Our 3-year-old speaks 3 languages: Here's what he has to say about it

Trying to pick the brain of a three-year-old who speaks three languages.

So my son, Otis, turns four this month. And I’ve been watching with immense curiosity over the past four years to see how he has tackled a three-language life.

In case you’re new around here, his dad (that’s me) is Australian, his mum (my wife Lina) is Swedish, and he goes to a typical French school in Paris.

In other words, I speak English with him, Lina speaks Swedish, and the rest is in French.

People say that children’s brains are like sponges for languages, and as a language lover myself, one of my greatest intrigues has been watching his brain pick up the languages at the same time.

So, to mark the end of him being a three-year-old, to create a memory, and to share this interesting tale with you all, I invited him into the podcast studio for a ten-minute chat.

You'll hear him tell me how I'm no good at rolling my Rs in French, why he speaks Swedish with his mother, and what he thought about our recent trip to Italy.

Well... I mean... he's three years old, so he doesn't really get too deep into anything, but it's still a cool conversation for anyone interested in language, the human brain, and international life for families with young children.

If this kind of thing interests you, this is actually a follow-up to an episode from over a year ago in Season 15, Episode 9 called "How we're raising a trilingual child in Paris". That was my wife Lina and I discussing the same topic from a parents’ perspective.

And I just want to add: Thanks for all the feedback on my episode with Otis. It only came out this morning, but I’ve already had some truly lovely messages from listeners around the world and such kindness is always so appreciated.

What’s happening in Paris?

Well, imagine this: Today I was doing my regular Monday morning tour of the Marais. Six friendly guests hearing what I had to say about this wonderful district.

And then… who do you think walked up to us all and said hello?

Why, the Mayor of the Marais himself, Ariel Weil. It was the exact kind of unexpected twist that makes me enjoy touring around Paris so much. Imagine… that could be you on my walk, experiencing similar unexpected twists :)

More info on The Earful Tours here, with an additional note that I’ll be doing a semi-private tour of the Latin Quarter this week on Wednesday morning. There are three places left, please get in touch ASAP if you want to join.

The Italy Corner

For the coming weeks, I’ll end these newsletters with a little post script about Italy and my new Earful Everywhere podcast. As you’ve hopefully seen already, we released the first of ten podcast episodes on Friday, focusing on our 23 observations on Rome. Feedback has been great, I’m glad it has found an audience already. Keep listening and sharing!!

Today, I finished editing episode two - which is two tour company owners battling to provide the ultimate Rome itinerary for a fictional first timer on a 12-hour layover. It’s an idea I borrowed from myself on the Paris podcast, and I think you’ll like this Roman version. The guests: Angelo and Kristin from tour company LivTours, who are sponsoring the whole season.

That episode will be out on Friday on The Earful Everywhere. Please follow it on Instagram here, Spotify here, and/or iTunes here.

Right! That’ll do for now, hope you enjoy those two episodes, I’ll be back soon with more.

Have a great week

Oliver