Happy New Year everyone with a super cute photo that one of you sent me (thank you!), and the best wish meme (writer anon) I came across on FB.

I hope you’re doing well -or at least not terrible- and that the first two weeks and the back-to-school days have been OK. Here COVID is on the rise again with many infections around us and amongst the kids’ classmates, but as a family unit, we’re doing well so far. I know you must be super busy with work and family obligations so all the news down below is segmented per subject so you can skim through the content and read only the sections that interest you. If you’d like to get in touch afterward, I’d love to hear back from you.

1) Giveaway

During the holidays, I noticed that a language teacher who was not amongst my acquaintances, K. Wyatt Reguera, chose to feature my books on her Instagram. It was a lovely surprise, and spontaneously in order to thank her, I offered her as a gift one of my books and one for her followers. You can read more and participate in this book giveaway till Sunday the 23rd of January here. Good luck!

2) Wonderful memories and excited about 2022 

Two years ago, and right before the pandemic started, “Where am I from?” was just about to get published, and I was planning my “back home” trip to Malta for the book launch. This post came up as a memory reminder on FB with the artist Platon and his last graffiti painted for this book. A fun -or not so fun- fact is that all my published books came out during the pandemic! Also, it is during the pandemic, now in 2022, that I’m taking the leap of faith and will try to make it work as a full-time writer. Things have been going great on that front, and over 1,800 books found a forever home in a child’s library in December only!

3) University of Liverpool 2022 Alumni Award nomination

Another lovely surprise to wake up to yesterday was this one. An old classmate of mine nominated me this year, and tagged me in a private uni group, for the University of Liverpool 2022 Alumni Award. I had no idea there was such an award, and as it’s been several years since I graduated -it must have been 2011 or 2012- so you can imagine how totally unexpected this is. Another fun fact, this time about languages, I studied in French for my first degree and in English for my second. Greek is my native language, and Norwegian is my husband’s native one and our children’s strongest.

4) Together They Blossomed coming very soon in bilingual editions


I’m getting ready now for the experiment I mentioned a while back, to translate and publish “Together They Blossomed” as a bilingual book for adults, a book to gift to the one we love in their native/emotional language + English. I can’t wait to share with you all the English-French, English-Spanish, English-Italian, and English-Greek editions in the coming days. If it goes well, I will consider more languages. Anyone here who might want to read it in any of these language combos once the files are ready and before publication? The French one is ready.

Here’s an old video I received from Sandra Rogers Photography when she opened the box with her English edition printed copies . Click here to watch it.

5) Happiness Street is now available in English-Danish

You can find it on all Amazon stores. Here‘s the US one.

6) More editions in Greek

“Happiness Street” and “Cousins Forever” are now available in Greek-English, Greek-French, Greek-Swedish, Greek-Portuguese, Greek-Spanish, Greek-German, Greek-Dutch, and Greek-Italian (more language combinations are available upon request). You can find them on all Amazon stores, and exclusively via the bookstore Paper Kittens FB page / eshop in Greece.

7) New children’s book “Sunny’s Magical Headband” 

No news yet when it comes to its publication. As mentioned earlier, publishing books during the pandemic can be a bit unpredictable, and it does present some obstacles, especially for traditional publishing. I’ll let you know as soon as I know more. This is a photo from the early stages of book production when the artist Eva Rodríguez was painting with traditional means all the different illustrations. This is a book I love dearly and I hope it will go in print and be shared with you all very soon. It will be published by Faraxa Publishing in Malta, EU.

8) Free eBooks every 1st of the month throughout 2022. Yay or Nay?

I guess you remember the promotion I put together last year that lasted 6 months where on the 1st of each month readers could download any of my eBooks + eBooks from many other authors for free? I’m considering doing the same this year as well, but just myself this time, and offer all of the eBook editions of my independently published books for free every 1st of the month. What do you think? Should I go ahead? I’ll be deciding during this week.

For the ones who are new here and have no idea about who I am and/or look like, here’s a recent photo that was taken by our 5-year-old daughter, who loves taking photos, during our Christmas holiday in Gran Canaria, Spain :). 

And here’s the cutest snowman ever that the kids made once we came back to Norway… Since then we’ve had tons of snow again which has now alost completely melted.

Till next time, take care.

//Elisavet (aka Liza)

The post Book giveaway till the end of the week, plus other news first appeared on Maltamum.

Hi friends,

I hope you’re all doing great. For the ones that the summer holidays are over and the kids are back to school, I hope that you’ve recharged your batteries and that this scholastic year things are smoother. In Norway, the pandemic measures have been lifted – the authorities have officially classified Covid as a non-threat, and we’re currently in Greece for a late “summer holiday”. 

We’re super happy to see our family and friends again after a year, some of them two years, and even more so cause my sister Charikleia Arkolaki is also traveling from her country of residence to meet us all and celebrate my daughter’s birthday :). For the ones that don’t know this, Charikleia is the amazing artist behind the books Happiness Street and Cousins Forever, and not only she’s artistically skilled and creative, but she also happens to be a data scientist by profession – I’m totally in awe of the way her brain works, combining purely analytical and mathematical skills with an artistic and creative mind.

