Raising bilingual kids: benefits and techniques
Tuesday, September 22, 2009 Children who have the opportunity to learn a second language are given a world of opportunity. It opens up new opportunities in terms of who they can communicate with, what they can read, and where they can travel with ease. It is a partial cure for closed-mindedness. Those are the obvious benefits.
But learning a foreign language also has broad cognitive benefits. According to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language, it:
- is beneficial to the development of problem solving abilities, memory skills, reading abilities, ability to hypothesize in science, and even mathematics*
- correlates with higher academic achievement, including standardized tests and college level academic performance
Overall, there seems to be a correlation between learning a second language and overall intelligence and open mindedness.
Image credits: Plastic Earth by Brooks Elliot and Pop Quiz Math Clock by _ES both on flickr
*I found it interesting that students who take time away from the study of mathematics to learn another language still do better on mathematics tests than the students who were doing more math (source).
What is the best way to help your child learn a second language?
There are many different ways to learn a foreign language and I have had the opportunity to be exposed to a lot of them over the years.
I grew up speaking only English at home, but learned French in a French immersion program in school. I also learned some Spanish and Italian in college, learned a bit of Japanese from friends and on my own, and studied German at university. I spent a few years living in Germany, where I met my husband. My husband grew up in Germany, spoke French and German at home and went to a German school where he took English and French as foreign languages. We speak English (me) and German (my husband) with our children at home and our son is in his third year at a trilingual school where they speak French, English and Spanish (our daughter starts next year). On top of our own experiences, we have many friends here and overseas who have taught their children multiple languages using many different formations and techniques.
In this post, I want to share some of what I have learned and experienced about second language acquisition. I want to explain what usually works and doesn't work and why. I want to encourage you to give your child the opportunity to learn a foreign language even if you don't speak one yourself.
The earlier the better! The younger your child is, the easier it will be and the greater the benefits to the child. What are you waiting for?
If you or your partner does speak a foreign language
If you or your partner speaks a second language, you are at a significant advantage. Whether you are a native speaker or learned the language as a second language yourself, you can use your linguistic abilities to pass the language on to your children. There are a number of different approaches that you can use:
- One parent, one language: With one parent, one language, each of the parents will choose a language and speak that language consistently with the children. If only one of the parents speaks a foreign language, the choice is easy. If both parents do, either one can speak the foreign language but ideally it should be the parent who spends the most time with the children (i.e. speaking Chinese with mom all day long would be more beneficial than speaking Chinese for an hour with dad in the evening). This is a great technique when the parents want to teach the children two different foreign languages (e.g. community language is English, one parent speaks Polish, the other one speaks Spanish).
- One place, one language: With this technique, different languages would be spoken in different places. For example, the family might choose to always speak English at home and always speak Spanish when outside the home. This can be a good technique for expat families living in a foreign country where they might be ostracized for speaking their home language in public. They can safely teach their home language to their children at home, but speak the language that they are expected to speak when out in public. It can also be useful when you are trying to institute the foreign language as the home language to not have multiple languages circulating in the home environment.
- Parents speak foreign language only: If the parents do not speak the community language or if they really want to ensure that their children become fluent in the foreign language, it may be useful to have both parents exclusively speak the foreign language. This happens often in immigrant families where the parents have not mastered the language of their new home. While we opted for one parent, one language, I now wish we had used this technique instead (i.e. both my husband and I speaking German exclusively with the children). They would have still learned English from my mom and in the community, but this may have made them more willing and more comfortable speaking German.
- Mix: Some families mix things up. Each person speaks whatever language they want, whenever they want. Popular opinion used to be that this would be way too confusing for children and they would never sort out their languages. However, more recent research shows that as long as you are not mixing within a sentence, then mixing might not be that bad after all. In reality, this is probably where we have fallen. My husband does end up speaking a lot of English to our children. I try to make up for that by speaking some German to the kids. We also throw in some French and a bit of Spanish here and there for good measure.
Children will have a strong tendency to favour the community language wherever you live. So no matter how much language immersion you give them at home, they may not actively choose to speak the foreign language with you. Don't see this as a failure. It is reality. Even if your child never speaks a word of the other language, if you have spoken it frequently at home, your child will have been exposed to it enough to take away some of the benefits of second language acquisition. That said, there are things you can do to encourage them to speak the foreign language, but I wouldn't advise forcing them to do it.
