How to Raise Tri-Lingual Children
Our Best Parenting Decision
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Hello Friends,
It’s been a hot minute.
If you have heard me mention transitions either here, on the Podcast, or on our YouTube channel, you know that they are one of the most challenging aspects of this decade-long full-time travel life. Frankly, I don’t use the word hate often, but I do HATE them. A transition for us means that we are on the cusp of exiting one style of travel and entering another (RV to boat, boat to land travel, land travel back to boat, etc), and life is utter chaos in this space. The wheels come off the bus, finances go awry, emotions run high, and we forget to breathe. We are deep in it right now! I have to pause and remind myself that we know how to do this, having done it many times before, and this too shall pass. Sorry for the long-winded way of saying this, but I have not disappeared. I have a million drafts waiting to go live after a touch of finessing, but each time I start to write something more, “transition” pressure creeps up. In just one week, we will be on an airplane to build a library in Cambodia (a project Largo has worked on for over a year), which will mark the end of our year in the USA as thru-hikers of the Appalachian Trail, and for Largo to achieve some goals. But first, Largo has three major exams in three different states this week to send us out with a bang. Life is one big, fantastic adventure.
So, how did we raise tri-lingual kids, not being tri-lingual ourselves?
Avalon and Largo in a French play together at the French Alliance in Ecuador, 2016
Providing our kids with the gift of learning a second language was one of our best educational decisions. I saw this quote online last week, and it felt so fitting: “Maybe you don’t belong anywhere because you are the bridge between worlds.” Being able to communicate with a world greater than one's native language allows us to bring two worlds together, and then three worlds, and then four, and so forth. We are bridge builders, not wall maintainers, as language learners.
Avalon and Largo are trilingual. They speak, read, and write English, Spanish, and French fluently, and Avalon even speaks a little Japanese. But how did this happen with a monolingual and bilingual parent and traveling full-time? Magic! I wish. My plan in this chat is to demystify the process and share how it is obtainable for all if you are willing to put in the effort and often the cost. Creating an environment for language learning while our children are young is one of the best life moves we can make for them.
Our birth country, the United States, is failing its students by not prioritizing and valuing a second language in its public education system; therefore, it is up to us, as parents, to make that happen. Daunting? Yes. Expensive? Yes, no, and sometimes. Worth it? Sitting on the other side of 17 years of second and third language learning for our kids, YES, more than we could have ever imagined! Will it be easy? Not for the parent $$$, but amazingly, magically easy for the child. The child's brain is a sponge, like they say.
We receive an increasing number of questions about parenting and even more about our kids being tri-lingual when we are not. I will finally be writing a book in the parenting area with Will after the AT book, but it will focus more on “what worked for us” rather than advice, with a massive chapter on language learning. I always hesitate to advise because what works for one family or child may not work for all. Children are unique snowflakes and should be parented as such. However, we have had some home runs (and some strikeouts) that we believe can bring value and opportunities to any child.
First up…
Giving your child the gift of a second language will change everything!
and again…
Giving your child the gift of a second language will change everything!
Why learn a second language?
Better brain function
Improved first language skills
Deepens cultural understanding
Enables more profound travel experiences
Increases job opportunities
Promotes empathy and tolerance
Creates a higher earning potential
Broadens social networks
Improves communication skills overall
and even more
Learning a second language is an investment in one’s mind, career, and humanity, and it's also fun, at least when we are young and debatable as we age. I must admit I have had my fair share of “what the hell am I doing,” moments while trying to learn Spanish—another story for another day.
Avalon’s language learning journey
Our kids’ language learning journey started when Avalon was three and we moved from Los Angeles to Boston. The short story is that we were looking at houses in urban areas of Boston, got lost, and ended up at an open house in a suburb. The realtor sold us on the Immersion program at the local public school starting in 1st grade, and we moved six months later and bought a house. The language was French, but frankly, we were down with any language. Will and I both thought it was cool to be able to learn a second language for free, outside of our lofty property tax bill. This would be one of only two years when language learning was free for us. Thank you, Milton* Public Schools, for this gift.