NEW BOOKS + FREE EBOOKS CAMPAIGN

In other news, I’m happy to announce that Happiness Street is now available in Chinese-English and Filipino/Tagalog-English, and Cousins Forever in Filipino/Tagalog-English. In the next couple of days, Happiness Street will also be published in Japanese-English. You can download the eBooks for free in any of the 30+ currently available languages on the 1st of October on Amazon as part of this campaign, which ends this month. 

The next bilingual editions that I’m going to work on are English plus Thai, Arabic, Hindi, Hebrew, Indonesian, Bulgarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian, Slovenian. I’m also considering combining existing translations and publish the books ie in German-Turkish, French-Greek, Italian-Albanian, etc. If your language(s) is(are) missing from the list and you’re interested in these books, please hit reply and send me an email. I’d love to hear from you.

NEW PEaCH EDUCATORS GUIDEBOOK + AMBASSADORS + ONLINE SUMMIT

a)How to support multilingual children is the brand new guidebook for educators, available in English, French, and German, and Italian and Spanish to follow soon. You can download it for free here. 

b) 2nd call for PEaCH volunteer ambassadors: If you’re passionate about languages, raising children to speak their EU home languages, and have a bit of spare time, please apply and come join us. I’m also a volunteer ambassador of this project. More details here.

c) PEaCH summit on raising bilingual children. It’s a free, online event for anyone interested in the topic of bilingual children. Over four evenings (CET time zone), speakers and experts will host sessions on various aspects of bilingual upbringing. Register here.

CREATIVE YOUNG BILINGUALS

Mom Elina sent me this sweet photo with the paintings her son created right after reading Happiness Street: “We just received our bilingual book happiness street !! Thank you so much Elisavet Arkolaki!! A book with a sweet feeling of memories and a promise to return. Iason was inspired to paint too! Here are his drawings of the sea, the sand and hill, the vase with the flowers and the fruits .”

If you also have any photos and feedback to share after having read any of my books, please let me know. It matters :).

A LOVELY MEMORY REMINDER IN MY NEWSFEED

Did you know on the 26th of September we celebrate the European Day of Languages? This year, I enjoyed the company of friends and family, speaking and being fully immersed in my home language which is a rarity during this time of the year. 

In 2018, –thank you Facebook!– shortly after the successful Kickstarter campaign to fund and create the street art illustrated book Where am I from? with Platon and Joanne Micallef from Faraxa Publishing, I was invited by one of our sponsors, Aase Wivestad, the Libraries Counsellor of the Vestfold Municipality in Norway, to talk about my experience raising multilingual and multicultural children, and the creative journey behind this book on the 26th of September of that year. Our son was at school, but our daughter who was still pretty much attached to mummy came along with my husband and mum who was visiting us at that time .

Massive thank you, again, to all of you who supported me in this author journey at the very beginning. I’m on my way now to be a full-time author, the book sales are going great, and I wouldn’t have made it if I hadn’t received so much love and support in the early days which boosted my confidence.

ON BEING IN GREECE & INTERNATIONAL TRANSLATION DAY

Being in Greece on holidays also means that I have access to my very first library -lots of books, comic books, magazines, etc dating from when I first started reading till I left my parents’ place- . This book brought memories of the very first lecture I attended at university, back in 2000! The course was about linguistics, and the book’s title is ‘Modern Greek Language; studies about language, literature, and style’. 

I remember that this was the very first time I realized that a language is truly alive, it changes and evolves constantly. That the spoken language is more fluid than the written one, the rules can be bent, and that the way any given person speaks is ‘correct’, provided both the transmitter of the message and the receiver perfectly understand each other. 

It was also during this linguistics course that I realized how different languages truly are since they can have words that cannot be accurately translated from one language to another, words that came to exist because of different environments, needs, and experiences of people who live in different countries. In that first lecture, the professor talked to us about snow as an example, and how in Greek we have one word for it whereas in northern places and populations there can be several different ones representing different types of snow. 

Today is, by the way, International Translation Day! If there are any translators in here reading this, happy translation day :)!

That’s all for now, and thank you for reading.
I know it’s been a long one but I had a lot to share :).

Love, Liza.

The post Free eBooks (last 24h – 1st of October!), new PEaCH educators’ guidebook + other news! first appeared on Maltamum.

Dear friends,

I hope you’re keeping safe and coping with the different new routines that have been in place all around the world. Here in Norway, the kids are back to school, and they’ve started socializing with a few friends after school as well. We’ve had 0 cases in our little town for two weeks now and people are feeling more and more relaxed. How are things where you live? 

FREE JOURNAL FOR KIDS IN MANY LANGUAGES
My pandemic journal is a lovely initiative by Multicultural Kid Blogs, a blog which is maintained by a group of mum-bloggers from around the world, and of which I am a part of. This free printable is available in several languages (English, Spanish, Swedish, Chinese, and many more) and I translated it to Greek.

BOOK GIVEAWAY
My small Facebook page, Maltamum, which I started in 2013 just before my first kid was born, has now exceeded 5,000 followers. In collaboration with my publisher Faraxa Publishing, we are giving away 1 copy of Where am I from?, and 1 copy of How to Raise Confident Multicultural Children. Click here to enter the draw; it ends on Monday 18 May 10:00 CET. All the best of luck :). 

A REVIEW BY A BOOK SNOB, A KID & A BOREDPANDA FEATURE
In other news, I got this feature accepted and published at Bored Panda where you can see photos of the street art before it turned into illustrations. A couple of pictures capture what took about 1 1/2 years to create <3.

