Longfellow author chronicles attempt to raise three children bilingually

Longfellow resident Eric Dregni will be launching his 22nd book, “Raising Bilingual Bambini: The Art of Immersing Our Family in the La Dolce Vita,” Oct. 29, 2026 at Norway House, 913 E. Franklin Ave in Minneapolis. The event begins at 6 p.m. and will feature a panel of German, Norwegian, French and Italian speakers.

In his latest memoir, Dregni tells about immersing his family in Italian culture and speaking to his children only in Italian. He had fallen in love with Italy when he signed up for a study abroad program and spent his senior year of high school living with a host family in Brecia.

“I did not know Italian, and they did not speak English, so it was sink or swim,” he recalled. “It was very hard, but super fun and rewarding.”

Although Dregni got his undergraduate degree from Macalester in music, he had always been drawn to writing. He wrote for the student newspaper. “It would be great to make a living as a musician, but a lot of talented people are barely scraping by,” he observed.

A musician friend told him that “writing is kind of your thing.”

Dregni and his future wife, Katy, lived in Moderna, Italy, for awhile. They became engaged and talked about someday bringing their family back to Italy.

Their first trip abroad after marriage, however, was to Norway where Dregni had earned a Fulbright fellowship, and their first child was born in Norway near the Arctic Circle.
After graduating from Macalester, Dregni completed graduate work at the University of Minnesota in Italian. He also completed an MFA in creative writing.

He is a professor of journalism, English and Italian at Concordia University, St. Paul. He is also advisor to the student newspaper and spent 20 years as the dean of Italian Concordia Village Language Camp. His previous memoirs include “Never Trust a Thin Cook” and “In Cod We Trust.”
As their three children came along, Dregni spoke to them only in Italian. And his book reflects the challenges and rewards of carrying out such a plan, as well as taking the children to live in Italy and absorb the culture.

The children grow up speaking English with their mom and Italian with their dad. At first, they did not even think he could speak English.

They took Italian classes and attended Italian language camp. And there was an opportunity for Dregni to take his students to Florence for three months, and he took his young family along.
“The idea of living abroad did not financially make sense,” Dregni admitted, “but at the same time it was very important. Ultimately, it is not just about the language. It is the food and the culture, intertwined with the language.”

Dregni was three years old when his parents took their family to live in Great Britain, and he attended a French-language school in Belgium as a child.

“I wanted to pass on this experience (of living abroad) to our kids. We were advised to do it when the kids were little and portable,” he noted. “Living abroad also makes you realize the many great things we have here, in the Longfellow neighborhood.”

Dregni’s wife has accused him of being a spy, since he carries a notebook with him and when he thinks of things or a funny situation occurs, he tries to write it down. “I used to remember most of these things, but now I don’t always recall the details,” he said.

The writing, editing and cutting for this book took eight to 10 years, according to Dregni. “I needed to determine how much of it was me wanting to reminisce and how much readers would find interesting. The final result is maybe half as long as an earlier draft.”

He said writing the book was sort of bittersweet and nostalgic. “You want to go back, but realize young children require a lot of attention, loving and help. We tend to look at the past through rose-colored glasses.”

His latest book is family story, a travelogue, and a meditation on language
Dregni and his family made another trip to Sicily when his children were older and more independent.

He said that if you do manage to teach your kids to speak a second language, it opens a new world for them to be able to go to other countries and abroad.

“Other languages are important, and we need to encourage learning them and passing them on.”