**GIVEAWAY RESULTS**
First off, many thanks to Arvind, Michelle, Ildiko, Fernanda, Eva, Angel, Emmy, and Alessia for sharing your impressions of my first video. I really appreciate your very helpful feedback. I plan to create a new video for the Bilingual SuperKids website, and the videos I make for my online course, with your thoughts in mind.
The reddish creature in the tank behind me, over my shoulder, is a bearded dragon. Yogi is the second bearded dragon we’ve had. The first was Fifa, who was the inspiration for my wordless picture book, Bearded Dragon, Home Alone. (Check it out at Amazon! It has nearly 100 5-star reviews and it’s perfect for bilingual and multilingual families because it can be shared with your kids in any language!)
Here’s Yogi! Isn’t he a beautiful boy!
And the winner of the book giveaway, in a random drawing, is…
Fernanda in Brazil
Congratulations, Fernanda! And again, my warm thanks to everyone who took part in this giveaway! 
I have a new idea.
Well, actually it isn’t a new idea. It’s been in the back of my mind for several years, but that’s where it might have remained…if I hadn’t recently decided to stop thinking about it and start taking some action.
So it may not be new, but it’s now my next idea and I’m happy to say that I’ve just completed the first, big step toward its realization.
This post will share the idea, and that first step, while adding a giveaway, too. (It’s been a long while since I held a giveaway at this blog!)
First, though, let me quickly recap the highlights of my work over the past decade to support the success of parents raising bilingual and multilingual children…
*The Bilingual Monkeys blog, founded in 2012
*The Bilingual Zoo forum, founded in 2014
*The book Maximize Your Child’s Bilingual Ability, published in 2016
*The book I WANT TO BE BILINGUAL!, published in 2019
*The book Bilingual Success Stories Around the World, published in 2021
*The premium coaching program Bilingual SuperKids!, launched in January 2023
I hope you’ve found some of these offerings (along with my other efforts in this field) to be helpful to your bilingual or multilingual aim. My activities have been wide-ranging, but at the heart of each one is the same basic intention: my bottom-line goal is to help you maximize your child’s language ability over the life of your bilingual or multilingual journey through a practical, proactive mindset and engaging, effective methods.
Between a book and a coach
To be honest, after launching my new coaching program in January, I thought this would probably be my last major offering. But, maybe fatefully, soon after this launch I met several parents who told me that they were interested in a form of support that lies between a book and a coach: they were interested in a course.
And, actually, this was the idea that had been lingering in the back of my mind: a high-quality video course that provides comprehensive guidance—including strategic ways to effectively address the widespread problem of passive ability in the minority language—so that families can experience greater success and joy on their bilingual or multilingual journey together.
In fact, I’ve had a YouTube channel for Bilingual Monkeys for a long time, but I never posted many videos to it, and I haven’t posted anything there in recent years. The main issue for me—setting aside the obvious demands of the time and energy required to maintain an active YouTube channel—was always related to space and equipment. The house we lived in at the time was so small, it just wasn’t possible to dedicate space for a fixed set-up, and the equipment I owned back then wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t very good, either. So the idea of maintaining an active YouTube channel—let alone producing a high-quality video course—wasn’t realistic.
Fast forward to 2023, and a different house, and this issue of space and equipment is now more manageable. Our house is still small, but my office has a bit more space and I can now keep the bulky equipment (the camera on a tripod and the lights on stands) standing to one side of the room. While I wish I could just leave them permanently in place for filming—like a real studio of sorts—shifting them into the proper position isn’t hard. And the new camera I purchased recently (a Sony ZV-E10, if you’re curious) produces beautiful-looking images so now it’s “just” a matter of actually creating the content!
My first video (+ the GIVEAWAY)
I can’t say how long it will take me to create this course—it’s a big project and I really want to offer the very best course I can—but I took the first step the other day by making a test video with this new camera…and it turned out pretty well.
UPDATE: THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED AND I PLAN TO CREATE A NEW VIDEO FOR THE BILINGUAL SUPERKIDS WEBSITE SO YOU MAY NOT FIND MY ORIGINAL VIDEO THERE.
To watch my first video, just click on the image below. (It’s less than 3 minutes.)
And if you’d like to enter the giveaway—the lucky winner can choose a free copy of any of my books—just follow these simple steps…
1. Watch the video. Behind me there’s a tank of some kind and inside that tank is a reddish creature. What type of creature is that?
2. After watching the video, return right to this post and make a comment below, responding to these 3 questions…
1. What is your first name and where do you live?
2. What were your impressions of my first video?
3. What is the name of the type of creature behind me in the tank?
The deadline for entries is Sunday, June 18. On Monday, June 19, all correct entries (naming the creature correctly in English) will go into a hat for a random drawing. The winner will then be contacted directly to arrange delivery of the prize and this post will be updated with the winner’s name as well as the name of the creature.
Thank you for watching my first video! I’d love to hear your impressions!
