One of our friends (an American, married to a German) practiced the one-parent, one-language method with her daughter. brandy was my supervisor in Berlitz-Eschborn; she was an early childhood educator from Florida and read extensively about the topic of raising a bilingual child when she moved to Germany. However, the method she and her husband chose did not work on her daughter. Her daughter understood everything that her mother told her in English but refused to respond back in the same language. She always spoke in German.

The One Parent, One Language approach does work. However, no two children are alike and the range of outcome could be different. It could work for one child but not for another.

When I became pregnant, Brandy advised us to perhaps try a different approach. She suggested for us to try to exclusively speak the minority language within the family with our child.

Our decision, as per our friend's advice, to declare our home as a "no German" zone despite the fact that my husband is German and that we live in Germany worked to our advantage. As what we have been witnessing, when in the presence of his kindergarten playmates and my German in-laws, he would speak German. However, whenever the conversation is directed at us, he would switch to English.

I am proud of my 2 1/2 year old son's progress. I am happy that he not only understands English but he is comfortable and could respond using the same language, as well. The same applies to his ability to interact in the German language.

There are several methods which parents can use. As parents of bilingual children, we will be faced with challenges in trying to make it work. It is a personal process. As long as we are consistent and we patiently try assess our child's progress, we would be able to successfully raise a bilingual child.