Milton Public Schools is one of only two public schools in Massachusetts that had this program at the time, and, to my knowledge, it remains the only one of its kind. During our years in Milton, the support for this program was a constant battle to keep it going. I hear things are not much different today, 14 years later, and that they have decided to remove one of the French classes for next year, leaving 21 kids without a teacher. This is heartbreaking from someone sitting on the other side of this program, with solid proof that it works and changes a student’s path in life, as well as makes them a better person who can understand the world and its people with a more empathetic lens, something our country desperately needs now more than ever.
Avalon first attended a French pre-school at the age of 3 when we moved to Boston, for 6 hours a week. It cost us $580 a month, and at that time, it was just as crazy as it sounds today. $580 a month for 6 hours a week. Once she was old enough for public school, she had a year of English in Kindergarten, and then she was on to 100% French Immersion in 1st grade. Midway through second grade, we switched her to the International French school in Cambridge, and she remained there for 2.5 years before leaving the USA entirely. The price tag of this school was the most we paid for language learning, but it was bundled with her other academic expenses, totaling approximately $22,000 per year, and was a 5-day-a-week, all-day program. We received some financial aid, but it barely made a dent; however, we were grateful to have it. The school was never going to be sustainable for us for the long term, but it was the best decision we made for them in terms of education in general and definitely for their language learning. Plus, peers from all over the world surrounded them; this was the only way we could get the diverse community we desired while still living in the USA.
Once we left the US for WorldTowning (full-time travel), Avalon became homeschooled in Costa Rica, and we were able to maintain and grow her French language learning through a French homeschooling program called CNED and a private tutor. CNED was inexpensive, I believe around USD 300 for the entire year, and it provided a guidebook for the tutor. The tutor was paid $20 per hour, working 4 hours a week.
While in Costa Rica, Avalon wanted to start learning Spanish since she was not in a school like Largo, we got creative. She already knew French, so it was easier for her to get the third language, especially since it was another romance language. First, she joined a dance troupe where the only language spoken was Spanish; this was perfect, but not enough. One can not learn a language just from a club; we had to enlist a Spanish teacher for several hours a week as well. We did a rinse and repeat once we moved to Ecuador and found a teacher at the French Alliance in Quito for another year. Additionally, she joined the theatre department at the Alliance to practice French in real-life settings.
By the time we left Ecuador, Avalon was expressing an interest in trying out “regular school” for middle school. The allure of the locker and changing classrooms piqued her curiosity. She attended a public school in the south of France, which was taught 100% in French and was free. Her school days, social life, and local community were all conducted in French. Side note, she ultimately decided that “regular school” was not her thing yet again, and this time, she was never going to test it out again.
After France, we moved into an RV for three years, and then the remainder of her high school years were spent on a sailboat. During this time, we had a fabulous teacher (who we highly recommend) who worked with her on Zoom, developing her proficiency in French and Spanish and preparing her for the French and Spanish AP exams, where she received 5’s, the highest honor. During these years, the teacher's rate ranged from $30 to $55 per hour. Some weeks were one hour a week, others for as much as 3, depending on what Avalon was studying or exams she was preparing for.
How does it impact her adult life?
All of the benefits listed above, of course
She developed a tutoring business in French and Spanish, which she still runs to this day.
Her internships have seen her languages as a valuable addition to her skill set.
She can communicate with more of the world and has a deeper understanding of cultural nuances as a result, plus friends all over the globe.
She is currently completing an internship in San Francisco and living in the guest house of a Belgian family, where she participates in dinner conversations with the family, speaks French, and helps bridge the cultural divide.
To mention a few, there are many more.
Largo’s language learning journey
Largo began very similarly to Avalon at the age of three, with six hours of language school per week. For him, it was Spanish; the price tag was a little less, luckily. However, the drive was almost an hour each way. I have been location-independent since Avalon was six months old, allowing me to work from Starbucks, so it was not a big deal for me.
By age five, he was enrolled in the same international French school in Boston as Avalon, skipping the public school experience she had in Milton that started this whole journey in immersive language learning. The following year, they were actually in the same building of the school for the first and only time during their education journey outside of being schooled in the RV and on the boat. For any parent who has multiple school drop-off locations, you know this is gold. While attending the international school for 3 years, his Spanish language learning was put on hold until we moved to Costa Rica at the start of his 2nd-grade year.
Largo spent second grade at an international French and Spanish school in Costa Rica, and the same style of school when we moved to Ecuador for his third-grade year. These schools provided him with complete immersion in both languages through the curriculum and the social environment, thanks to the community. He did not require any additional support for the languages because he attended a five-day-a-week school setting. The cost for these schools was approximately USD 500 per month.
