Anna Hamilton is Polish and lives in Dorset, UK, with her British husband and their four children. At home, their family moves naturally between English, Polish, and Spanish, and all four children speak these languages fluently. Their everyday life shows how multilingualism can grow in a warm, natural way when language is part of daily connection, not pressure.
In this interview, Anna shares her most practical advice on raising bilingual and multilingual children – from how to introduce more than one language, to how to stay consistent, patient, and positive when children mix languages or go through quieter language phases.
This conversation is part of the Beautiful World Festival storytelling series, which celebrates the real people behind the cultures we see at the festival. Beautiful World Festival is a family-friendly cultural festival that brings the world together in one place through music, food, languages, stories, and shared experiences. It is about exploring different cultures, starting locally, and helping people feel curious, connected, and welcome. By sharing stories like Anna’s, Beautiful World Festival shows that diversity is not an idea – it is something people live every day, in homes, schools, friendships, and families across the UK.