Seminar on Bilingualism by Merel Keijzer a success!

Last weekend Merel Keijzer, who spent two months in Australia doing research on the effect of aging on bilingual Dutch-Australian migrants in Melbourne, gave a lecture at the Dutch Australian Heritage Centre (behind Dutch Club Abel Tasman) in Carnegie. Some 25 interested members of the community braved the heat to find out about Merel’s research. Merel explained the scope of her research and her predictions about the findings. Afterwards there was time for questions and everyone could ask about anything they’d always wanted to know about bilingualism. Many shared their stories about what it was like when they first came to Australia and how they were told to integrate as soon as possible and leave the Dutch language behind. It was clear that newer migrants experience their journey in a very different way, which explains why there seems to be an increase in Dutch migrant children being raised bilingually.

The ADTV is proud to have supported Merel in her project and is looking forward to hearing more about the results in the next year.