Back-to-School:
Celebrating Summer Reads, Goals, and Multilingual Books
Hello my Fluent readers!
🌈 Welcome to my blog - where I share with you my stories about multilingual parenting. I am raising my son in 4 languages while building a business that allows customers to customize children’s books in multiple languages. 🌈
It’s back to school! Already. I can’t believe it’s already over for us with school starting on August 15th.
I don’t know about you…. but our summers always begin with the noblest of multilingual intentions. Grand ideas such as: TV only in the minority language (Arabic) and we will review all the homework packets in French from the entire year. Daily flashcards in a desired language such as German and we are going to Japan… let’s just pick up an extra language on the side. WHY NOT?
And then summer happens. We travel to family and forget our favourite books in French at home. Friends come over and we binge-watch a series in English. We develop a healthy amount of shame concerning the library when we lose a backpack FULL of Dogman novels. (Pro tip: lost books are under the bed.) We visit the monolingual English cousins. And a week goes by with nary a word outside of English is spoken…. 😅
No problem though, because the new year is here! And while some misinformed individuals count January first as the new year - I am here to tell you, the new year is actually September. So now is the time to refresh and make a whole new set of resolutions. (Preferably lofty unattainable language goals. Shoot for the moon, land among the stars, type of ideas.)
For Fluent, as we step into the new school year, our goals are as lofty as ever. However first on the list - We have a lot of housekeeping to do. To be quite honest, this summer was spent enjoying the sun and making Mom memories. And so tying up those loose ends is top of the list. If you ordered a customized book - it’s on its way!
The other resolutions have been the same dreams since day one of Fluent - produce more books for all the unique children there are out there. We have over 30 books ready to be illustrated and so we are feeling pressure on that point.
As well a deep desire has always existed to get our books into every indigenous language in Canada including special projects that includes the beloved dialect of Grandpa. There are many Indigenous languages in nations beyond what we claim as our soil… but we are waiting for meaningful partnerships on this one. (If you know anyone who would want to head up this project or part of it… do pass along our contact info.)
Now, let's talk about the real game-changer for educators. I am really excited about our multilingual books in 10 languages per book. Imagine having a single book that can be read in not one, not two, but ten different languages! A boon for teachers seeking to create inclusive and engaging classrooms where students from diverse linguistic backgrounds feel a sense of belonging. Not only that - when students borrow books in their mother tongue they can take them home to parents who can read them. This allows our ESL students to develop literacy skills - which as we know are transferable to any language. It’s a clear win-win. Get a copy of The Little Rabbit. And stay tuned for news about our next books.
As we bid adieu to the lazy days of summer, I am so happy to reflect on the multilingual literary journeys we embarked upon during these past sun-kissed months. I’m looking forward to the motivating goals we are working on here at Fluent and celebrating our accomplishments so far. Here's to a year of exploration, growth, and the magic of multilingual literacy.
- Hannah Burkhardt
