Raising Your Child To Speak More Than One Language

One important thing to remember is that there is no one way approach to raising a bilingual kids.

It depends on each individuals family situation and needs, and what works for one family, may not necessarily work for another. You first need to ask yourself what will be best for you and your family. And which bilingual parenting method will best help your children.

If you want to know how to raise a bilingual child, you will need to think about things such as:

• Which languages are spoken?
• When is each language spoken?
• How often is each languages spoken?
• How much exposure will your child get to each language?

Though there are various different ways to raise a bilingual child, most parents will use one of these methods . Once you have chosen your family strategy, the most important thing is to stick with it and be consistent.

Raising bilingual kids can be a challenge. Even if it may seem hard at times, as with many things, consistency is the key to being successful and practice makes perfect.

Raising Bilingual Kids using Context or Time & Place

The context method (or time and place) requires the use of each language in a different context or situation. It depends on where you are, and who you are with.

For example, if you have family members or friends who only speak a certain language, you switch the language you are speaking so that you are able to all understand each other.

Another example could be that you speak one language in every day situations, but then choose a certain time of the day (or week) where you speak a different language. Many families do this to give a certain language more exposure.

Families who follow the context method, usually speak different languages with each other on a daily basis

Advantages of Context

-Your child will learn quickly, where to speak which language, and who with. They will realise that different languages are spoken in different situations.

-Others are not isolated from your conversation because you change to accommodate who you are with.

 

Disadvantages of Context

-There isn’t really any consistency and there could be a risk of confusion.

-Children may take preference to one language and therefore the other/s may lack in exposure.

Mixing Languages

This is where there are frequently between the languages at any given time. Parents and children will switch from one language to the other depending on what they are doing or the context of the conversation.

It seems to be used mostly in countries that have an official second language. For example, In parts of Canada they speak both English and French. Or in countries with different dialects throughout such as Italy.

Advantages of Mixing Languages

-There is no need for any plan, it all comes naturally
-Children are not forced to speak a language when they don’t want to.

Disadvantages of Mixing Languages

-Children may favour one language over the other and so they may grow up with a native level of one language, while the other is lagging behind.

Remember,bilingual kids mix languages or may code switch initially when learning more than one. While this is ok, it is important that you find a way to teach them to differentiate between them.

So how to raise a bilingual child?

Choose a language strategy and be consistent. No matter which methods you follow to raise your child bilingually, it requires a lot of patience and at times can be a lot of work. But the long term benefits outweigh any of the difficulties you will start off with.

The rule of thumb when raising bilingual kids is to be consistent and persevere, no matter which method you choose or which rules you follow.

So the answer to how to raise a bilingual child? Well, follow one of the language strategies mentioned above, or use an adaption. And just like any other form of parenting, if you are consistent, there is a good chance that you will succeed, and that your child will become bilingual soon enough.