There can be several cognitive, social, and emotional benefits associated with raising a bilingual child, including more self-confidence, improved problem-solving, and stronger executive function. Knowing the potential for your child to thrive throughout their schooling years and beyond, it’s only natural to consider raising your children bilingual when you or your spouse speaks two languages.
However, not everyone knows how to authentically incorporate two languages into their household for their child’s benefit. If you need a helping hand to get started, take note of these tips:
Enroll Them in a Language School
When you need a helping hand from the experts to introduce your baby or child to a second language, research schools offer dual language immersion programs. Language schools can teach your child through culture, diversity, and curiosity. Some of the best schools cater to infants from eight weeks old through preschool age, up to six years old.
Language schools typically support children in learning a second language through a play-based curriculum when they’re babies and through learning activities as toddlers and preschoolers. These approaches help children work toward total fluency, where they can think and function naturally in the language.
Find a Bilingual Playgroup
Children already learn a great deal from attending a playgroup, like motor skills development and social skills. However, if you were to find a bilingual playgroup that focuses on the secondary language, it also offers the added learning opportunity of language immersion. If there aren’t any bilingual playgroups near you, consider arranging playdates with other local children who speak the same second language.
Invest in Books, Games, and Music
Hearing a second language every day is an excellent foundation for raising a bilingual child, but active teaching is also essential. That’s where books, games, and music come in. Read books, play games, and listen to music, all in your second language. The more your baby or child hears that language, the easier it can be for them to learn it and use it in their everyday life.
Be Aware of the Myths
When you start telling people that you’ll be raising your children to speak two languages, you may find yourself at the center of many mistruths. Some people might say to you that you’re confusing your child by teaching them two languages. Others might tell you that you’re slowing down their development by doing so.
While it’s expected that your child will mix up the two languages as they develop their skills, learning two languages is not confusing for them. In fact, children are best able to learn new languages from birth to 10 years old. The earlier you introduce that second language, the easier it is for them to use that language correctly and fluently.
Speak to Your Child in Your Strongest Language
If you’re fluent in one language and your spouse is fluent in another, speak to your child in the language you’re most comfortable with. That way, you’re allowing your child to learn different languages from the most competent speakers.
Raising your children to be bilingual doesn’t have to be an overwhelming or complicated process. Immerse them in both languages every day, enroll them in a language school, and invest in new learning materials for active learning. These actions can put them on a path to bilingualism that serves them well throughout their lives.
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