I also received two of the most amazing reviews ever that made my heart swell with happiness; I must admit I might have shed a tear or two. You see, one of the kids represented in the book wrote me a book review! And what he describes in there is quite accurate, as the background story truly is that many of these kids were born in Malta, and their parents do come from many different countries.

The other one is a 5-star review on Amazon from someone nicknamed ”Book Snob” which you can read here. 

FROM THE ARCHIVES
A while back I discovered a lovely children’s book at our local library, titled My Two Blankets. It was so good that I felt the need to review it on my blog. 

ON THE WEB 
A profoundly, thought-provoking read, and one of the best pieces I’ve read lately online titled Fuck the Bread. The Bread Is Over. by Sabrina Orah Mark.

FACEBOOK HIGHLIGHT
In this difficult time, Multicultural Kid Blogs members, its family, and friends want to spread a message of kindness to all. A message of kindness in different languages from around the world. 

Is there anything you feel is worth sharing on my blog and newsletter? If yes, please hit “reply”. I’d love to hear from you.

I wish you a lovely week ahead and remember to enter the giveaway.

Take care and all the best of luck :)!

//Elisavet Arkolaki

The post A Book Snob review, a giveaway, a printable journal, and more! first appeared on Maltamum.

Dear friends,

I wish that you, your family, and friends are all healthy and safe. The kindergartens and primary schools (1st-4th grade) are going to open here in Norway on Monday and both my kids will have their first day ‘back to school’. They’re super excited and I really hope everything will be OK. At least the sun is shining bright the last couple of days and we can feel grateful for the nice weather. How are things in your part of the world and how are the kids responding to the current situation? If you have anything funny and positive to share, please send me your thoughts. I would love to spread joyful messages and pictures with our community in the newsletter/blog/social media (they can be shared as anon).

INTERVIEW
A couple of days ago I was approached by Niki from Raising A Legacy who raises mixed-race children, to discuss multiculturalism, minority cultures, bilingualism, and much more. You can read the interview here.

FROM THE ARCHIVES
Here’s a blog post I wrote a while back, titled My husband speaks a language I don’t understand with our children and it’s OK.

FROM THE WEB 
An interesting article about language mixing by Dr. Shana Poplack.

FREE ZOOM MEETING MEET THE EXPERT
Many families like ours face some very particular challenges. One of them is raising bi- or multilingual children. Delftmama invited Dr. Ute Limacher-Riebold for a Q&A session on Tuesday, 28 April 2020 at 19:00 CET. You can send her questions in advance at info@UtesInternationalLounge.com with the subject: DelftMama online event and she will address them during the live event.

FACEBOOK GROUP HIGHLIGHT
Some beautiful pictures from around the world during the lockdown in the group View from my window.

GRANDPARENTS GETTING CREATIVE

-Rita Rosenback from Multilingual Parenting creates daily “Find it!” pictures for her 4-year-old grandson like the one seen here where he needs to find Iron Man. Sometimes he needs a bit of help, so then he sends her a voice message asking for hints, which she responds to with a voice message.

-My father recorded himself on video narrating my personal childhood fairytale of his to share with his grandkids at bedtime.

-Claire Annette Noland, a children’s librarian, reading specialist, and author, buys and reads children’s books to her grandkids live on camera in an attempt to shorten the distance between USA and Nicaragua. Here you can see her reading to them Where am I from? She also wrote a book review here.

WHERE AM I FROM? – 40% DISCOUNT

Thank you for sharing photos with your children reading the book, it warms my heart <3. My publisher is semi-operating during the pandemic and just announced a 40% discount offer on all their titles till the end of May. Simply add the coupon code SPRING at checkout (do expect postage delays outside of Malta). You might also be able to request a signed copy – I believe there are a few left in stock. You can order it here.

HELP NEEDED
If you’ve already purchased/read Where am I from? and How to Raise Confident Multicultural Children, I’d like to say THANK YOU! I know that my feelings should not be involved in this, but a particular someone, who has been bullying online one of the guide’s contributors for quite a while, left several 1-star reviews from different fake profiles on Goodreads and 1 on Amazon in an attempt to cause damage. I’ve reported all of them, the majority got removed, but the Amazon.co.uk one remains. Can you help me, please? If you found value in any of my books, I’d be so grateful if you’d help make the remaining 1-star reviews from this guy have less of an impact. Kindly locate my books on any of the Amazon websites where you have an account (.com, .de, .co.uk, etc. – you must have spent a min. of 50 USD within the last year to be eligible to leave reviews), and on Goodreads – Where am I from?, How to Raise Confident Multicultural Children and share your honest review. If you don’t have an account on any of these, you can also send it to me via email. I appreciate it.

LIGHT FORM OF EXERCISE 
I am not very sporty, and quite busy these days as so many of us. If you’re looking for some short, simple, slow-paced walking exercises to do at home, I found the “Walk at home” Youtube videos very helpful. 

WE ARE NOT ALL IN THE SAME BOAT
I’d like to close this newsletter with these lovely thoughts by an anon writer. 

“I heard that we are all in the same boat, but it’s not like that. We are in the same storm, but not in the same boat. Your ship could be shipwrecked and mine might not be. Or vice versa.

For some, quarantine is optimal. A moment of reflection, of re-connection, easy in flip flops, with a cocktail or coffee. For others, this is a desperate financial & family crisis.

