36. Nasma Alkhafif on the Dialect Dilemma
Description
Nasma Alkhafif is an Early Childhood Consultant and bilingual mom living in Columbus, Ohio. Born and raised in Cairo, Egypt, she holds a Master's in Education and a Bachelor's in Psychology. Nasma is also a certified AMI 3-6 Guide and Positive Discipline Parent Educator. As a parenting coach and consultant, Nasma is passionate about providing children with the best environment and resources needed to reach their full potential. In addition to her professional work, Nasma is a mother of two bilingual children, and implements Montessori-inspired parenting in her home.
In our conversation, Nasma and I discuss how she discovered Montessori, and what bilingualism looked like for her growing up in Cairo versus what it looks like in her life now in the US. She shares how one of the greatest dilemmas for her and her husband in raising their children with the Arabic language is how to find the balance between their two dialects of Arabic - standard Arabic, which is used for reading and writing, and Egyptian Arabic, which Nasma and her husband use for conversations. She also shares about when she decided to speak in Arabic to her children, and what that linguistic and emotional shift was like for her.
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Today’s conversation is the third in a series of check-ins with my good friend and new bilingual mom, Samantha. We previously checked in when Samantha’s daughter was 12 months and 15 months. If you missed our first two conversations, you can go back and hear them (they are episode 50 and episode...
Published 10/17/24
Mariana Bissonnette (she/her) is an internationally recognized speaker, author, AMI 0-6 trained Montessorian and AMI 3-6 Trainer-in-Training working with parents, teachers, trainees, and school leaders in implementing Montessori on either side of the classroom doors. She is also the founder of...
Published 09/05/24