The Raising Bilinguals Podcast

Afleveringen

1. Yes, I Feel Like a Fraud — And I'm Doing It Anyway - S2Ep8

   3 november 2026 · 25 min

   Afspelen
   Do you ever get nervous speaking your second language around native speakers? Do you worry about passing on your accent? Does it sometimes feel like a mistake — like you're not qualified to do this? Lees meer

   Welcome to the club. Every single one of us has been there.

   In this episode, David, Anna, and Anne continue their candid series with four questions nobody usually asks out loud: Do you feel like a fraud? What's your biggest fear? What's the most ironic thing that's happened to you on this journey? And — the one that surprised everyone — what has all of this revealed about who you are?

   What you'll hear:

   Why all three hosts feel like impostors sometimes — and what they tell themselves when it happens

   Anne's response to the American woman who asked "what are you going to do about your accent?"

   Why the people most critical of your accent are almost always monolingual

   Anna's biggest fear: that her son's reserved nature might be linked to being bilingual

   Anne's story: her daughter came home in tears because kids didn't want to play with her because she spoke English

   How Anne responded — and the "superpower" reframe that actually helped

   David's biggest fear and why it doesn't keep him up at night

   The most ironic moment: David and Anna still can't speak English to each other after two years of trying

   What this journey has revealed about each of them as parents, partners, and people

   This episode is for every parent who keeps going even when they're not sure they're doing it right.

   Join the community and get access to the episode guides with practical strategies by age *first 50 users get special launch price: https://community.theraisingbilinguals.com/

   Checkout the app: https://studio.com/howtospanishpodcast/raising-bilinguals

   Visit our webpage: https://www.theraisingbilinguals.com

   Ann's project: https://www.instagram.com/ann.sprinkles/

   Our Spanish Project: https://www.howtospanishpodcast.com

2. The Honest Truth About Bilingual Parenting: Wins, Struggles & Wanting to Quit - S2Ep7

   27 oktober 2026 · 21 min

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   Nobody posts their hard days. Nobody records the moment they switched back to their native language because their child was hurt and they couldn't find the words in English. Nobody talks about the week they forgot French entirely, or the Sunday they almost gave up for good. Lees meer

   This episode is about all of that.

   David, Anna, and Anne sit down for a candid, unfiltered conversation about what the bilingual parenting journey actually looks like from the inside — the moments that surprised them (in both directions), the days they seriously considered quitting, and the one thing each of them would say to a parent on a really hard day.

   What you'll hear:

   What each host thought bilingual parenting would look like — and how wrong they were

   Anne's surprise: watching her three children choose English with each other at home

   Anna's humbling moment: being a professional language teacher and still falling off the wagon

   David's confession: he still wants to quit almost every week

   The jet contrail story — and how to handle moments when you can't find the words

   Anna's hardest day: not knowing how to comfort her son in English when he got hurt

   Why switching back to your native language in a crisis is okay — and what to do next

   What Anne told David that reframed everything: you're not just passing on a language

   One piece of advice from each host for parents on a hard day

   This is the episode for anyone who has ever felt like they're failing at this.

   Join the community and get access to the episode guides with practical strategies by age *first 50 users get special launch price: https://community.theraisingbilinguals.com/ Checkout the app: https://studio.com/howtospanishpodcast/raising-bilinguals Visit our webpage: https://www.theraisingbilinguals.com Our Spanish Project: https://www.howtospanishpodcast.com

3. How to Know Your Bilingual Parenting Is Actually Working (The Progress Ladder) - S2Ep6

   20 oktober 2026 · 24 min

   Afspelen
   Six months of bedtime stories in Spanish. Eight months of French songs in the car. And your child still answers in English every single time. Is it working? Lees meer

   In this episode, David and Anna introduce the Progress Ladder — a five-step framework that shows exactly where your child is on their bilingual journey, and what to look for at each stage so you stop second-guessing yourself and start seeing the progress that was always there.