By fourth grade, we had moved to France, and while Avalon jumped back into a traditional school setting for middle school, Largo joined her at the town school, only he was in the elementary building. This was the best year of education ever from a financial position because they both had zero expense for school and language learning (and extracurricular) all rolled into one space, plus they could walk to school! So, no school drop-offs or 1-hour drives, AND Largo came home for lunch, which we loved.
And just like Avalon, once we were in the RV and on the boat and moving faster, we enlisted online teachers. It was a juggle between time zones, even though we were in Europe, one of Largo’s teachers was in Peru, and another in Ecuador, and then finally in the US. It was also a bit of “will we have wifi” as we trapezed across Europe or sailed oceans. If we landed in a no-signal zone, we would still have to pay for class.
As I write this, Largo is two days away from taking the DELF B2 exam and is in his final days of French language tutoring, having taken both the French and Spanish AP exams last year. He will, however, continue with French through his senior year of high school, but in the capacity where he is learning Art History in French rather than French grammar. I think he has had plenty of that in 14 years of language education.
What does not work:
On any given day, I will see a post on Facebook or other social media with a traveling parent professing how their kid learned a language at the local playground or because they dated someone who spoke another language. It does not work that way; don’t believe the hype. Yes, one can acquire some basic knowledge of a language and be mildly conversational, but to speak it fluently and to be triliterate (read, write, and speak it), takes significantly more effort, unless they are a rare unicorn, which do exist.
Taking your kid to the local playground
Having a part-time nanny who speaks the language, but wants to learn your native language
Playing a sport
Dating someone who speaks the language
Duolingo
OutSchool
Playdates
Language meet-ups for kids
Any of the above, in conjunction with a more formal class, can surely get your child to proficiency.
What works:
Attending a local school in the language for at least 6 months
Living in a country that speaks the language, partnered with formal classes or a tutor, and/or living with someone who speaks the language
Playing a sport, joining a dance group, etc, in conjunction with a tutor, and even easier if you already speak two or more languages
Formal classes
Tutors/online teachers, once the child has a good grasp of the language
Way back in 2016, I wrote a post on my then-blog, which delves into greater detail about how to learn a language through immersion (beyond traditional classroom settings and private tutors) and the role of the family in this process. If you'd like to check it out, you can find it here.
As you can see, we have a consistent theme; we ebb and flow according to our location in the world and the resources available to us. There were many nights when I struggled to find a way to keep the language(s) and stay within budget, and only a handful of times when we did not question whether the cost-benefit was there. But, we stuck with it and are ever so happy we did.
Drop your suggestions for language learning in the comments. Do you disagree? Was your kid able to learn a language on the playground? Do you have a magic secret sauce for this language learning thing? Or maybe you regret paying for language classes. Let’s chat.
See you soon,
xoxo
Jess (aka Sunshine)
Dungeons & Dragons Clubs
Hang with Largo!
Monsters, puzzles, friends, and more will surely be found in the continuation of this world. With a dark foe in the shadows, dramatic twists are sure to happen. The players will have to unite to handle what’s to come.
Sign up now to avoid missing out on this beautiful story.
With a wide range of ages 8-12 and 13-17 on this extravaganza, the adventure will surely be a blast.
These campaigns will last ten weeks, with 2 hours of play each week, accommodating up to five players.
The adventure starts on Fridays and Saturdays.
The first session takes place on June 13th and 14th and lasts for ten weeks, concluding on August 15th and 16th.
Fridays 6:00-8:00 pm EST (ages 13-17)
Saturdays 8:00-10:00 am EST (ages 8-12)
It is not necessary to have participated in a campaign before; however, a basic knowledge of the game is required.
If you are interested, please email Largo at info@dicethrowers.com
To learn more about us, our mission, and our business, you can visit us at WorldTowning. To view our most recent group trip offerings, head over to WorldTowningvoyages.com. If you want to book a coaching session to realize your travel dream, schedule it here. If you're going to follow the travels of our WorldTowning family, you can find us on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok,and The Why Matters Podcast.
This is so interesting, thank you for sharing. I do think learning languages additional to our own is so important! I'm wondering, I'd love to know how you found private tutors for Largo and Avalon? Through your network and meeting people on travels, through an online platform?