8 Responses
Hi, I’m Arvind from London, UK.
Your video is personable and I am intrigued by your future course offering. I’d like the format that MindValley courses offer, so max 15mins video chunks daily and some actionable steps to practise each week. I did a 35 day (unrelated) course with them.
Within your video, I’d like more detail on how you could help families.
Is it a komodo dragon?
Hi Adam, nice to “meet” you! It’s wonderful to see you on camera, definitely a different experience from reading your blog. I also love the idea of a ‘course’ and asking for feedback combining with giveaway.
1) I’m Michelle and I live in Johannesburg, South Africa.
2) The quality of your video and lighting is good. I think I’d prefer a more relaxed feel when you talk, less formal, a bit more personable, like you’re talking to a friend. In this video, it sounds like you’re reading from a script. Also, I think you can speak a bit faster, if you’re worried about non native English speakers, they can always choose closed caption to help. I also like Arvind’s suggestion of shorter videos with actionable steps. Not sure about daily videos though, that sounds like a lot of work. Maybe a weekly video with a live call after each week or every second week?
3) I have no idea about the creature, maybe a bearded dragon? I wish you all the best and success in this new journey. Thank you for sharing your insights and knowledge with us. It has inspired me along the way. I have 2 kids aged 4 and 2 that I’m raising bilingual (English and Mandarin).
Hi Adam,
I’ve been following you for a while now. I am actually in the process of setting up a bilingual monthly subscription box in Hungarian-English.
1. My name is Ildiko. I am Hungarian living in Scotland, UK.
2. I like the quality and length of the video. I agree with Michelle that a less formal video would be nicer. I think videos with no longer then 10min with actionable steps. Also a closed Facebook community where the people could keep in touch, and cheer each other would be a good idea.
3. Hard to see what’s in the tank but it’s some sort of reptile. Chameleon, Lizard or Bearded dragon?
I wish you all the best for your upcoming course.
1. Hello, I’m Fernanda from Brazil.
2. I really like the quality and the length of the video. I believe short videos with very straightforward tips and steps would be awesome. You’ll certainly find your own style as you record more videos, but it could be a bit less formal, as if you were talking to a friend, someone you already know. But the idea is great! Gor for it!
3. It must be your bearded dragon!
Hello Adam from Burgos, Spain.
These videos are great, always encouraging us to go on and this is awesome in our bilingual journey. The idea of a course with a giveaway maybe is one of the best options to put into practice your advice and have a feedback after it.
The video has a high quality, you explain everything clearly, maybe in a low speed for all publics. I wonder if you could make online videos with a chat, they can be short videos in which you can answer a reduced number of questions from families. As a member of the bilingual monkeys I would love it. It’s just an inspiration for you to have another kind of material in combination. (just suggestion)
We discussed at home about what is the creature you’re with, my little princess Ylenia said: Mammy, it’s maybe an iguana! Haha, my husband Alex supported her and Gisele doesn’t know yet about creatures and uncommon animals but honestly, I have a hunch it’s your bearded dragon, does it?
Thank you Adam, I wish all my best in this new stage with your new project and I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Best regards from the north of Spain.
Eva
Hi Adam.
This is Angel from Hong Kong.
The video is at the right length to capture people’s attention. As mentioned by others above, the pacing might be too slow and boring. I do understand that maybe your target audiences are those whose native language might not be English. The background music helps a bit to move on with the pacing. I feel like the word “bilingual” is used too many times at the beginning and maybe the VIP joke sounds a bit flat. Overall the clip sounds like a bit of infomercial, lack a bit genuine/sincere. But I feel like I have always felt your sincerity through your other writings and blogs. As mentioned by others, actionable steps are always good, you want people to get something from your video, and take action with it. I also like the ideas of facebook groups.
For the animal in the tank behind you, I think its a red iguana?
I wish you the best in your next adventure!
Best,
Angel
Hi Adam
I’m Emmy from France. I was lucky to talk to you in December about my own journey raising my 2 children. (The oldest is actually trying to read what I’m writing here, so I’ll take that as progress!)
You have a red bearded dragon which is super cool and I wonder if it was the inspiration for one of your books?!
The video was professionally done but I know you can be more animated than that! You relaxed a little as it went on. Good luck in all you do, you really helped me put things in perspective and gave me good ideas to reboot my confidence, and you have such knowledge to share with so many of us, because as you pointed out, raising bilingual children can be a lonely experience.
Hi I am Ale from France.
I think that thing behind you is a red lizard. But I don’t much about strange creatures so I am sure there is a better answer than that. In this side of the world the stranger thing there is in our garden is a baby frog…
I think your video is nice but I wonder how much it is for a coaching program (not sure I understand the proportion with a penny a day) and how it is made. Basically, I would love more clarity and information.
Your speech sounds sincere, simple and with the right length. It is true that it could look more spontaneous but even if it were, I think parents would chose you because they trust you from your blog and experience and not because you are better at the camera.
Good luck with that!