   What you'll hear:

   Why progress in bilingualism feels invisible at first — and why that's completely normal

   The 5 stages every child goes through before they choose to use a language on their own

   What "exposure tolerance" is and why it matters more than you think

   Why your child answering in English (or mixing languages) is actually a green light

   Anna's story of how her son recognized a Mandarin character after just a few weeks of exposure

   The moment your child starts trying the language — and how to create more of those moments

   Why Step 5 requires a community, not just a parent

   The free printable guide to track your child's progress (available free at our community)

   Grab here the PDF: https://community.theraisingbilinguals.com/posts/108973585

   Join the community and get access to the episode guides with practical strategies by age *first 50 users get special launch price: https://community.theraisingbilinguals.com/

   Checkout the app: https://studio.com/howtospanishpodcast/raising-bilinguals

   Visit our webpage: https://www.theraisingbilinguals.com

   Our Spanish Project: https://www.howtospanishpodcast.com

4. What Actually Makes Someone Bilingual (It's Not What You Think) - S2Ep5

   13 oktober 2026 · 21 min

   Afspelen
   Have you ever wondered why some people actually become bilingual — and others study for years and never quite get there? After a decade of teaching adults Spanish for a living, Anna has a clear answer: it's not skill level, pronunciation, or the number of mistakes you make. It's mindset. Lees meer

   In this solo episode, Anna shares the four elements of the bilingual mindset she's observed in her most successful students — and how you can model each one for your children, starting today.

   What you'll hear:

   Why mistakes are information, not a verdict on your intelligence

   The difference between nervous and excited — and why excited always wins

   Growth mindset in practice: focusing on what your child can already do

   The input/output balance mistake most parents (and language learners) make

   Why you are not less qualified to teach the language because you're not a native speaker

   Whether you're a heritage speaker reconnecting with your roots or a non-native parent who simply fell in love with a language, this episode is for you.

   Join the community and get access to the episode guides with practical strategies by age *first 50 users get special launch price: https://community.theraisingbilinguals.com/

   Checkout the app: https://studio.com/howtospanishpodcast/raising-bilinguals

   Visit our webpage: https://www.theraisingbilinguals.com

   Our Spanish Project: https://www.howtospanishpodcast.com

5. From Passive to Active Bilingual — Ideas That Actually Make Kids Speak - S2 EP4

   9 oktober 2026 · 22 min

   Afspelen
   There's a difference between knowing a language and using it. Many adults say it themselves: "I understand everything but I can't speak back." This episode is about closing that gap — not with drills or flashcards, but with grocery runs, role play restaurants, video exchanges, and songs. All practical. All doable this week. And all designed to make the target language feel like something your child uses, not just something they hear. Lees meer

   ts, video exchanges, and songs. All practical. All doable this week. And all designed to make the target language feel like something your child uses, not just something they hear.

   What We Cover

   What "active bilingual" actually means — and why a toddler who can order ice cream is already there

   The bilingual grocery run: how a shopping list with pictures turns a Wednesday errand into real language practice

   Role play scenarios: restaurant, vet, zoo, doctor — and the high-frequency structures they naturally repeat (I want, can I have, how much?)

   Why modeling matters more than correcting — and how children move from one word to full phrases on their own

   Recording your children using the target language and watching it back together — Ann's experience with her two-year-old and Mandarin songs

   The video exchange: how sending short videos between families gives children a real audience and a real reason to use the language

   The community meetup: what's coming and which languages are already represented

   Songs as language infrastructure — why music embeds vocabulary and structure in a way nothing else does

   Where to find quality children's music in almost any target language

   Join the community and get access to the episode guides with practical strategies by age *first 50 users get special launch price: https://community.theraisingbilinguals.com/

