What is the Minority Language at Home (MLAH) method?
Minority Language at Home (MLAH) is a strategy where the whole family speaks the minority language at home, while the child picks up the community language at school and outside.
With MLAH, home becomes a space for the language that is less common in your wider community. For example, a family living in the UK might speak only Hindi at home, trusting that English will come through nursery, school, friends and everyday life outside the house.
Picture a four-year-old in Germany whose parents both speak Italian. At home, dinner conversations, bedtime chats and games all happen in Italian. At kindergarten, the child plays and learns in German. Because German is everywhere outside, the home becomes the main source of Italian, giving it a real chance to grow.
Many parents choose MLAH because the community language tends to take over as children get older. Keeping the home language strong early on can help children stay comfortable in it later. It works most easily when both parents speak the minority language, though some families use it with one parent learning alongside the child.
Practical tips: be patient if your child starts answering in the community language, and gently keep replying in the home language. Fill your home with that language through stories, music, cooking together and video calls with relatives. Do not worry too much about the community language; children usually pick it up quickly once they spend time at school. Hearing the same story in both languages can help a child connect new words across the two.
If you ever have concerns about your child's overall speech development, a speech-language therapist can give personalised advice.
