I'M SO HAPPY YOU'RE HERE!
One of the best things about being multilingual? The connections I make and the people I meet. So let me share a little about myself.
ABOUT ME
Growing up, I always thought I would be a teacher. But, I never imagined I'd be teaching others about multilingualism. I grew up in a household where only English was spoken. I practically failed my middle school Spanish classes, and only as an adult did I learn Portuguese and then Spanish. For any of you who have learned languages as an adult, you know the effort it takes! But, what I started to learn was that even for children, there is some thought and planning involved.
Learning languages made me feel connected to the people I lived with in Portugal and to the Hispanic families I worked with in the United States, There is something magical about crossing this bridge into other worlds, shaped by different words and sounds.
When I was asked to pick a discipline in college, I really wanted to study the Spanish, Portuguese, and English literature that I'd spent countless evenings diving into . But, my practical side got the better of me, and I decided to become a speech therapist. I have found a medium to use foreign languages to hopefully inspire other families to carry forward their bilingual heritage.
WHY DO I TEACH?
Being multilingual has shaped my life, my thoughts, my experience of the world. My life would look so different had I not learned other languages.
As I looked at the families I worked with, I saw that many struggled to raise bilingual children. There were challenges I hadn't even realized existed for families who are trying to pass on their home language to their children. Or, for parents who don't speak a second language, having their child acquire a foreign language can feel monumental. And, as I started to search for materials to guide myself and these families in this process, I realized I wasn't finding everything I had hoped was out there. So, I decided to create my own with books, blogs, and courses to support other parents, caregivers, and teachers who are raising bilingual littles. Recently, I was interviewed by an online magazine, Subkit, about why I became an entrepreneur. You can read that interview here. I am so glad that I chose this road, have met so many amazing people along the way, and I can't wait to see what comes up next.
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