In today’s interconnected world, raising a bilingual child is an invaluable gift that provides cognitive, social, and cultural benefits. Whether you’re introducing a second language from birth or incorporating it later in childhood, the journey to bilingualism requires patience, consistency, and creativity. Research suggests that bilingual children often develop enhanced problem-solving skills, greater adaptability, and a deeper appreciation for different cultures. Studies suggest that some advantages of bilingualism include preservation of language and culture, academic advantages, better career opportunities, and promoting cross-cultural communication.
However, many may wonder: What’s the best way to introduce and maintain two languages? What is the certainty a child becomes fluent in both languages? What factors influence a family’s decision and what strategies are used to promote bilingualism? Will children become confused being around multiple languages? These are very important and valid questions that families and caregivers have. It is important to consider the values and beliefs that define the variables around bilingualism, as these are influences that contribute to language immersion.
There are many different ways to expose children to different languages that include various techniques that explore practical strategies, from language exposure techniques to daily habits that foster fluency. Whether parents and caregivers are navigating a multilingual environment or simply introducing a new language, the key to success lies in creating engaging and supportive language-rich experiences for children. By understanding how children acquire multiple languages and implementing effective strategies, parents and caregivers can help children build strong communication skills that will benefit them for a lifetime.
Below are the core strategies families and caregivers can use to encourage bilingualism:
- Establish a clear language strategy on how language will be introduced. Choose the right fit and stick to it as much as possible.
- One Person, One Language (OPOL): Each parent or caregiver speaks a different language consistently. For example, Mom speaks Spanish and Dad speaks English.
- Minority Language at Home (ML@H): The family speaks the non-dominant language at home, and the child learns the dominant language from school or society.
- Time and Place Approach: Specific times or locations are dedicated to each language (e.g., Spanish in the mornings, and English in the evenings).
- Mixing Language Naturally: Some families switch between languages fluidly, though consistency is often better for the early language learner.
Approximately 20% of children in the U.S. speak a language other than English at home, with Spanish being the most common non-English language. However, the historical perspective of bilingualism has changed over time, as the U.S. largely emphasized English as the dominant language, with policies discouraging the use of other languages, particularly in schools. It was during the 20th century, immigrants were often pressured to assimilate and abandon their native languages. However, the Civil Rights Movement and the Bilingual Education Act of 1968 helped recognized the importance of bilingualism, especially for children learning English as a second language. Since then, the attitudes have shifted significantly to the point where now schools have the liberty of embedding bilingualism into every day experiences for children and families to encourage language fluency and literacy. It is inevitable that children will be exposed to other languages in school, with their peers, while watching television, engaging with technology and through every-day experiences.
Parents and caregivers can promote a child’s acquisition of multiple languages by introducing and/or encouraging bilingualism in the early years. It is well established that infants’ brains are highly receptive to language acquisition, vocabulary development, and linguistic memory. To raise bilingual children successfully, it’s important to provide the right resources and support from an early age, making the learning process as natural and seamless as possible. However, if a child is past infancy, not to worry—research shows that brain development continues until around age 25, meaning language learning remains highly possible well beyond early childhood. It may also be helpful to refine language skills, as modeling proficiency in the language children are learning can be a powerful motivator and learning tool. Parents and caregivers can support this by reading books aloud, providing age-appropriate literature, listening to music, watching cartoons, playing board games, or using apps that spark interest in both the language and culture.
Some may think that bilingualism leads to language delays. Slight language delays are not directly linked to bilingualism and are usually temporary in bilingual children. Since bilingual children use their languages in different settings, they often develop distinct vocabularies for each. If family, home, and play-related words are learned in one language while school and academic terms are acquired in another, it’s natural for their vocabulary to differ between languages. Research shows that when both vocabularies are combined, bilingual children possess a richer and more diverse range of words and expressive abilities compared to their monolingual peers.