For some that live alone, they’re facing endless loneliness. While for others it is peace, rest & time with their mother, father, sons & daughters.
With the $600 weekly increase in unemployment, some are bringing in more money to their households than they were working. Others are working more hours for less money due to pay cuts or loss in sales.
Some families of 4 just received $3400 from the stimulus while other families of 4 saw $0.

Some were concerned about getting a certain candy for Easter while others were concerned if there would be enough bread, milk, and eggs for the weekend.

Some want to go back to work because they don’t qualify for unemployment and are running out of money. Others want to kill those who break the quarantine.

Some are home spending 2-3 hours/day helping their child with online schooling while others are spending 2-3 hours/day to educate their children on top of a 10-12 hour workday.

Some have experienced the near-death of the virus, some have already lost someone from it and some are not sure if their loved ones are going to make it. Others don’t believe this is a big deal.

Some have faith in God and expect miracles during this 2020. Others say the worst is yet to come.

So, friends, we are not in the same boat. We are going through a time when our perceptions and needs are completely different.

Each of us will emerge, in our own way, from this storm. It is very important to see beyond what is seen at first glance. Not just looking, actually seeing.

We are all on different ships during this storm experiencing a very different journey.”

Stay safe, keep reading.

I wish you a lovely rest of the day and am looking forward to hearing from you.

With my warmest regards,
//Elisavet Arkolaki

The post News and tips for multilingual families including a meet the expert session first appeared on Maltamum.

If you could get a glimpse on my email, you would see that I am getting several emails per month asking me to promote products and businesses, link back to -often- dodgy websites, upload guest posts. The vast majority of these, get a negative response, and I refuse the proposed payment. I would never promote anything that goes against my ethics and values. And then again, there are those rare times when I come across some gems that truly deserve our attention. One of these companies, which is also recommended by friends of mine in Malta (I did my research), and which you should definitely check out, is SportsKidz.

Doesn’t it often feel that we are fighting a losing battle against the onslaught of screens when trying to keep our children fit and healthy? With the highest childhood obesity rate in Europe, we in Malta must be particularly concerned about how we challenge this trend in our children.

Helping them lead a sporty lifestyle is the key. SportsKidz – starting again in October – is an after-school club for children aged between 3 and 16. It introduces the kids to a wide range of sports and keeps them active, whilst having a huge amount of fun.

Participation Not Competition

We all know that one of the most off-putting aspects of many sports clubs is the emphasis on attainment and competition. SportsKidz challenges this mindset and allows children an opportunity to enjoy a range of sports and team-building exercises without worrying too much about how they compare with their peers. This, in turn, boosts confidence and encourages strong friendships among the children.

Good Habits

Research suggests that children’s activity levels plummet around the age of seven (as school becomes more academically-focused) and an antidote to this has to be a good thing for our children’s mental and physical health. After-school sports clubs are the answer as they encourage routine exercise with an emphasis on fun.

Communication, Communication, Communication

Often forgotten is the huge benefit sport presents with regards to building communication skills. Especially in a world where much of our communication takes place away from others and by looking at a screen, sporting activities allow children to practice clear and encouraging communication with others who are actually near them. This is an opportunity for children to interact socially, in a non-competitive environment, which, in turn, has many positive benefits in the home, classroom and other areas of their life.

An Emphasis On Variety And Fun

By giving kids the chance to try a variety of sports – there are 18 scheduled over the course of this coming year – SportsKidz ensures that participating children are working a range of different muscles and joints which is excellent for fitness, coordination, and development. All the while, the emphasis is on enjoying the sessions, which the children can confirm!

One of last year’s young participants says, “I have made many friends through SportsKidz. We have so much fun and we’re all excited to start again in October!”

Subscriptions are now open for this coming year. Children are divided into age groups of three-to-five (one-and-a-half hours a week), six-to-eight, nine-to-11 and 12+ (three hours a week). The sports on offer throughout the year include athletics, gymnastics, judo, table tennis, karate, taekwondo, handball, basketball, volleyball, football, netball, tag rugby, badminton, hockey, golf, tennis, pickleball, and kwiik cricket!

For more information about the SportsKidz program, visit www.sportskidz.com.mt, email edward@sportskidz.com.mt or call on 7942 2054. The program runs on weekends concurrently with the academic year, with this year kicking off on Friday 4 October.

The post Get Your Children Moving With Malta’s SportsKidz first appeared on Maltamum.

“The most important thing that parents can do is talk and read to their children. During the toddler and preschool years, it is critical to provide children with different language and reading experiences.” – G. Reid Lyon

I stumbled upon this article about Finland, the world’s most literate nation, and their brand new library in Helsinki, which bends the concept of what we expect a public library to be. ‘In Helsinki – home to almost 650,000 people – there are 36 public libraries. “Libraries are the second-highest rated public service in Helsinki; the number one is drinking water,” explains Helsinki’s executive director of culture Tommi Laitio. It is enshrined in law that every Finnish municipality must have a public library, and as a result, there are 853 across the country.’

In the city I am now local, Horten in Norway, the attitude is similar. The public library is a focal point to our community. It is a place to socialize, with a small cafe-restaurant in its premises, sewing machines, lots of events and happenings, it is free of charge, and one can borrow as many books as they wish for at a time. There’s also a whole floor dedicated to the children, decorated with beautiful, colorful, inviting graffiti. There are toys and books in abundance, chill out corners with comfy sofas, coloring pages and pencils, computers, a designated area to sit down and enjoy a lunch with the little ones. It’s a place that even the local schools visit often, starting with the pre-schoolers.