   Checkout the app: https://studio.com/howtospanishpodcast/raising-bilinguals

   Visit our webpage: https://www.theraisingbilinguals.com

   Our Spanish Project: https://www.howtospanishpodcast.com

6. How to handle social situations where the majority language is not spoken - S2Ep3

   29 september 2026 · 27 min

   Afspelen
   You're at the park. Your child runs up to you and you answer in English. Someone glances over. And before you've made a decision, you hear yourself switch. This episode is about that moment — the psychology behind why it happens, what your child is experiencing at the same time, and concrete strategies for holding the language when the social pressure to drop it is highest. Lees meer

   What We Cover

   The Spotlight Effect: why we overestimate how much others are judging us — and what actually happens when people notice

   Social Identity Theory: the neurological reason you feel the pull to switch languages in public (and why it's a reflex, not a signal to obey)

   What's happening in your child's brain when they don't know how to say "do you want to play?" in the majority language — and why it feels like social exclusion, not a vocabulary gap

   Why some discomfort is good — and how to make sure it doesn't harden into "I don't belong here"

   Anne on consistency as safety: why always responding in the target language gave her children something to rest in

   The Sandwich Rule in practice: how to hold the language while including everyone in the room

   How to prepare your child's vocabulary before a social situation, not during it

   Deciding your "line" before you go — not while you're standing in the room

   How to tell the difference between ceding ground and making a wise strategic choice

   The unexpected positive reactions: strangers, neighbors, and the moments that will carry you

   Join the community and get access to the episode guides with practical strategies by age *first 50 users get special launch price: https://community.theraisingbilinguals.com/

   Checkout the app: https://studio.com/howtospanishpodcast/raising-bilinguals

   Visit our webpage: https://www.theraisingbilinguals.com

   Our Spanish Project: https://www.howtospanishpodcast.com

7. How to Introduce a 3rd (or 4th) Language to Your Child — Real Strategies From Real Families - S2 EP2

   22 september 2026 · 29 min

   Afspelen
   This episode is for anyone who has ever thought: we're already doing English — could we really add another one? Anna and Anne share how their families introduced American Sign Language, Mandarin, and French alongside their primary target language — what worked, what didn't, and the surprisingly simple method behind all of it: find what your child loves, build one game around it, and repeat until the language is there. Lees meer

   What We Cover

   Why ASL: Anne on using sign language as a tool for inclusion and connection with the deaf community — and how showing her daughter sign language interpreters at Disney World made it personal

   Why French: Anna on how a spontaneous afternoon of speaking French to her son led to his face lighting up — and a language journey she never planned

   Why Mandarin: Anne on adding a fourth language through homeschool, play, and deliberate community-building

   The core method both families use: one game or theme, layered vocabulary, repeated until automatic

   The ice cream shop game in Mandarin — and why one game can carry months of learning

   Printing animal cards in French: how to build bilingual resources around whatever your child is already studying

   How to keep third and fourth languages alive during chaotic weeks — anchor them to emotions, not routines

   The floor-time principle: why fifteen minutes of silly play in the language beats any structured lesson

   Follow Ann's journey: https://www.instagram.com/ann.sprinkles

   Join the community and get access to the episode guides with practical strategies by age *first 50 users get special launch price: https://community.theraisingbilinguals.com/

   Checkout the app: https://studio.com/howtospanishpodcast/raising-bilinguals

   Visit our webpage: https://www.theraisingbilinguals.com

   Our Spanish Project: https://www.howtospanishpodcast.com

8. Why "Bilingual" Classes Aren't Really Bilingual — And What to Do Instead (New Host)

   15 september 2026 · 30 min

   Afspelen
   Season 2 opens with a big announcement: Anne — who joined us as a guest in Episode 12 — is now a permanent co-host. And the three of us wasted no time getting into something real: the frustrating gap between what gets labeled "bilingual" and what actually provides immersive exposure for your child. We share our own disappointed searches for resources and classes, explain why constant translation works against acquisition, and talk about what to do when the community you need simply doesn't exist yet. Spoiler: you build it. Lees meer

