Uno, Due, Tre… Raising a Multilingual Baby – 7 Steps to Introduce Your Child to a New Language

Article by Nicole Fonovich, co-creator of “Luca Lashes”

Immersing your children in another language and culture is beneficial to their social and cognitive development. But to many parents, the job of teaching a child a second language feels out-of-reach, not to mention costly.

We made the commitment to raise our son in a multicultural home when our son at the tender age of 1. Growing comfortable with another language is a vital skill that we didn’t want him to miss out on, so we learned how to nurture that skillset early on. Today, Lucas takes an Italian class once a week. At home, he speaks Italian with dad, who is fluent. During bath time or playtime, we play Italian music to keep his ear attuned to the language. We also have Italian children’s literature to read to Lucas.

From a Freudian slip comes a realization

So I’m singing along with the kids to one of their CDs in the car this morning and the chorus of the song goes something like this:

Music is my life

Well, not exactly. I like music. I can sort of jingle out a tune on the piano and I played clarinet in the school band. I also started learning guitar when I first met the man who would become my husband (admittedly, it was mostly to impress him because he played guitar and he had a thing for chicks who played guitar).

But I digress. (Don’t I always?)