Books matter. Reading for pleasure, and not because we have to, matters. It promotes literacy, it shapes our identity in a positive way, it shapes our future as societies. And we need to start early, at home.

If we look into the science of things, it has been proven that between conception and age three, a child’s brain undergoes an impressive amount of change. It doubles in size in the first year, and by age three it has reached 80% of its adult volume. By age 5, the foundation that shapes a child’s future health, happiness and growth have been laid. A child will never learn throughout her life as quickly as she does now.

There are so many studies and so much research all pointing to the direction that reading to our children from very early on, telling them stories, is paramount for their development. Literature and literacy are the direct product of a human need to understand the world by the simple act of telling stories. Humans have always been coming up with all sorts of stories, fables, and myths in order to better understand the people around them and make sense of the world. This is how the human race survived, lived, and evolved.

A brilliant way to help our children interiorize a strong sense of identity is by sharing traditional stories; the ones that span generations. Folklore stories and myths from our countries of origin keep the culture alive and help them connect with their roots, even when living outside the community. They can help them grow closer to their past and incorporate elements of tenderness and pride in their identity.

Also, sharing stories from cultures that aren’t their own can help them to better understand friends and classmates. Then, there are these other stories, the ones you can recite yourself, and which can be told at the most diverse moments of the day and not just before bedtime. As parents, we can use every opportunity we have to share with our child invented stories, heard stories, stories we’ve read together.

I remember growing up listening to my father telling us three stories he had come up with himself, always the same, night and night again during our dinner time. This storytelling time was so special to us that we purposefully delayed finishing our food. We never got tired of them. These very same stories are now passed on to my children.

Books are also a powerful tool for our children, helping them to make sense of their homes, communities, the world at large. Literature provides their first window to a world beyond their five senses, a world that can be magically entered by the simple act of words and illustrations putting in motion the wheels of the internal mechanism called imagination. This is how they grow and this is how they develop into individuals who can think for themselves.

There are so many books out there to choose from and as parents, it is our responsibility to present to our young ones fun stories with beautiful artwork that sparkle their curiosity and inspire them. For cross-cultural children, like mine, in particular, it can be very beneficial to pick up books with diverse characters with whom they can relate to.

It is also advisable when the children start showing specific interests, to let them choose books on their own. One of our favorite family outings, for instance, is Saturday morning visits to the local library I mentioned earlier. This is an inexpensive way to introduce our kids to a variety of books before deciding which ones they really love and would like to own.

When it comes to which books are best, that I don’t know. Kids have their own personalities and their interests change as they grow. What I can tell you though is that the best books will grow with your child.  Let’s say you buy a book now​ for your 5-year-old to read to him. If it becomes a favorite, at 6 he will be reciting the words to you and by 8 he will enjoy reading it on his own, all curled up somewhere cozy at home.

With love, affection, encouragement and mental stimulation, nutritious meals and good health care, any child will most certainly thrive. These pillars form a solid foundation to develop a sense of trust and security, that turns into confidence as they grow.

Books, reading stories for pleasure, matter.

As always,

Love, Liza.

The post Reading books for pleasure enables our children to thrive first appeared on Maltamum.

This is our story on how we managed to save our family’s minority languages, and how our eldest developed language skills in two additional languages.

Intercultural and interracial marriages are on the rise according to​ ​studies​, whilst more parents, particularly in USA and Europe, are adopting children from other countries. As a result, our communities are growing increasingly diverse and it is no longer surprising to see families composed of different ethnicities and cultures who speak several languages.

My family is an example of this. Our kids were born in different countries, one in Malta and the other one in Norway, and we all have different nationalities. Our daughter is a bit over 2 years old and doesn’t speak clearly yet. She combines words here and there from our different home languages in order to communicate. Thus, I will focus on our linguistic journey with our 5 1/2-year-old.

Erik has been spending months at a time in between Malta, Greece, Norway, and Thailand. He speaks Norwegian, Greek, English, he understands Swedish and has a small vocabulary in Thai.

In the following two videos you will see a boy having fun while singing and speaking in all his languages within 2 minutes.

All this sounds wonderful and it truly is. I am very happy and super proud that he has made it that far. But I need to share with you though that the road has been bumpy. You see, multiple language acquisition is not linear. It’s not like you learn some vocabulary, grammar, and syntax per language and you just keep on building on that. Things happen in life, other languages can take over, language regression is real.

Multilingual children always advance and try to catch up with the community language. Their different languages fluency can and does fluctuate according to the environment and life’s circumstances. I remember when I was pregnant and later on when Erik was a baby, I was thinking that it would just work out. We would speak to him in our different main languages and he would pick them up. Afterall, multilingualism is what’s ‘normal’ in so many countries in the world, including Malta, the country where Erik was born. In Malta, for instance, the locals are at the bare minimum bilingual. English and Maltese are both official languages whereas the vast majority of the population is also fluent in Italian.

Roy and I decided to use the OPOL method for language acquisition which is one of the most popular language strategies. OPOL is exactly the way it sounds, each person speaks one language, (usually their most dominant language) to your child. Whether it be a parent, grandparent, another family member, friend, or teacher, it is the same approach. For example, I am a native Greek speaker and speak to my children only in Greek. My husband is a native Norwegian speaker and speaks only Norwegian to them. Our family language, the one we speak when we are all together, is English.

