Nasma Alkhafif on the Dialect Dilemma

Nasma Alkhafif on the Dialect Dilemma

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.

If you have a question about anything related to Montessori and multilingualism that you’d like me to answer on a future FAQ episode, you can send me a message on Instagram or email me. You can also submit a voice message, and you might hear your voice on a future episode!

Listen to this episode on SpotifyApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsAnchor FM or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Follow Nasma:
Website
Instagram

Follow Multilingual Montessori:
Website
Instagram
Consultations
Patreon