Hi! I’m Bryn, and I’m a mother with a child I’ve successfully raised bilingual in German, but I’m also a PhD in German Literature, a former language instructor, curriculum designer and product manager for educational technology. I’ve used all these experiences to identify pain points and solutions for families trying to incorporate language-learning into their daily life. My view is that great media is a very effective motivator for all kids, and, if you aren’t a confident German speaker, books, shows and other media can do the heavy lifting to give your kids lots of language input. My story continues below…
I started learning German in the fifth grade. It was my worst and least favorite subject all through school. Wanting to finally achieve fluency, I decided to spend a year studying there. Luckily for me, my school, Smith College had an amazing junior year abroad program in Hamburg with innovative wraparound support, including tutoring and an accent coach. With this support and the benefit of being in-country, my natural intrinsic motivation drove me to advance quickly, moving from an A2 (advanced beginner) level to B2 (upper intermediate) level within a few months. After a decade of struggling, I was surprised to see that I actually had a natural talent for German. I achieved C2-level competency in a few years and went on to complete a PhD in German Literature at Yale University, where I also taught college and graduate level German classes for five years.
After Yale, I worked in various roles related to translation publishing and language-learning curriculum design. I then spent ten years as a product manager on products that leveraged AI, computer vision, machine learning, and other prediction modeling techniques, including a few ed tech products.
When I became a parent, all the different approaches to learning and teaching that I had encountered and worked on through my varied career gave me a unique perspective on teaching my son a second language. I dove deep into the research on methods we can use to help our children learn languages, from different parenting approaches (OPOL, inside/outside, etc.) to ways to media can support our children’s learning journey. I’ve gathered those resources here, so that they can be shared with like-minded families. Thanks so much for reading and please feel free to be in touch.
