about us - bambolango

who are we

We’d like to explain how and why everything came about… it’s important to us that you know who we are and what we aim to achieve in bambolango.

We started bambolango as a result of our own personal experience. We are two generations of a multilingual family that stumbled across an obstacle in our path to bilingualism when the youngest members of the family were born… Essentially, what we discovered was that there were very few bilingual resources that could be used with the little ones from an early age. The majority of materials on the market were aimed at toddlers or older kids, with a more complex and unsuitable content for babies. And this finding inspired us to design our own resources… So, after a long period, during which we investigated, researched and reflected, we got down to business and launched our own range of bilingual products and activities…

We are only one of the many multilingual families that exist all over the world. So one of our main aims is to share what we’ve discovered along the way, in the hope that it might help and encourage you to raise your own children in different languages.

Nevertheless, we hope to accompany families of all types on their linguistic journey. From families where parents are making an effort to bring their children up in a language which is not their mother tongue, to any native multilingual family looking for more support when raising their kids in various languages. And anything in between! With this in mind, our bilingual products and services aim to create more opportunities for you to expose your little ones (and whoever accompanies them) to different languages in a fun and natural way.

Deborah Sigler

directora de bambolango

¡Hola! ¡Soy Deborah! I was born in the U.K. and moved to Spain in 2004 to enjoy the culture, language and climate.

I studied Law and Spanish at University of Cardiff, Wales. A little later I studied a Masters in Human Resources Management at Universidad de Valencia.

For almost ten years I worked as a Human Resources consultant in national and multinational organisations. I partnered with numerous clients, in different countries, and worked on many different projects. All of them, however, had one key element in common: people. So my career has always focused on helping others develop their skills and knowledge and on-going training has become one of my specialities. My approach to training adults can be summarised very simply: practice, practice, practice. And what’s my philosophy when working with children, you may ask? To create fun and dynamic activities using repetition, repetition, repetition.

All this experience together with my bilingual abilities (English-Spanish), and the birth of my children, have provided me with the perfect base and motivation to found and lead bambolango.

Fanny Sigler

directora creativa

Hola! ¡Soy Fanny! I was born in Colombia but I’ve lived in the UK for more than 40 years now.

At university I studied Advertising Design in Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia. Throughout my career I held positions such as Creative Director, Creative Consultant and Graphic Designer.

I accumulated a wealth of expertise during my career in the design world. First, in printed and digital materials and then, in the fields of branding and corporate identity. I designed government communications that were published across the UK for an all-inclusive wide ranging public, making me a bit of a specialist in information and user tested design.

So, all that experience and expertise are invaluable when collaborating with bambolango. I have also been able to draw on my knowledge to establish three basic principles when designing bambolango’s bilingual materials: simplicity, consistency and testing, testing, testing!

In addition to my career, I enjoy exploring the world and discovering language with my children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews and other members of our multilingual family.

our way

Adquisición vs. Instrucción

We encourage the acquisition of a second language in children as early as possible. And the optimum time to acquire a second language, according to the experts, is from birth. This allows babies to increase their knowledge of another language in the same way and at the same time as they develop their mother tongue.

And you may ask yourselves: “why do we talk about acquiring a second language instead of learning it?” The answer is simple. Because language acquisition focuses on communication, and on growing and using vocabulary, in a natural and everyday manner. Language learning, however, is a much more structured and instructed process, focusing on the grammar and the “rules” of language. A process which is far from appropriate for any baby…

Innovative resources

We aim for little ones (and their carers) to have fun and enjoy our books and games. For this reason, your children have been our first and foremost consideration during the entire design process.

The first colours that babies see are black and red, along with bold contrasts and solid shapes. And that is exactly what our bilingual resources offer: block illustrations with bold colours on a black background to grab your little ones’ attention and facilitate early visualisation.

And you may ask: “what’s different about bambolango’s products?” Well, they’re different for a number of reasons. Firstly, because you can use them with your children more or less from birth. Secondly, because the images we use make cultural and geographical references to countries where the languages in question are used. And thirdly because all our resources include simple bilingual texts to encourage verbal communication.

Native speakers

We are thrilled to be able to speak, work, play and have fun all day in our mother tongue! This enables us to behave in a more natural and spontaneous manner when communicating with little ones and adjusting to their rapidly changing needs.

Furthermore, in both our activities and bilingual resources, we aim to share our experience and knowledge of culture, geography, climate and traditions from our home countries.

Natural bilingualism

We are lucky enough in bambolango to have grown up surrounded by languages. Therefore bilingualism, to us, is as everyday a concept as brushing our teeth in the morning. We want your little ones to acquire a second language in the same way, immersed in a natural environment that encourages and helps them develop their language skills.

Experts suggest that to successfully acquire a second language, it’s essential to experience a need to use it. Consequently, your children should be exposed to as many situations and people who speak the second language as possible. And this is where bambolango can help you! We create opportunities where your kids can discover and interact in their second language in a fun and engaging environment.