Welcome Angelique and Chanel!
Where are you from?
Angelique: I am from Maastricht, the Netherlands.
Where do you currently live and what countries have you lived in?
The Netherlands and now in Italy.
How old is your child and where was she born? What is her cultural heritage?
Chanel is seven. She was born in Italy and is both Italian and Dutch.
What passports do you and your child hold?
Angelique: Dutch
Chanel: Italian and Dutch
In what languages do you speak to your child?
Dialect from my home town—Maastrichts
Dutch
Italian
English
What languages does your child speak?
All four mentioned above.
How do you reinforce other languages beyond just the parents speaking it?
Skype with grandparents.
Playgroups in English, which is my work!
I teach sometimes English in her class at school.
Did you ever have any concerns with your child’s language acquisition?
No, never! Despite all other opinions:)
Do you have any advice for parents raising multilingual kids on what works and what doesn’t?
Believe in that what you’re doing! Don’t get distracted by people who are NOT in the same situation as you are!
What religion are you? And how are you raising your child?
I am Catholic. I raise my child in a way that she will always believe first of all in herself.
What does raising a little global citizen mean to you?
To grow up as open-minded, PEACEFUL kids.
What are some of your family’s favorite things to eat?
Frietjes and Kroketjes (fried snacks from the Netherlands!)
Pannekoeken (Pancakes)
Spaghetti Bolognese
Pizza
Brownies!
What’s the best place you’ve been on vacation with your kid?
Paris and Amsterdam
What are a few of your child’s favorite books?
Eric Carle’s Hungry Caterpillar
Maisy Mouse Weather book
All books from Karen Katz
What have been your greatest challenges as an intercultural family?
I have never experienced it as a challenge and never lived it as a challenge, simply as something that I really believed in and wanted to give to my kid. Please read my story here.
What have been your greatest joys as an intercultural family?
The interest of my daughter for other languages and cultures has warmed my heart!
Anything else you would like to add?
Raising your kids in a bilingual way is worth it! Without all the languages I can speak I would never have been able to put my feet on Italian ground and to create a life as an independent woman. All this I wanted to give to my daughter too.
