Reading aloud with multilingual children (of all ages)

By Ana Elisa Miranda, Ute Limacher-Riebold and Yoshito Darmon-Shimamori

Reading aloud is one of the most powerful things we can do to support language and literacy development.

This simple activity has an incredible impact on vocabulary, knowledge, confidence, emotional connection between children and adults, and much more. 

For a multilingual family, reading aloud in different languages is like a window into different cultures and into the sounds, rhythm, words, structure and beauty of each language. 

By reading aloud together we enrich and empower our children's language skills, helping them grow into confident multilinguals.

In this video, we talk about:

• How to read aloud and make it engaging.
• Why reading aloud is important in a multilingual family.
• Which language we should read in.
• The overall benefits of reading aloud with our children.
• How we can read together with our children when they are: 

          - Babies
          - Toddlers and pre-school children
          - School-aged children and teenagers

• We also give tips on how to support children who read in different scripts. So, stick to the end and don’t miss these! 

Watch the video here and let us know in the comments: what’s your top tip for reading with children? 

More about reading aloud:

• Why reading to your kids in your home language will help them become better readers
• Reading tips for parents (in multiple languages)
• How you will start teaching your child to read
• Establishing a reading routine