For the first 2 1/2 years of our son’s life, the community language was English. All social interactions were taking place in English both with Maltese people and expats. Our son didn’t attend a playschool and my husband and I worked home-based. As a result, our son had been involved in our daily activities and he was exposed to the community language plus the minority languages on a daily basis through environmental and social settings.

Working home-based has also given us the possibility of traveling often and spending a lot of time in different countries, including the ones where his 3 main languages are spoken. Erik was often fully immersed in the local communities. I believe that these factors were crucial to the development of his language skills. Nothing was forced, it just came naturally at of his sheer need to communicate.

At that point of age, Erik would choose to answer to us in the language he felt most comfortable with, and his preferred one had already cleared out to be the community one, English. Greek came second when it comes to fluency and Norwegian third. Roy would talk to him in Norwegian for instance, Erik understood but he would choose to answer in English. And this was absolutely fine with us. We would never make him refrain from his communicative instinct. We simply kept on speaking in our own languages, trying to raise our children naturally in a multilingual home. Our primary goal with teaching our children our different languages has always been and will be, bonding and communication. The way I see it, languages are their ticket, they give them direct access to their different cultures of origins, the opportunity to form stronger relationships with their relatives and strengthen their roots.

After we moved to Norway, Erik’s English language skills had been deteriorating to the point where after about 4 months in Horten he no longer responded to us in English. Norwegian had already become his No.1 language. Within about half a year, his vocabulary and language skills were the same as for the other 3-year-old kids in Norway. For the second time in his life, he adjusted to the environment and showed a clear preference to the community language. Greek followed second. He started attending a Norwegian pre-school and shortly after our second child was born.

The birth of his sister proved to be quite traumatic for him and we went through 2 rough months where he was very angry and rejected me.
These factors contributed to me spending less time with him and thus minimizing his exposure to the Greek language. As a result, he regressed a lot in Greek and as I didn’t speak Norwegian we started having a major communication problem. English appeared to be gone. We had to save Greek. Can you imagine a mother not being able to communicate properly, in any language, with her child?

What happened next was that Greek family members visited us and we also went to Greece two times, for 1 month and 1 1/2 respectively, to fully immerse him again to the language and have him spend more time with me. This did the trick and he caught up with Greek again. Interestingly though, he now has a bit of a Norwegian accent when he speaks Greek.

When he was 4, Erik would visit Thailand again for the 3rd time in his life, for another long stay, 4 months this time. By that point, we thought that English was more or less lost, even though we assumed he still understood a bit. He proved us wrong. Within just 1 week in Thailand, he started making efforts to speak English again cause he quickly realized that it was a ‘common’ language. After 1 month, he had been using English again on a daily basis. He was no longer fluent, but he could make himself understood and he definitely did understand.

If we see languages for what they are, which is communication tools, this experience makes sense. All these languages, even if they became rusty because he didn’t use them so often, they were still available in his communication toolbox. When he needed to communicate, he chose the most appropriate one.

Erik also attended a Swedish kindergarten last winter in Thailand. The Swedish and the Norwegian languages are very similar and by the end of our stay there, Erik was able to translate some words from Norwegian to Swedish, making sure his classmates would understand him.

Right now we are back in Thailand, spending one more European winter in the same place, Koh Lanta. Erik caught up with Swedish much faster this time, and his vocabulary in Thai is even richer. English remains stable and it feels like he gets more and more comfortable with all his languages.

What will the future bring, I have no idea? I am well aware that language regression can happen at any point in their lives. And that’s OK. The basic knowledge of our different languages is there, and we, as parents, we will keep on using them at home, knowing that whenever our children will need any of these languages, once they start using them again, it will all come back <3

The post Our journey raising multilingual children first appeared on Maltamum.

I love books, I guess you know that by now. So you can imagine my excitement when I discovered Mom’s Favorite Reads, a brand new online magazine for mums that focuses on books, reading and literature. Moreover, Moms Favorite Reads represents an international community of like minded mums, established to encourage reading among adults and children.

Mom’s Favorite Reads showcases the best in publishing, independent and traditional. This year, their magazines will feature some big names, including an exclusive interview with Andrew Cartmel, author of The Vinyl Detective and a screenwriter on Dr Who which you can read right now by downloading January’s issue here.

In this edition

• An exclusive interview with bestselling novelist and Dr Who screenwriter Andrew Cartmel
• Who was Jack the Ripper?
• An insight into the troubled life of Hollywood legend Gene Tierney
• Overcoming depression and anxiety 
• Exercise, nutrition and wellbeing for you and your family 
• Women’s Suffrage a hundred years on
• Short stories 
• Bestsellers and Hot New Releases
• Activities for adults and children
• And so much more!

The spirited founders, with two of them being mums themselves, authors Hannah Howe, Rebecca Carter and Denise McCabe, believe that reading not only offers great joy to people but it is also a cornerstone of education and education is a cornerstone of a civilized society. I couldn’t agree more. What they’re trying to achieve is quite remarkable and they deserve to be on the spotlight.

