A multilingual mum hopes her kids inherit her curiosity for languages

Silvia with her family during a recent trip to New Zealand Source: courtesy of Silvia Mareels

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Silvia Mareels was born in Belgium: her mum was Italian, her dad a local but fluent in Italian. She grew up speaking three languages and picked up another three along the way. She has now moved to Australia with her husband and kids.

Silvia grew up speaking Italian, then Flemish and French, but she also learnt German, English and Spanish.

Now in her family Italian is the common language, but she also maintains French with her kids. Less than a year ago they moved from Milan to Sydney, and her children adapted very easily to the new environment and language.

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