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Third Culture Mama

Raising bridge-builders

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Mandarin

Multilingualism

The day they asked me to speak to them in different languages

January 19, 2018January 19, 2018 Third Culture Mama

Some of our family’s best conversations happen around the dinner table. I’ll reassure you, some of our worst happen there too. Dinner in a home of young ones is a […]

Third Culture

Third Culture Kids in love: Jackie’s story

May 6, 2017May 6, 2017 Third Culture Mama

Welcome to the third and final part of the “TCKs in Love” interview series. Join me as I interview part Chinese-Malaysian, part Filipino-Chinese Third Culture Kid Jackie who is married […]

Travel with kids

Holidays are for world-schooling

October 30, 2016November 1, 2016 Third Culture Mama

Well, we’re back from our adventure to Italy. Wow. The film director and family were staying at our place between the London film premiere and a London award ceremonies (yeay!). […]

Multilingualism

Ignore the kids!

April 18, 2016April 19, 2016 Third Culture Mama

There is plenty of advice out there about getting kids to speak a second or third (weaker) language. One of my absolute favorite ways to get the kids speaking a […]

Multilingualism

New language goals!

January 8, 2016January 8, 2016 Third Culture Mama

You might remember how down I was on New Year’s resolutions in 2015. I didn’t set any goals at the beginning of last year other than the resolve to just […]

Multilingualism

Language-learning: an alive, natural, changing process

October 23, 2015April 1, 2016 Third Culture Mama

When I first thought about this month’s Multilingual Carnival topic on “lost languages“, I didn’t think we had all that much to share. Our kids are all under four years […]

Travel with kids

Adventures in China with small kids

June 25, 2015June 27, 2015 Third Culture Mama

Not so many Western families travel to China with young kids for a vacation. That was the first thing that struck us as we flew to Shanghai a few weeks […]

Multilingualism

Bilingual Avenue Podcast

June 17, 2015June 17, 2015 Third Culture Mama

I am really honored to feature on this week’s episode of Bilingual Avenue, a weekly podcast with insightful tips and advice from language experts and normal parents like us, raising […]

Multilingualism

Sibling dynamics in multilingualism

April 27, 2015July 2, 2015 Third Culture Mama

Choosing and implementing a language strategy with your first child is often more straightforward than when the next child comes along. We generally speak more to our first-borns, we spend […]

Third Culture

Good grief.

March 26, 2015March 28, 2015 Third Culture Mama

Late last night, I mustered up the courage to flick through my old blog that accompanied me like a best friend from graduate school, outlasting even my first two real […]

Multicultural

Learn about Asia through crafts & activities!

March 12, 2015June 19, 2015 Third Culture Mama

Today, I have the immense honor to host the March Multicultural Kids Blog carnival on the topic of Asian crafts and activities. In fact, I am posting this on my […]

Schooling

The school question

February 26, 2015June 19, 2015 Third Culture Mama

Over the past couple of years, as parents of older kids discussed preschool, my eyes would glaze over. We have time, and we won’t be living in the United States […]

Multilingualism

Expecting a multilingual baby!

February 19, 2015May 6, 2015 Third Culture Mama

What a life-altering experience it is to welcome a first baby into your home. Like many first time mamas who find themselves in this age of information overload, I felt […]

Third Culture

Ditching Brittany

February 10, 2015June 19, 2015 Third Culture Mama

I sat in my favorite solid wooden chair at our kitchen table and stared out the window. Many an “aha” moment has come to me on this comforting chair with […]

Bilingualism

Bilingualism: 3 Myths

November 19, 2014November 26, 2014 Third Culture Mama

It is amazing how much unsolicited and unfounded advice you receive when you expose your children to multiple languages. These misconceptions often come from individuals who never had a bilingual […]

Cultural Reflections

Introducing Mandarin

April 15, 2014November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

Ayo’s first introduction to Mandarin was uneventful. I didn’t take him to some toddler class. Oh no, it wasn’t that glamorous. I have come to realize that the best language […]

Language at 16 months

July 19, 2013July 24, 2013 Third Culture Mama

Language and speech is one of the most exciting areas of child development to me. If you know me at all, that comes as no surprise. Well, life is barreling […]

Bilingualism

Hindsight is always 20/20

April 21, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

I recall sitting in a cozy café, sipping a frothy cappuccino while reading all the books I could find on the subject of multilingual parenting atop a basketball-shaped belly. I […]

Review

Bend, Not Break

February 23, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

Unexpected packages are the best! Well, non work-related unexpected packages, that is. The other day, that sort of package arrived on our doorstep. It gets better. It was addressed…to me! […]

Cultural Reflections

新年快乐

February 10, 2013November 24, 2014 Third Culture Mama

Happy Chinese New Year! We had such a blast celebrating Ayo’s first Chinese New Year at church. It was a bilingual Mandarin/English service with music, dance, short preaching, kids performance, […]

Linguistics

The case against Google translate

February 6, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

Copywriting fun.

January 23, 2013January 23, 2013 Third Culture Mama

Great advertising combined with playful copywriting gets my creative juices flowing. Does it yours? It brings me back to the fun side of my advertising days. When copy is done […]

Meal ideas

Flirtin’ with Asia

January 10, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

An evening watching Whale Wars, an entertaining show about stopping Japanese Antartic whaling 🙂 Korean roasted wasabi seaweed snacks A first taste of Chinese church last Sunday Listening to Chinesepod. […]

Back into the swing of things..

December 17, 2012December 17, 2012 Third Culture Mama

This was taken through our screen window this week at some obscene hour of the morning. I can’t believe I sleep through such a magnificent light show most every morning. […]

你会想到什么?

September 24, 2012September 25, 2012 Third Culture Mama

So, I finally got around to reading Ayo the Chinese children’s book entitled 你会想到什么?with the awkward English translation: “What would you imagine?”. We borrowed it from the library the other […]

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Blogs I follow

  • A midwife on the Path
  • all mussed up
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Multicultural Kid Blogs
'Raising multilingual children' blogging carnival
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