Creating Your Sustainable Action Plan: start with desired outcome

Define what success looks like for your multilingual family (plus our real-world example with 4 languages)

When I sat down to write this newsletter, I planned to outline a complete action plan for multilingual families. But I quickly realised something important: before diving into "how," we need to be crystal clear about our "why."

One of the biggest mistakes parents make is reading up on strategies and making decisions before defining what they actually want to achieve.

The truth is, children can handle whatever languages you need them to learn. It's us, parents, who often get off track when we haven't thought through our desired outcomes. So let's start there.

Why Desired Outcomes Matter

Before creating specific strategies for your family, you need to think about what you want to achieve - because it will be different for every family and even for each language you introduce to your child.

Common Language Goals

Here are some typical goals parents might have:

• Passing on your mother tongue so children can communicate with extended family

• Balancing exposure when parents speak different languages

• Not lagging behind in majority language (country you live in)

• Early exposure to English for non-native speakers

• Introducing a language for future moves or opportunities

• Supporting education in languages important to your family

Key Factors to Consider

When setting your goals, think about:

1. Natural Exposure Levels

• Majority languages need less explicit effort

• English often comes naturally through media and culture

• Heritage languages typically need more intentional support

2. Desired Proficiency

• Native-like fluency for heritage languages?

• Basic communication for additional languages?

• Academic proficiency for school languages?

A Real-World Example: Our Family's Language Map

Let me share how this works in our family, where we use four languages with different priorities:

Swiss German (Country Language)

• Current priority: Low

• Why: Natural exposure guarantees future fluency

• Strategy: Let school and environment lead, going to daycare 2x/week, natural exposure through play with neighbours and friends and participating in local life

English (Father's Language)

• Current priority: Medium

• Why: Widespread exposure through friends, media

• Strategy: Natural family communication plus environmental support

Polish (Mother's Language)

• Current priority: High

• Why: Essential for extended family, non-dominant family langauge, at risk of being dropped

• Strategy: Consistent use, Polish playgroup 1x/week, extra attention to maintaining it

Mandarin (Additional Language)

• Current priority: Low

• Why: Experimental exposure for cultural enrichment, future educational opportunities; enjoying traveling to China

• Strategy: Playgroup once weekly, singing songs together, meeting Chinese friends, no pressure approach

Key Takeaways

• Define goals for each language separately

• Be realistic about exposure needs

• Don't underestimate young children's capacity to learn

Remember: early exposure is easier than later catch-up!

Know anyone who might find this useful?

Your Turn

Take a moment to map out your language goals. What languages matter to your family and why?

📊 This Week's Quick Poll: Which best describes your current multilingual situation?

💭 Reflection:

• "Which language in your family needs the most intentional support and why?"

• "What does 'success' look like for your heritage language specifically?"

• "How has your view of language goals changed since starting your multilingual journey?"

• "Which language exposure feels most natural in your family, and which requires more planning?"

Feel free to reply to this e-mail or comment under the post to share your experience! I would love to learn more about your situation!

What comes next

In the following weeks we will dive deeper to help you create your personal language plan:

• Your Current Language Landscape

• Setting Realistic Goals

• Your Core Strategy

• Building Your Daily Framework

In the feedback some readers indicated that they are unsure what strategies work, so I will also be covering those in details — stay tuned!

Magda

P.S. Always looking for feedback and ideas for what topics would provide most value to you, so don’t hesitate to reply to this e-mail.