye on the language assessments. How do they perform in the community (school) language, the additional language taught at school (Irish) and how does that compare to their language development in German, for which I am mainly responsible myself.

The results on the report cards come as no surprise: both my children have better reading and writing skills than listening and speaking skills. This applies to the community language as well as the second language taught at school. At home the focus is still mainly on listening to and speaking our minority language German, even tough we have started reading in German with both our girls from the age of six and they get engaged in small writing activities.

Listening comprehension and the ability to use the minority language are especially important to me so I focus on developing and growing these skills. Reading skills are up next on my list followed by writing. 

If it's important to you that your child is able to actively use an additional language, the focus has to be on listening comprehension and speaking as much as possible.

There is a tendency in teaching languages to ask children to say something, to reply to a question, to come up with a statement while we may forget that they need to have mastered listening comprehension to a certain degree to be able to follow a conversation or comprehend a question before they can reply. This also draws our attention to the development of vocabulary: if the children lack the necessary words to express themselves they will choose the easiest path and either don't speak or use their native language. 

I came across an article in the Irish Times about an increasing number of students receiving exemptions for learning the Irish language at school. One particular word that is used in this context is the 'd' - word: difficult.

This very same word is often used in relation to learning German, and yes, there are certain aspects - in every language - that may prove harder to grasp than others. Of course, there are genuine reasons for exemptions and these have to be taken into account. From my experience with language learning and teaching, we'll always have someone saying that they find a language difficult to learn, or to comprehend maths or any other subject for that matter.

One big issue here though appears to be the attitude towards the subject: '...the ESRI working paper cites research which shows Irish is among the least popular subjects at second level and is frequently cited as the most difficult.' (Irish Times).

When bilingual or multilingual adults become parents, they're often confronted with the decision which language(s) to use with their child or children. In our case, I am the one speaking two languages but for me it was clear from the start that I would speak German with our kids. We live in an English speaking environment plus my husband speaks the community language. So we pass on both our native languages to our children using a method called OPOL - One Parent One Language. For us, it has been working very well.

If there are multiple languages at play and you choose not to speak just one language to your child but two (or sometimes three) there are other options to use the languages with your child. (Here in Ireland this could mean increasing the exposure to Irish outside of school plus adding another language):

Do you remember learning German as a child? Have you any memories of learning to swim? Or learning how to drive?

I have finally decided to go for it and learn to play the piano. So here I am, starting something completely new to me. I am excited and  I am aware that there's a bit of work involved if I want to get anywhere with it. So after 4 weeks now I am able to do a few things that actually sound like music. 

Of course, I was curious at some point and jumped right to a lesson which teaches to play a whole song. Watching the pianist play was a bit overwhelming. Why? Because he's been playing for 20+ years, I have been playing for four weeks...

This is the mistake many of us make: looking at what people are able to do or have achieved without remembering that they, too, were exactly where we are right now. 

For us and our children, as language learners, it's the same process. We have to master the basics first before we are able to join conversations and discussions, or read novels.

One of the key skills that is often neglected in language learning is listening comprehension. This skill requires time and consistency to develop: Only when your child is able to understand what is said, be it face-to-face or watching TV, will s/he be able to work on a response in form of an answer or narrating what s/he has seen or heard.

I remember well my first weeks and months in Ireland: while I had learned English for a few years at school, it was extremely hard and tiring at the beginning to follow conversations, add a noisy environment (in a restaurant) or several people speaking at the same time, and I was lost. As with everything, we improve with time and exposure. 

Make it a priority to expose your child and yourself to situations where you can listen to German: read aloud or listen to stories, listen to online radio (we listen to RSH - Radio Schleswig-Holstein), music CDs, use (online) TV, or listen to native speakers you know or meet while out and about. ​

hen I saw the image above a few days ago I thought: yep, sounds familiar. In fact, even after years of living in an English speaking country, speaking sometimes feels tiring. I have thought about why that is, and I've come to realise that speaking in a foreign language has always been my weakest link. Back at school, or when I did my Cambridge Certificate, already living in Ireland, I was always better at understanding, listening comprehension, writing and reading. I read novels and newspapers and follow any news story in English without problems. Having worked in an academic environment, even that level of English is fine with me, until I had to give presentations or hold workshops in English. Well, I managed, but sometimes I felt my choice of vocabulary could have been better or I just couldn't remember a specific term and had to do with much more simple language. If you speak a language other than your native one, at times you can feel quite conscious about how you speak and what you say, even though your audience wouldn't even notice.