European Day of Languages: Celebrating Multilingual Families!

Considering raising your children in a second (or third? or fourth?) language, but have questions? Looking for support for your multilingual family?

In celebration of European Day of Languages, the Alliance is pleased to partner with our fellow Chicago-based European Union National Institutes of Culture (EUNIC) to present a panel discussion on raising multilingual children, featuring scholars and parents:

• Bálint Bokondi (moderator) - Chargé d’Affaires and Deputy Head of Mission at the Consulate General of Hungary in Chicago
• Soumiya Erragragui - Executive Manager at the Alliance Française de Chicago
• Perla Gámez - Associate Professor of Developmental Psychology at Loyala University Chicago
• Adriana Weisleder - Associate Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders and Director of the Child Language Lab at Northwestern University

This event is open to the entire family! During the panel discussion, children ages 0–12 are welcomed for a multilingual story hour in the cozy Brown Médiathèque.

After the program, the whole family is invited to the Eleanor Wood Prince Salon for complimentary café, vienoisserie, and kid-friendly snacks. Guests will have the opportunity to:

• continue the conversation with our panelists,
• connect with other families raising multilingual children,
• browse a selection of free used books in French, German, Spanish, Polish, and Lithuanian
• learn more about European cultures and the immigrant heritages of Chicago from our EUNIC partners

Children’s activities will be provided during the reception.

Doors at 12:30 pm. Program & story hour at 1:00. Please enter via 54 W Chicago Ave. Please kindly indicate the ages of any children attending as well as any dietary restrictions when registering.

About the Panelists

Bálint Bakondi serves as Chargé d’Affaires and Deputy Head of Mission at the Consulate General of Hungary in Chicago. Born and raised in Hungary, he has been posted in Chicago since 2023 and has served as Chargé d’Affaires since May 2026. He holds a master’s degree in International Relations from Corvinus University of Budapest, specializing in diplomacy, and is also a Purdue University alumnus. In addition to Hungarian and English, he also speaks Spanish. Together with his American-Hungarian wife, he is raising their two young boys bilingually in Hungarian and English, giving him a personal connection to this discussion on multilingual families.

Soumiya Erragragui is a Chicago-based French-Moroccan nonprofit professional and the Executive Manager at the Alliance Française. Previously she served as the Program Coordinator for Gather LLC, where she facilitated their Gather4Language language immersion program for children. She is raising her child in a household were English, French, and Arabic are spoken.

Perla Gámez is an Associate Professor of Developmental Psychology at Loyala University Chicago. She received her Masters and PhD in Developmental Psychology from the University of Chicago nad her Bachelors in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her research interests include bilingual language and literacy development, language input, classroom talk, and structural priming. Dr. Gámez’ work has been published in journals such as Applied Developmental Science, Child Development, Developmental Psychology, and Infant Behavior & Development.

Adriana Weisleder is an associate professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and Director of the Child Language Lab. Her research investigates early language development and processing in young children growing up in a range of sociocultural backgrounds, with a focus on dual language learners. She uses multiple methodologies – including eye-tracking, naturalistic recordings, and studies of real-world interventions – to investigate both the learning mechanisms and contexts that support language development in infants and toddlers. An important goal of this work is to contribute to building a more robust evidence base for understanding typical and atypical language development across diverse contexts, and to reduce inequities in the identification and treatment of child language and communication disorders. Dr. Weisleder is a proud Costa Rican and Spanish-English bilingual.

Getting Here

The Alliance Française de Chicago is one block from the CTA Red line stop at Chicago Avenue. Best bus routes are the 22 on Clark and the 66 on Chicago Avenue. A Divvy station is located in front of the 54 W Chicago Ave entrance.

Parking Information

$10 for 12 hours at 100 W Chestnut St. Validation is available at reception.

Photography Notice

Please be advised that students, members, and attendees at cultural events or programs may be photographed, and these images may be used for marketing purposes.