I asked Hannah to share with us the story behind this ambitious project and what have they achieved so far. Many of you who read my blog are also self-employed or wish to start your own venture so please keep on reading. Hannah gave us some insights on the business side of things which you might find useful. If you have any specific questions, leave a comment under this blog post. She’s super helpful and knowledgeable.

In Hannah’s words:

‘Hello, my name is Hannah Howe. I write psychological and historical mysteries. My books are distributed through Gardners to over 300 outlets worldwide. Over the past four years my novels have reached number one on the Amazon charts on fifteen separate occasions. This summer Saving Grace, my Victorian mystery, was a bestseller in Australia. I’m also a co-founder of Mom’s Favorite Reads.

What is Mom’s Favorite Reads? It’s a community of book lovers. We produce a quarterly book catalog, which features over 400 books, and a monthly magazine. Our magazines, available as eBooks, in print and audio-books, have topped the Amazon Contemporary Women charts, the Seasonal charts and the Graphic Novel charts in America, Australia, Britain and Canada. Alongside leading independent authors our magazines also feature contributions from high profile mainstream authors. For example, in this month’s issue, we feature exclusive interviews with a Dr Who screenwriter, an expert on Sherlock Holmes and Terry Deary, author of Horrible Histories, one of the most popular series in the history of publishing.

Also, in 2019, we will develop our community to support literacy amongst adults and children. One of the ways we will do this is by offering schools, societies and literacy projects bundles of free books.

If you are an author, you are welcome to join Mom’s Favorite Reads. If you are a reader, please visit our website and check out our video, book catalog and magazines https://moms-favorite-reads.com

If you would like us to support a literacy project, please email me at momsfavoritereads@outlook.com and we will explore the possibility of supporting your project.’

How did it all start?

‘Through books and Facebook, Rebecca Carter, Denise McCabe and I have known each other for about four years. During that time we have been involved in a number of projects to help authors promote their books. In 2018 we decided that we needed a Big Idea to help with book promotion.T

For a couple of months we discussed various ideas. Then, in August 2018, I received an email about literacy while thinking about creating a mailing list. These two factors came together in my mind and I proposed an idea to Rebecca and Denise, a mailing list that would somehow encourage literacy.

Mums were at the forefront of our minds because they read for themselves, to and with their children, and they buy books for the family. From that, Mum’s Best Reads was born.

We soon realized that our main readership would be in America, so we changed the name to Mom’s Best Reads, then Mom’s Favorite Reads.

Within a week of discussing the idea we had created a basic website, a Mailchimp account and a Facebook page with over a hundred followers.

Our idea to send out a simple newsletter developed into a monthly magazine, which has topped the Contemporary Women chart three months running in four countries – America, Australia, Britain and Canada.

A video soon followed along with our first book catalog, which contains over 400 books. We will update our book catalog quarterly.

We are still developing our Mom’s Favorite Reads community and in 2019 will reach out to groups, organisation and societies that support literacy with the aim of lending our support.

Mom’s Favorite Reads has also forged partnerships with major businesses, including the Fussy Librarian and Chess.com. To help us fulfill our goals we will seek to attract more high profile authors and forge further business connections.

In just twenty weeks Mom’s Favorite Reads has achieved a remarkable amount. However, this is just the prologue. The main story will soon follow.’

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/momsfavoritereads/
Website: https://moms-favorite-reads.com/
Download January’s issue here.

I am happy to share with you that next month a short story of mine will be included in the February edition. Looking forward to hear your feedback on Mom’s Favourite Reads.

Love, Liza.

The post New Free to Download Magazine for Mums first appeared on Maltamum.

A few months ago the the lovely people behind My Nametags sent me an email asking if I would like to receive their stick-on or iron-on nametags without any obligation to review them. As we all know, this kind of products are a must, especially when the little ones start attending daycare, playschool, kindergarten, school, so I obviously sent a positive reply. I opted for stick-on nametags, as these are recommended for all-round use (the iron-on tags are recommended for clothes), and because I thought this would be fun for our eldest as a ‘do-together’ activity.

The order process is really simple and straight forward, you simply visit www.mynametags.com.mt, pick your type (iron on or sticker), choose your design and text and away you go. Each order comes with 56 labels, the iron stickers are best for clothes and the sticker ones are for all-round use, and the cost is € 16.95 per set of tags with FREE postage in Malta. The process itself is quick as was delivery. Within a few days they popped through the letter box.

Our oldest is 4 1/2 and at this point he loves stickers and he loves to see his name on his things. Erik was thrilled to see his name on label stickers which he could stick on his belongings. I must admit that we did struggle a bit to make him understand that these are for limited use, for items he takes with him at the kindergarten and outdoor activities, and that no, he could not label his toys, books and all sorts of other belongings of similar nature

I waited for two months before writing this review, as I wanted to put them first on the test. The most frequently used item is Erik’s water bottle which he takes at the kindergarten and which I often wash in the dishwasher. I am happy to state that even the water bottle label is still intaked. The Mynametags labels appear to be super durable and are probably the best in the market. They launched their business back in 2004, and here come some super impressive facts:

• 10 year washing guarantee, unmatched in the name tags industry
• Almost 100% customer satisfaction rating
• Independently tested to have the best labels in the UK

What I loved the most about My Nametags personalised name labels

• Tons of designs and vibrant colours to choose from
• User friendly website
• Fast delivery
• Enough space to include Name and Phone number (in case the labeled item gets lost)
• The stick-on name tags can be used on a range of items and surfaces such as clothes, shoes, food containers and water bottles
• The stick-on name tags are waterproof and are suitable for use in dishwasher, microwave and even steriliser

What I didn’t like about My Nametags personalised name labels

We had a very positive experience till now. Nothing to complain about.