If you don't speak a second language
If you do not speak a foreign language, that does not mean that all is lost. There are plenty of ways that you can give your child (and yourself!) the opportunity to learn. These ideas can also be used to reinforce language learning in cases where one of the parents does speak a second language, especially if that parent is not the primary caregiver of the child. Not all of these will necessarily be right for all families or all children. You can pick and choose what will work for you, depending on your preferences, finances and school situation.
- Foreign language school: If you are fortunate enough to live in an area where there are schools in different languages (where we live there are French school boards and English school boards), you could consider sending your child to a school with children who speak another mother tongue. Plenty of children enter kindergarten at schools where they do not speak a word of the language their peers speak and they quickly learn the other language.
- Immersion programs: You can choose a school that has a second language immersion program or at least foreign language classes that your child can participate in. The disadvantage with this type of program is usually the lack of access to native speakers. Instead of learning French in a French environment and playing with French speaking children, your child would be learning French in French class with a bunch of other English speaking children. Immersion programs are better than nothing, but certainly not as advantageous as being completely immersed.
- Weekend or evening classes: A lot of immigrant communities that want to preserve their language will have Saturday classes that their children go to. This can range from play groups to more formal learning. Another opportunity would be for you to attend evening classes and then bring home what you learned and share it with your child. Teaching what you have learned to your child will benefit your child and also reinforce your learning.
- Learning with your child: You can choose to learn a language along with your child. This is a great option for home schooling families. I used to be on a message board about raising bilingual children and there was one woman who let her son choose the languages they were going to learn and then they learned them together.This can either be a very big investment or an extremely frugal activity. You can invest in buying DVDs with movies and language lessons, CDs with songs and lessons, books and magazines, dictionaries, and so on. Or you can use a combination of the library and the Internet to build your own materials. Online you can find pronunciation guides, You Tube videos, dictionaries, and much much more. There are even websites where you can hear the sounds animals make in different languages! You can also combine arts and crafts with language learning by doing things like making a language Bingo game. I just discovered a blog called Bilingual for Fun that looks like it may have some good ideas and experience on it.
- Vacations: Try to travel somewhere with your child where the second language is spoken. If you are in the United States, some obvious easy options are Quebec, Canada (to the North) and Mexico (to the South). Try to get out of the touristy areas where people are likely to speak English and find spots where your child will be exposed to more of the native language. Staying at small bed and breakfasts and visiting local playgrounds can be good ways to hear the language being spoken. You can also use the opportunity to pick up some materials (books, DVDs, etc. in the foreign language).
- Nanny or babysitter: If you need to hire someone to take care of your children, consider hiring someone who speaks another language. This will give your children significant exposure to a third language. We know one family where the children learned French and English from their parents and Turkish from the nanny. When the family traveled in Turkey without the nanny, their five year old was the one who communicated for the family at hotels, restaurants, tourist information, etc.
- Play dates, play groups and playgrounds: A great way to reinforce language learning is through play. If you can find native speaking families to have play dates with, find language oriented play groups, or find playgrounds where children speak another language (e.g. the playground in China Town in your city), this is a great opportunity for your children to hear real people speaking the language they are learning at home.
Regardless of the approach or the tools that you take, keep it fun and mix things up. Using a mix of different techniques will keep your child interested and reinforce what has been learned.
Your experience? Your questions?
Have you learned a second language or taught one to your children? What was your experience like? What challenges did you face? What resources or techniques would you suggest?
Are you interested in exposing your children to a second language? What is holding you back? What questions do you have?
Reader Comments (110)
No, no, no!!!! This is my hormonal and impassioned response - Your son is growing up in America, correct? He WILL speak English. Eventually. There is absolutely no doubt of that. Think about what's at stake here - this is his best opportunity to become truly bi-lingual. I have a feeling, if your husband begins speaking English to him, it will come pretty quickly. That said, Yoruba seems more precious in this situation than a preschool. That's just my two cents. Hang in there, mama!!
[...] Raising bilingual kids: benefits and techniques (phD in parenting blog) [...]