   What We Cover

   The big Season 2 announcement: Anne joins as co-host

   Why most "bilingual" resources aren't genuinely immersive — and how to tell the difference

   Why translation is a trap: when everything is translated, children learn to wait instead of acquire

   Why children need to see other children using the target language — and what one French bookshop moment did for our son's motivation

   Anne on introducing Mandarin: even full English immersion at home wasn't enough — the culture and community had to be built deliberately

   From consuming to creating: Anne's Instagram account, the community meetups, and what happens when you stop waiting for the resource to exist

   The Raising Bilinguals community: now hosting online meetups with children interacting across languages (German, Chinese, English, Spanish)

   Join the community and get access to the episode guides with practical strategies by age *first 50 users get special launch price: https://community.theraisingbilinguals.com/

   Checkout the app: https://studio.com/howtospanishpodcast/raising-bilinguals

   Visit our webpage: https://www.theraisingbilinguals.com

   Our Spanish Project: https://www.howtospanishpodcast.com

9. Ann: 3 Kids, 4 Languages — What We All Need to Hear

   1 september 2026 · 45 min

   Afspelen
   Our second and final guest episode of Season 1 — and the one that will carry you into Season 2. Anna is a lifelong friend who has been raising her three children in English, American Sign Language, and Mandarin for nearly nine years. She is Mexican, Spanish is her first language, and none of the languages she's teaching her children are her native tongue. In this conversation she shares what each of her three children has taught her, what the trickiest age really is (and when it gets easier), the sandwich rule for mixed-language social situations, and what she would do differently — which turns out to be the most honest advice in the whole season. Lees meer

   What We Cover

   Anna's story: homeschooled from age 6, self-taught English through audio immersion, six months in England at 16 that changed everything

   Why she and her husband decided to raise their children multilingually before they were even married

   What each child has taught her: the firstborn pioneer, the middle child still in process, the youngest beneficiary

   The pandemic effect: her firstborn at 2½ was in total English immersion and arrived at playgrounds expecting everyone to speak English

   How siblings speak to each other in English by choice — and why that changes everything for the younger ones

   The sandwich rule: how to address children who speak different languages in the same moment

   What metalinguistic awareness looks like at age 5 (asking for vocabulary mid-conversation) and age 8 (carrying a word all day until she can ask for the translation)

   Why ages 3–5 are the trickiest — and why after 8 both languages are fully there

   Emotional conversations in the target language: why staying in it for the hard ones is the most important thing she'd do differently

   ASL and Mandarin: how to introduce a language you don't speak natively

   Where to find her real-life multilingual family content

   Follow Ann's journey: https://www.instagram.com/ann.sprinkles

   Join the community and get access to the episode guides with…

10. How to Raise a Bilingual Child When Your Partner Doesn't Speak the Language ft. @BirdsongToys - EP11

    25 augustus 2026 · 28 min

    Afspelen
    Our first guest episode. Ashley Rivera grew up in Colombia, moved to the US at 11, and is now raising her daughter Olivia in Spanish — while her husband speaks only English. She shares her Three C's framework (Connection, Consistency, Community), what the science says about language acquisition from the womb, and her very practical playbook for making bilingualism work when you're the only person in your home who speaks the language. Plus: the tip about preparing vocabulary before major parenting milestones that we wish we'd heard sooner. Lees meer

    🐦Follow Ashley HERE https://birdsongtoys.com

    https://www.youtube.com/@BirdsongToys

    https://www.instagram.com/birdsong_toys/

    Join the community and get access to the episode guides with practical strategies by age *first 50 users get special launch price: https://community.theraisingbilinguals.com/

    Checkout the app: https://studio.com/howtospanishpodcast/raising-bilinguals

    Visit our webpage: https://www.theraisingbilinguals.com

    Our Spanish Project: https://www.howtospanishpodcast.com

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