The Raising Bilinguals Podcast
by David & Ana
Practical guidance for parents raising bilingual kids — whether you're a native speaker, a language learner, or somewhere in between. Each week, we explore the real challenges of building a bilingual family: staying consistent, choosing a strategy, and raising children who actually use both languages. Hosted by the team behind How to Spanish Podcast, The Raising Bilinguals Podcast combines research-backed insights with honest stories from families actually doing this. Join our community at theraisingbilinguals.com
Episodes
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The Signals You're Reading Wrong in Your Bilingual Child - S2 Ep9
Your bilingual child won't answer grandma. They're making grammar mistakes in the community language. They came home from a playdate and suddenly don't want to speak English anymore. Before you spiral — none of these are what they look like. In this episode, Anna and Anne unpack three of the most...
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Yes, I Feel Like a Fraud — And I'm Doing It Anyway - S2Ep8
Do you ever get nervous speaking your second language around native speakers? Do you worry about passing on your accent? Does it sometimes feel like a mistake — like you're not qualified to do this? Welcome to the club. Every single one of us has been there. In this episode, David, Anna, and Anne...
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The Honest Truth About Bilingual Parenting: Wins, Struggles & Wanting to Quit - S2Ep7
Nobody posts their hard days. Nobody records the moment they switched back to their native language because their child was hurt and they couldn't find the words in English. Nobody talks about the week they forgot French entirely, or the Sunday they almost gave up for good. This episode is about...
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How to Know Your Bilingual Parenting Is Actually Working (The Progress Ladder) - S2Ep6
Six months of bedtime stories in Spanish. Eight months of French songs in the car. And your child still answers in English every single time. Is it working? In this episode, David and Anna introduce the Progress Ladder — a five-step framework that shows exactly where your child is on their...
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What Actually Makes Someone Bilingual (It's Not What You Think) - S2Ep5
Have you ever wondered why some people actually become bilingual — and others study for years and never quite get there? After a decade of teaching adults Spanish for a living, Anna has a clear answer: it's not skill level, pronunciation, or the number of mistakes you make. It's mindset. In this...
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From Passive to Active Bilingual — Ideas That Actually Make Kids Speak - S2 EP4
There's a difference between knowing a language and using it. Many adults say it themselves: "I understand everything but I can't speak back." This episode is about closing that gap — not with drills or flashcards, but with grocery runs, role play restaurants, video exchanges, and songs. All...
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How to handle social situations where the majority language is not spoken - S2Ep3
You're at the park. Your child runs up to you and you answer in English. Someone glances over. And before you've made a decision, you hear yourself switch. This episode is about that moment — the psychology behind why it happens, what your child is experiencing at the same time, and concrete...
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How to Introduce a 3rd (or 4th) Language to Your Child — Real Strategies From Real Families - S2 EP2
This episode is for anyone who has ever thought: we're already doing English — could we really add another one? Anna and Anne share how their families introduced American Sign Language, Mandarin, and French alongside their primary target language — what worked, what didn't, and the surprisingly...
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Why "Bilingual" Classes Aren't Really Bilingual — And What to Do Instead (New Host)
Season 2 opens with a big announcement: Anne — who joined us as a guest in Episode 12 — is now a permanent co-host. And the three of us wasted no time getting into something real: the frustrating gap between what gets labeled "bilingual" and what actually provides immersive exposure for your…
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Ann: 3 Kids, 4 Languages — What We All Need to Hear
Our second and final guest episode of Season 1 — and the one that will carry you into Season 2. Anna is a lifelong friend who has been raising her three children in English, American Sign Language, and Mandarin for nearly nine years. She is Mexican, Spanish is her first language, and none of the...
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How to Raise a Bilingual Child When Your Partner Doesn't Speak the Language ft. @BirdsongToys - EP11
Our first guest episode. Ashley Rivera grew up in Colombia, moved to the US at 11, and is now raising her daughter Olivia in Spanish — while her husband speaks only English. She shares her Three C's framework (Connection, Consistency, Community), what the science says about language acquisition...
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You Don't Have to Be a Native Speaker to Pass on a Language - EP 10
This is Episode 10 — the Season 1 finale. Ana is flying solo today, and she's talking directly to non-native speaker parents: the ones who wonder if they're good enough, if their accent is a problem, if they're simply crazy for trying. Spoiler: they're not. She covers where the "native speaker...
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Raising Bilinguals From a Place of Joy — Why It Matters and How to Actually Do It
Joy in the bilingual journey isn't decoration — it's the mechanism. In Episode 9 we explore why parenting from a place of joy actually makes your child's language acquisition faster, deeper, and more sustainable, and why a burnout-driven approach eventually stops working for everyone. We cover...
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What We'd Do Differently: 6 Honest Reflections After 3 Years - EP 8
Our son just turned three. And after three years of raising him in English — as non-native speakers, in Mexico, surrounded by Spanish — we wanted to stop and look back. Not to dwell, but to learn. In Episode 8 we share six things we'd do differently if we were starting over: honest, specific, and...
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Making It Joyful: Games, Traditions, and Creative Ideas for Your Bilingual Home - EP 7
After episodes on science, fears, myths, and restarts — this one is just fun. In Episode 7 we share 13 practical ideas for bringing joy into your bilingual home: games you can start this week, traditions anchored to moments your child will remember for years, and creative activities that make...
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If You Started, Stopped, and Want to Come Back - EP6
Life happens. Sometimes you stop. And then the guilt sets in — the feeling that you've failed, that the language is gone, that starting again is harder than starting from scratch. In Episode 6 (the sister episode to Episode 5) we talk about what actually happens when a bilingual journey pauses,...
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How to Start Your Bilingual Journey — at Any Age, From Any Point - Episode 5
There is no perfect moment to start. There is only where you are right now and what you do next. In Episode 5 we walk through three starting situations — prenatal and newborn, toddler and young child, and older children and teens — and give you a clear, honest picture of what to do in each one.…
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Habit Stacking: How to Build Bilingual Moments Into Your Everyday Routines - Ep4
You don't need more time. You need to use the time you already have. In Episode 4 we talk about habit stacking — the technique of attaching a new habit to one you already have — and how to use it to build bilingual moments into four routines that already happen every day: meal time, bedtime, bath...
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The Perfect Bilingual Parenting: It's a Myth - Ep3
Are you doing it wrong? Probably not — but the myths around bilingual parenting can make you feel that way. In Episode 3 we debunk three of the most common ones: that OPOL is the only valid strategy, that bilingual children speak later and code switching is a problem, and that more exposure…
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Facing your insecurities - EP 2
Every bilingual parent has fears. Fear of passing on a bad accent. Fear of not being able to connect emotionally with your child in the other language. Fear of what the people around you think. In Episode 2 we name these fears out loud, talk about where they come from, and share what the research…
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Our messy, beautiful bilingual journey - Episode 1
Welcome to the very first episode of the Raising Bilinguals Podcast! We're David and Ana — parents raising our son in English, a language neither of us speaks natively, while living in Mexico. In this episode we introduce ourselves, share why we started this project, and talk honestly about the...
About this show
Practical guidance for parents raising bilingual kids — whether you're a native speaker, a language learner, or somewhere in between. Each week, we explore the real challenges of building a bilingual family: staying consistent, choosing a strategy, and raising children who actually use both languages. Hosted by the team behind How to Spanish Podcast, The Raising Bilinguals Podcast combines research-backed insights with honest stories from families actually doing this. Join our community at theraisingbilinguals.com
Hosted by
David & Ana