Multilingual stories
Welcome!
Raising a bilingual (or multilingual) child is hard! A favorite part of our Habbi Habbi journey has been meeting and hearing the stories of other parents. Their tips and tricks, motivations, backgrounds... are all so interesting - inspiring and comforting us along our own paths. We've shared them here, in hopes that they can do the same for you! We hope you love. xo, H&AL
Browse by topic:
#HabbiHabits (Play Habits)
Learning Chinese
Learning Spanish
Learning Japanese
Non-Native Speakers
Mixed Heritage Families
ABC / CBC / BBC Families
Play-Based Activities
Habbi Habbi's (free) Printables library
We are so happy to supplement our Habbi Habbi bilingual book library with *free* Printables for you to print out and enjoy!
They're a great way to practice Chinese or Spanish, as well as skills like tracing, matching, grouping, reading, writing, math & more! We love using them at home during independent play or quiet time, and on the go for travel or at restaurants.
My kids want to speak English now that they’re in school. Here are 5 things we’re trying to keep up their Chinese.
With schools open again, I find myself confronting a common problem for bilingual families… my kids come home speaking a lot more English, when I want them to be speaking Chinese. So... what to do? While I certainly don’t purport to have the answers, I am trying a few things with my eldest (5-yr old daughter) and sharing here, in case it’s helpful food for thought!
LEARN MORE5 ways for kids to practice Spanish (screen-free!) while traveling this summer
Summer is here! Our bags are packed and we are heading to Maine for lots of sun, sand, lobster and quality time with the grandparents. It’s definitely our happy place… but it’s also a big change from our kids’ immersion school and nanny share environments, where they get the majority of their Spanish exposure each day (we are an English-speaking household… and I am a Spanish beginner!). So I tried to think about a few travel-friendly, easy habits. They’re nothing huge, but I wanted to pick a few things that I know I could consistently do - to try to keep their Spanish (and mine!) going.
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Check out our full collection of stories
Habbi Habbi (Free) Printables
We are so happy to supplement our Habbi Habbi library with *free* Printables for you to print out and enjoy! They're a great way to practice Chinese or Spanish, as well as skills like tracing, matching, grouping, reading, writing, math & more!
5 ways for kids to practice Spanish (screen-free!) while traveling this summer
Summer is here! Our bags are packed, and we are visiting family - away from our kids’ immersion school, where they get the majority of their Spanish exposure )(we are an English-speaking household… and I am a Spanish beginner!). So I tried to think about a few travel-friendly, easy habits. They’re nothing huge, but I wanted to pick a few things that I know I could consistently do - to try to keep their Spanish (and mine!) going.
My kids want to speak English now that they’re in school. 5 things we’re trying to keep up their Chinese.
With schools open again, I find myself confronting a common situation for bilingual families… my kids are speaking a lot more English. So... what to do? While I don’t purport to have all the answers, I am trying a few things that seem to be working (so far!) with my eldest (5-yr old daughter) and sharing here, in case it’s helpful food for thought!
5 surprisingly easy tips for teaching language at home ... from a Mom who speaks 6 of them!
We are so inspired by Eveline's genuine love for language and appreciative of her easygoing perspectives on learning. She is familiar with Cantonese, Mandarin (Traditional & Simplified), French, Japanese, Spanish, English - and offers surprisingly simple ways for any family to get started.
Habbi Habbi Summer Reading Club
Join us for Habbi Habbi’s first Summer Reading Club - A fun virtual ‘reading club’ with prompts, posts, and prizes. A way for you to connect with other families using Habbi Habbi, to see their play moments and to share your own, should you feel so inclined!
Getting past ‘Jook-sing’: How one mom (and bookseller) is teaching her child Cantonese in a mixed-race home
Charing is a mom raising two bilingual children (Cantonese & English), in a mixed heritage family (her husband is Caucasian). We explored parent roles, success factors, resources, Cantonese vs. Mandarin, and of course, how Kozzi came about! It was such a pleasure, and we hope you love it too.
