I’m beginning an exciting new book project this month!
My first book, Maximize Your Child’s Bilingual Ability: Ideas and inspiration for even greater success and joy raising bilingual kids (published in 2016), relates my personal story, as an educator and parent, nurturing the language development of hundreds of bilingual and multilingual children, including my own two kids. Through the experiences I share in this widely-praised book, I present a range of key perspectives and principles that can enable parents everywhere to realize the same kind of success and joy that I’ve achieved for over 20 years.
My new book is the natural sequel to the first book and will complement it well: while my first book is based on my own story, the new book will be based on the stories of other experienced parents. Tentatively titled Bilingual Earth: Secrets of Success from Parents of Bilingual and Multilingual Children Around the World, it will feature many insightful and encouraging success stories from families who live in a range of countries and circumstances. The book will thus serve as another practical and empowering guide for raising bilingual and multilingual kids.
The idea for Bilingual Earth has risen from my blog and my forum, where parents have shared so many helpful experiences and useful tips. While I hope these experiences and tips will be available online for years to come, I feel it’s also time to create a collection of personal stories in the form of a hands-on, reader-friendly book. And I plan to gather these stories by speaking directly to parents, around the world, through interviews conducted both online and in person.
Timeline for the book
I would like to release the completed book in the fall of 2020, which means that the process, from start to finish, will last around 18 months.
April~August 2019: make travel plans; begin conducting interviews online; begin writing the book
September-October 2019: travel to the United Kingdom and European countries to conduct in-person interviews; continue writing
November 2019~March 2020: continue conducting online interviews and, if possible, travel to another part of the world to pursue more in-person interviews; continue writing
April~June 2020: share the manuscript of the book with early readers and receive feedback
July~September 2020: reflect on this feedback; revise and finalize the manuscript; prepare the final draft for publishing
October 2020: publish and release the book
Be part of this new project!
Through my Patreon page, you can follow the whole process of this new book project—from planning to interviewing to writing to publishing—while gaining a range of valuable advice from these interviews through my special Patreon stream, and even actively contributing your input to help make this the best book it can be.
By joining me at Patreon, you can also receive a variety of other special benefits, including the valuable PDF 19 Vital Reminders for Bilingual and Multilingual Success, which is a crystal-clear blueprint for successfully raising bilingual and multilingual children.
Learn more at my Patreon page.
And as I described above, I intend to visit the UK and Europe this fall in order to interview as many parents, in as many different locations, as possible. While I’m really excited about this trip, making the necessary travel plans feels kind of daunting, like a big jigsaw puzzle that’s now completely in pieces.
The truth is, my experience of that part of the world is very limited and, as I begin to study a map of the region, I realize that my grasp of the geography needs improvement. I mean, it’s hard to plot a smooth trip if I’m not clearly aware of the scale of this region and the distances between destinations.
In fact, I lived in Europe for two years, before I came to Japan…but I spent that entire two years in the Czech Republic! I saw a lot of the Czech Republic during that time (I was a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer, teaching English at a university in the city of Pilsen), but the only chance I took to travel outside the country was a wintry hike across the border into a frozen forest in Germany. (I just remember the snow and the shivering.)
Anyway, I love the Czech Republic—and I want this to be one of the stops on my travels—but I’m also happy to have this new opportunity to see many more places during the month of September and perhaps the first week of October (so, roughly a 5-week trip).
As I move forward with making these travel plans, I’m open to all advice! Feel free to leave a comment below with your suggestions for routes, destinations, transportation, and anything else, or email me directly with your thoughts.
Many thanks for your support! 
