Dr Joanna Kołak

Supporting families in multilingual upbringing.

I am a psychologist and a doctor of social sciences. For ten years, my area of research has been linguistic and cognitive development of bilingual and multilingual children. I also conduct research on children’s development in the world of digital media. I work as a Lecturer in Language Development at UCL’s Institute of Education in London.

I am the author of an e-book for parents and specialists ‘Bilingual and multilingual development. 50 questions and answers’ in which I combine the knowledge gained during ten years of scientific work with my experience from more than eight years of working with families.

As part of my professional activity, I run individual consultations for parents of multilingual children living in different countries. I run online consultations in Polish and English. I help parents choose a strategy for bilingual upbringing, I suggest possible solutions to current problems and I advise them on when and how to introduce another language.

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My offer

The E-book

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konsultacje z psychologiem od dwujęzyczności i rozwoju językowego dzieci

Individual consultations

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– Frank Smith –

Opinions about me

Joanna’s website was recommended to me by a friend who attended consultations with Joanna. I follow Joanna’s Q&A on Instagram because there is always a lot of information, a lot of knowledge from research. I signed up for consultations to discuss how to prepare for moving to another country, which will happen to us in two years. We live in Poland and I wanted to introduce the intended bilingualism as best as possible. Asia made me realise how many different strategies are out there, I thought there was only OPOL, and OPOL didn’t work at all. Now I feel that this bilingualism comes out a little more naturally, without forcing myself.

Ania T., mum of Franek, Warsaw

I attended Joanna’s webinar in March organized by Mother Tongues. A fantastic dose of knowledge and practical tips to use at home, I wrote two pages of notes. The coolest part was the Q&A, because all these questions were relevant to me – it was nice to discuss with other parents who have similar questions and doubts. I am waiting for webinars in Polish!

 

Marta S., mum of Wiktoria and Weronika, Coventry

I’ve been following Joanna’s posts on IG from the very beginning. I watched all the lives on IG, it’s so much knowledge about a common sense and at the same time relaxed approach to bilingual upbringing. I recently made an appointment for a consultation to discuss the choice of a more flexible strategy for multilingual upbringing. We have four languages ​​at home, so it’s fun. I had no idea how to plan it all, and soon our four-year-old will be joined by a younger sister. It’s all much clearer now.

 

Ania K., Szymon’s mum, Zurich

I came across Joanna’s Instagram account in January this year. I’m waiting for the next posts about bilingualism, I learn so much about myself and my whole family. I stopped worrying all the time whether my children’s language development is okay, now I know that some phenomena that worried me are actually normal. I have more understanding for my children and much more enthusiasm and motivation to support their Polish at home. I can feel the enormous pressure that has been building up over the years slowly coming off of me.

 

Ola B., mum of Iga and Daniel, Berlin