Donatella and Alberto migrated to Australia with their kids when they were respectively 7 and 2 years old. Growing up in Perth they started to reply to their parents in English, but Donatella maintains her relaxed approach helped them maintain their fluency in Italian anyway. She and her husband did persevere though in speaking in Italian to the children at all times, and have been taking them back to Italy on a regular basis for extended visits to family and friends.
Bilingualism: what to do when kids reply in the local language
Donatella and her family Source: courtesy of Donatella Bono
This time our segment on bilingualism in the Italo-Australian community takes us to Perth.
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