Overall verdict

If you are looking for some custom name tags, either for going back to school, or to get some peace of mind while you’re out and about, then I highly recommend the My Nametags stick-on labels.

Contact Details
E-shop: www.mynametags.com.mt
Facebook: My NameTags

Disclosure: We were very kindly sent some coloured nametags for the purposes of a review but the thoughts and opinions about My Nametags are all my own.

The post My Nametags Personalised Sticker Labels Review first appeared on Maltamum.

If your family holiday is looming, you’ll be feeling a mixture of excitement and stress. Travelling with children can pose a few difficulties, from organizing them to ensuring they don’t run amok at the airport, but the good memories will last a lifetime.

If you’re stressed about the upcoming event, be sure to follow these tips to help make the holiday (and getting there) run smoothly, so the whole family has a fantastic time.

Plan, plan, plan

The key to a stress-free holiday with children is to plan ahead. There is a lot to think about with children in general, so the more of your checklist you can tick off before you set off on holiday, the less likely you are to forget anything.

You should plan down to the smallest details – from your kids’ schedules for the week ahead of your trip, to what you’re going to eat before you set off. This way you’ll have a clear mindset and will be less likely to run into any problems.

Packing tips

Getting your packing right is the key to a successful holiday with the family. It may feel like children need to travel with twice as much stuff as adults (which is often proven to be true), so ensuring that you’re prepping their suitcases and clothes way in advance will take a lot of hassle out of the days leading up to the trip.

Keep their holiday-wear separate to their day-to-day-wear a week or two before you travel, so you know exactly how many tops/bottoms they have, and what needs to be washed/purchased prior to packing.

Also, be mindful of the climate you’re travelling to. Keep an eye on the weather forecast for your destination in the days leading up to your trip, and pack accordingly. Your children will become irritable or unwell if they are not dressed appropriately, so head-wear and lots of sunblock for sunny climates is a must, and thick jumpers, coats, gloves and hats are crucial for colder conditions.

Be sure to pack a first-aid kit as you never know what might happen, and how far you’ll be from the nearest pharmacy or hospital. Also pack a pair of chewing gums to ease the ear pain that your eldest ones might experience during the flight, and a dummy or breastfeeding on demand especially during take off and landing for the youngest ones.

Long-haul flight tips

If you’re flying far afield, it’s wise to book an overnight flight so your children are most likely to sleep through the most of it. Also, be sure to tire your children out in the day with activities and sports, to increase their chances of sleeping through the journey. You’ll probably be exhausted too and sleep most of the way!

It’s not a bad idea to pack your children blankets, cushions, snacks, a change of clothes and toothbrushes, to keep them as comfortable as possible.

Do you have a particularly hyper child who needs constant stimulation? Make sure they have plenty to do, from toys to coloring books and crayons. Be sure to pack your iPad or smartphone too, so they can watch their favorite films and TV shows or play their favorite games on the plane. What we normally do with our eldest, is to hide the iPad for a while prior to a trip, and present it on the airplane with the promise of unlimited access during travelling. Before this trip to Thailand for instance, our iPad hadn’t been used for about 3 months, so he was over the moon and stayed glued to his seat for quite a while.

A good tip is to pack each child their own carry-on bag full of their favorite things – this will teach them to take responsibility for their own possessions, as well as lightening your load.

Baby carrier

I cannot stress enough how handy a good baby carrier will be at the airport, the plane and at your destination. It will free up your arms, it will keep the youngest member of the family contained, save you lots of time especially at the airport -where you’re likely to be in a rush-, cries and unnecessary stress. At your destination, it will be your best companion for all places a pushchair cannot go to. As you already know, I am a BIG FAN of Ergobaby and Tula, the best carriers around, and which I sell through my e-shop here. I swear by them and have been using them with my children since 2013.

Double buggy

Finding the right buggy for your family holiday is crucial. If you have two small children, you could benefit from taking a double buggy with you on your trip. This means you can keep your children close to you while travelling and saves you from chasing them or carrying them all the time. Double buggies also allow you to store your own luggage or day bag, and most can be folded up to fit on a plane/in a car.

By following these travelling tips, you and your little ones can enjoy a stress-free holiday, with tantrums and tiredness at a minimum. The most important thing is to not shy away from big holidays that require a lot of travelling – they teach your children patience and strengthen your bond as a family.

Our travelling with kids background

We have taken our kids in many places, starting with a holiday in Gozo when Erik was just 1 1/2 months old. Since then, and two kids later, we have travelled with them to Greece (mainland and islands), Norway (even in a camper-van down south and with a big ship and plane all the way up north to the Lofoten islands and see the midnight sun!), to Port Blair, Kalkuta and Havelock island in India, Macao, and have been spending 3 European winters in a summery Thailand. Erik also insists he has been to Spain with his grandparents, he’s a Spanish doctor, and he simply hopped from Norway and got himself to Spain, but that’s a whole different story

Travelling with young children can be tricky, but it is doable, and rewarding.

Happy holidaying!

//Liza

The post Tips on How To Travel With Children first appeared on Maltamum.