I'm a Spanish native speaker fluent in English and my husband is an English native speaker who is almost fluent in Spanish. We decided to give our kids the gift of bilingualism, so from day one, both of us has spoken to them in Spanish, since we live right now in the USA we figure they would speak English regardless. It was easy until they started kindergarten when their English took over. We live in California and sadly even our Latino friends's kids barely speak Spanish. It takes a lot of work to follow through but I always remember all this people telling me how they wish their parents would have been stricter when they were teaching them or that they haven't stopped talking to them in Spanish or that they would have talked to them in Spanish at all. I absolutely love Carol's husband position, it does not matter what other people think about what you are doing those people will never be able to give your child what you are giving them. Now having saying that, I need your help since I don't know how to proceed, funny enough our Spanish teachings will soon prove to be helpful, we are moving to Mexico this coming summer 2013, my kids now 4 and 6 will be attending an American school where they will be taught in English 99 percent of the time, the catch is that we will comeback to the USA in 2017. Our plan is for both parents to keep talking in Spanish to them, but I'm worried that their accent in English will not be the American accent, but the one that they will acquire at school since my American husband is not planning on talking to them in English. What should I do, please advise specially if you have a direct experience with this scenario. By the way I do have issues with my kids right now not wanting to talk in Spanish, I have to improve my tricks, right now I'm just reminding them that I will not do anything if they don't ask in Spanish, but I will try some of your advise and maybe read another book. Thanks and I can't wait to hear from you.
Hi,
I'm so amazed that some teachers went that far as to give you advise in how to rise your kid, that is your choice not theirs, even if your kid is not speaking at all. I met this kid in pre k , English speaker who didn't speak much and by the time he went to kindergarten he was a chatter box, I think your pediatrician is right, as long as you kid understands and follow commands he should be fine, and if the school does not want to move him up, big deal, either make your case or shop for a more understanding school were your kid and you will be embraced. As a mother rising bilingual kids I know is hard but so worth it and in my opinion with all the debate about delays in speech raising bilingual kids I got to tell you my 6 year old is not only bilingual but also bright, you have to remember all tis thinking in your little boy is making that brain grow and expand and getting more skillful by the minute, I say get our buddy to stand by you, and your boy will have the gift of a lifetime. Good luck.
Now I just realized that you wrote your post 3 months into your kid's daycare experience, I hope now you are doing great, but anyway it made even less sense to me that they advise you to stop talking Yoruba. That was waaaaay too early.
We are expecting twins and here I started to worry which language should we speak. I am Lithuanian and my partner is Slovakian, also he can speak Spanish( as his dad was from Cuba), we both live in London and communicate to each other in English. I cannot understand Slovakian neither him Lithuanian. So here is the question - what language we should choose so our kids could understand us and we could understand them and they would also be able to speak to our families. It seems just too complicated for me.
Thank you for your advise in advance
I am originally from Italy and my husband is British. Our daughter is almost 4 and since she is born I always spoke exclusively Italian to her and my husband only English. He did start speaking in Italian with her when she was 2 and then someone told me the 2 parents 2 different languages consistently is better (or is a must..) at least until children learn to speak the 2 languages well and they have been exposed to
2 main languages consistently (probably at least until they are 7 or 8 years old). We live in the UK and we got rid of our television as we did not want our child to be exposed to English language through television (and for other reasons too). Therefore she watches most cartoons in Italian and very few in English and some in Spanish and French. We will continue to show her foreign cartoons and films until she is older and until we can/she wants. We love original language films. She has never said she did not understand what they say in Spanish or French and enjoys watching it. We have Spanish and French friends so she is exposed to Spanish a lot anyhow. I speak mostly Italian to our friends children so they will all be exposed to it and my Spanish friend (with which I do a weekly exchange looking after my child and hers so we can have some time for ourselves) speaks only Spanish to my child too, and my child now understands it quite a bit. All the books I read to her I read them in Italian - just very few in English - so even if they are in English I read them in Italian by doing a quick translation there and then. I insist with my family that they only speak Italian to my daughter (their English is quite poor anyhow).
Now..she understand everything I say, she sometimes reply to me in Italian and sometimes in English. she initiate conversations mainly in English but sometimes in Italian of her own accord. I never asked her to speak Italian to me or insisted that she replies in Italian and for now she has not rejected it. I know she understand and if my mother looks after her she will only speak Italian to her. I have been quite focused and not lost hope etc and whenever she reply or speaks to me in English I reply consistently always in Italian, in public too. sometime in public I might say something in Italian and then repeat it in English if we are with friends etc. We try to go to Italy in holiday as much as we can and Spain and France as we have family and friends in those 3 countries. So I think the 3 languages will be part of her. It helps too that I speak all 4 languages. I think it will become part of her. When I was 14 I spent one month in France with French kids etc and I speak French well since then and then I studied it. So it's all about exposure and having a lot of fun with it!! No forcing children to speak a language etc. I often sing in different languages so that my daughter will be exposed to different sounds. Languages are so beautiful!! Good luck and keep the fun and the passion going!!