#HabbiHabits: How we use Habbi Habbi in our kitchen
[Guest Post] As non-native speakers, our family is always looking for ways to incorporate Chinese into our daily lives. It isn’t the most natural thing for us, so practice is deliberate, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun. One way we’ve been slyly sneaking in Chinese play with our youngest (age 3) is by pairing her Habbi Habbi book, Foodie Friends, with our play kitchen ...
#HabbiHabits: Tips on using Habbi Habbi across ages, from a speech therapy expert and bilingual mom
We loved this chat with speech therapy expert and mom - Grace. A 5-minute conversation evolved into a much longer discussion about how she uses Habbi Habbi and how she would advise different age groups and family types to use it (e.g. native and non-native). We left the conversation with new ideas on ways to use our own product and decided to write it up, in a series on Habbi Habbi Play Habits (#HabbiHabits), in case our Habbi Habbi families find these tips helpful too.
Literacy, Independence & Enjoyment: 3 Keys to language learning from a French-Japanese Teacher
Yoshito has a fascinating profile. He’s both a foreign-language teacher and a dad, French-Japanese living in the UK, with a Korean wife, raising his sons in French, Korean, and of course English. Our conversation also sparked new food for thought, particularly on the importance and role of literacy. We hope you enjoy this interview!
Language is the heartbeat of a culture: Perspective from an American mom raising an adoptee from China
We still remember the first time we met Liz. She reached out on Instagram, expressing such gratitude and love for Habbi Habbi. As we started to chat, we were overwhelmed by her story and the recognition that our product was making a real impact for adoptive families like hers. Delving into her story was such a treat.
Finding identity in the Global Chinese Diaspora:
One mom's journey to becoming quadrilingual
We first met Dianna (@coolmumdianna) while living in Beijing and marveled at her language ability. She can effortlessly move between English, Beijing Chinese accent, Southern Taiwanese accent, Hong Kong Cantonese, and more. Just watch her YouTube videos, and you will understand what we mean! We loved reconnecting with her, reflecting on topics like identity, culture, multilingualism, and motherhood. We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did!
Speaking Spanish in Japan:
A Global Mom Raising a Trilingual Toddler
We had so much fun speaking with Javi - we were fascinated by her @Japan.with.Chile account where she speaks a mix of English / Spanish / Japanese and labels her stories in multiple languages as well! She seemed like an example of a true global citizen, and we loved learning more about her story and her perspectives on raising a trilingual child in Japan!
Bilingual learning:
Make it fun, make it natural, make it daily
We recently met Yvonne, the mom behind Bilingual Kiddos and love how she is sharing her bilingual journey - from activities she does with her own kids to tips for us parents. We really enjoyed learning her approach to raising bilingual kids, especially her principle around keeping it fun!
How one mom pursues multilingualism at home
Thinking of introducing a second (or third) language at home? Valicia is a mom of 2 who loves languages - she is fluent in Spanish and English, with some proficiency in Japanese and Korean. We sat down with her to hear her approach to multilingualism, which centers around respect for language and culture… and her love of books!
Interested in Homeschooling? Tips on how to start.
With schools turning to online learning and so many people opting to keep their kids at home, we wanted to get guidance from the amazing experts who do it every day - homeschool moms. Here, we share insights from our exchange with Shanell @twolightsacademy, Coast Guard Family and Homeschool Mom of her 6-year-old Sprout. She leads us through her day, shares her philosophy on picking materials, and answers practical FAQ!
Tips from a Chinese Tutor:
Structuring a bilingual environment at home
We were thrilled to sit down with Mandy - originally from Shanghai, she is now a private tutor and creator of ‘Fun with Joy Mandarin.' Given her experience teaching kids of all ages - from <1 yr to high school - we were interested in hearing her tips on setting up a bilingual learning environment at home. We loved our chat and hearing tips that don't require formal tutors or teachers. We hope you find it helpful too!
Want to share your Multilingual Story with us? We would love to hear from you! DM us @behabbi or send us an email info@habbihabbi.com