How can families and caregivers support bilingualism? The motivation to speak another language is shaped by various factors, including the family environment. Some families achieve bilingualism effortlessly by creating a stimulating, child-centered language experience at home. However, this isn’t always the case. Bilingual parents sometimes place excessive pressure on their children to learn their native language, even enforcing its use in family interactions. When this desire isn’t shared by the child, the approach can be counterproductive, leading to frustration for both parent and child. For home immersion to be effective, children should receive positive reinforcement, making language learning an enjoyable experience. Perseverance is essential—keeping the long-term benefits of bilingualism in mind, establishing consistent bilingual habits at home, celebrating progress, and connecting with other families who share the same goal of raising bilingual children can have profound affects.
Below are some additional tips for families and caregivers:
- Create a language-rich environment that exposes children and allows them to feel more comfortable using both languages. Ways to immerse children include books, music and songs, games and play, audiobooks and podcasts, videos and cartoons. The key is making language learning part of everyday life in a fun and engaging way.
- Use daily opportunities to speak and interact naturally with children. Use self and parallel talk to narrate daily activities. Ask open-ended questions to encourage conversations and avoid excessive translation to allow the child to figure things out on their own. Be patient if a child mixes language, as this is the natural process and instead of correcting the child, model the right way to say things.
- Use real-life conversations with the help of family and friends who speak a second language to encourage regular conversations. Arrange for children to have bilingual playdates or participate in community events. Enrolling children in immersion programs, bilingual schools or cultural activities.
- Exposing children to other languages while traveling to places where the second language is spoken allows for full immersion and the fastest way to strengthen language skills. If travel is not an option there are other ways to create these opportunities for children. These include cooking traditional meals from other cultures and celebrating holidays and traditions in both languages.
- Be consistent to the chosen strategy, but be flexible to adjust if needed based on the child’s response. If a child resists, introduce new, engaging ways to learn (e.g., a new storybook series or language-learning activities that will promote engagement). If one language becomes dominant, find ways to reinforce the weaker one without making it feel like a chore.
- Be patient and supportive. Understanding that language takes time and children may show a preference over the other is natural. Celebrate small goals even if the child only learned a new word or phrase. Avoid pressuring or punishing a child for not using a language and instead keep it fun and encouraging as much as possible.
- Lead by example. Parents and caregivers should show enthusiasm for both languages, as modeling the use of both languages will encourage the child to do the same. If parents and caregivers are learning a second language, learn with the child, as this creates a shared experience and could lead to more successful experiences on both sides.
This topic is very personal to me, as I am an immigrant myself. My family and I migrated to the U.S. from Cuba in 1982; I was only 7 years old. I remember how difficult it was for me to learn English and I would cry in school every day because I felt frustration at not being able to communicate with my peers or understand what was happening in my classroom. Luckily, I had an amazing teacher who showed compassion for what I was dealing with and she assigned me a ‘buddy’, a classmate, who sat next to me and translated everything for me. With time and encouragement from my peers, parents and grandparents, I learned English in about 2 years and the rest is history. I still remember my parents telling me to be patient and using Spanish in the home, implementing the ML@H strategy, because they felt that being bilingual in the U.S. would afford me more opportunities. My parents were right! I have been able to meet many wonderful people along the way, learn from them, connect with them, their culture, and I feel that being bilingual opened those doors for me.
Additional Resources
- How to Raise a Bilingual Child: Practical Guide for Parents with Ready-to-Use Activities https://bilingualfamily.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/PEaCH-Handbook-eng-rev3.pdf
- How to Raise a Bilingual Child
https://www.goethe.de/ins/us/en/spr/unt/cam/dfk/gdl/rfp/hch/rbc.html - How to Raise a Bilingual Child: The Benefits, Common Mistakes and Myth-Busting https://preply.com/en/blog/how-to-raise-a-bilingual-child/
- Raising Bilingual Children: A Qualitative Study of Parental Attitudes, Beliefs, and Intended Behaviors https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4820316/
- Bilingualism in the Early Years: What the Science Says https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6168212/#abstract1
- Cultivating Bilingualism: The Benefits of Multilingual Classrooms https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/may2019/benefits-multilingualism
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