My husband and I both speak Spanish fluently, but neither of us is native. When my first child was born, I tried speaking Spanish exclusively to her, but I felt like it was affecting my ability to communicate with her and therefore our relationship because I'd never learned the household vocabulary very well. I stopped for a month or two until a friend suggested focusing on a specific "Spanish time" every day. I thought about it and decided that this would be easier for me to maintain and eventually enforce than expecting exclusive Spanish all the time. So we started with two hours every morning. This has now evolved every day until lunch (sometimes longer, and I also never discourage my kids from using Spanish during "English time").
At first during "Spanish time" I'd just talk to my daughter in Spanish and expose her to books, music, immersion DVD's, etc. We also regularly exposed her to native speakers (babysitters, relatives on the phone and Skype, etc.) When she started talking, I didn't push her to speak Spanish at first, although she often incorporated several words and sentences. But once I felt like she was able to communicate comfortably in English (around 2.5 or 3-ish), if she asked me for something in English during Spanish time, I would tell her (in Spanish) "I don't understand you. Tell me in Spanish." I helped her if she was stuck and had her repeat what I said. I couldn't make her speak Spanish, but she also understood that she couldn't influence me get her a glass of milk unless she asked in Spanish. And that if she needed help communicating something in Spanish, she could ask for help and I would give it to her. (She just had to make the effort to repeat it.) My husband also speaks Spanish during Spanish time if he is home (usually weekends). We try very hard not to do any English "Spanglish" during Spanish time. If we don't know a word, we immediately look it up on an app I have on my phone.
Now my daughter is five. They started to teach her to read English at her preschool when she was four. Once she very firmly understood the English letters and vowels and started becoming proficient at reading them in simple words, I started explaining to her the sounds that the vowels make in Spanish and how that is different. Eventually I started having her read simple Spanish readers. My mom (native Spanish speaker) also Skypes us a couple of times a week and (per my request, which I at first had to repeat regularly) speaks to my kids exclusively in Spanish. We also have a babysitter who comes for three hours once a week who speaks in exclusively in Spanish. And if they watch movies or shows, I justify it by making sure it is (almost always) in Spanish. (I use DVD's and the internet -- Plazo Sesamo, etc. rather than TV.) My daughter is more comfortable in English, but she is able to both speak and read both English and Spanish now, and if needed she can translate back and forth.
Her younger brother is 2.5. When she tries to speak to him in English during Spanish time, I remind her that it is Spanish time, tell her I need her help to teach her brother Spanish, and ask her to help me teach him Spanish by talking to him only in Spanish during Spanish time. She needs regular reminders but is usually eager to help. My son is now speaking both Spanish and English as fluently as an almost-three-year-old can speak a language.
I am now trying to figure out how to help my daughter keep it up once she goes to school for full days, as that will basically take away our morning "Spanish time." I may have to switch it to after school for less time. I'm hoping cutting it back down to just an hour or two a day will be sufficient to help her at least maintain what she has already learned.
What I learned from my experience is that sometimes "perfect" is the enemy of progress, and persistence / consistency goes a long way. I would have given up entirely if I had thought I had to exclusively speak Spanish to my kids all the time in order for them to learn. If I hadn't, I'm sure they would have gone on "strike" by now. But I think the fact that we all know that it's only a portion of the day and that every day we will also have the opportunity to talk to each other in English really helps us all keep it up and enjoy it.
My daughter has learnt German at Kindergarten in Germany, she is 4 and is practically fluent in German. Both my husband and I speak English and very little German. We are returning to the UK this summer and are keen for her to maintain, if not improve her German but we are sure how to do this. What would the best way be of doing this?
We are considering hiring a Spanish only speaking nanny. I am worried that my 2 1/2 year-old (who speaks English only, and does a good job at it!) will have a hard time expressing his feelings and needs To her and will end up having temper tantrums, making her job miserable. Any thoughts or experience??