Parents who speak more than one language in their home have be | AdvancedEnglish

Parents who speak more than one language in their home have been asking me lots of questions about teaching their infants and toddlers to be bilingual and what to expect if they try to do this. Well, let me translate those concerns into some helpful information about children who are taught or brought up to be bilingual. First, there are benefits to being bilingual. Studies have shown that children exposed to several languages are more creative and better at developing problem solving skills. Other studies say that speaking a second language helps that child have an easier time learning other languages in the future. It may also lead to cultural benefits, so they can better communicate with relatives. It makes children more eager to learn about the history and traditions of their family’s country of origin and in turn helps them develop stronger identities of their cultural heritage. So if you wanna bring up your kids as bilingual I have some suggestions. First make a plan list that how fluent you want your children to be, meaning do you want them just speaking the language or reading and writing it as well? Once the plan is made, consistency in carrying out that plan is crucial. Studies suggest that kids need to be exposed to that second language at least thirty percent of their waking time to become bilingual, but this is just a guideline and it may be more or less. As to how best to teach a second language, well there are several approaches. The most common being either the one parent, one language technique, so that one parent speaks to the child in English and the other in the second language, or you could try the second language at home method, where kids speak English when out in public or in school with other kids, but only speak the second language when at home. It’s important not to mix two languages into one sentence or sentences. Although your child may do that and if so casually correct them by providing the proper word in the language you’re using at the time. You might find materials online that are fun for kids to watch and learn from to help with the language learning as well. So, does learning two languages at once delay speech development? Well, some studies say it may initially slow down overall language development relative to single language children, but by the time bilingual kids are ready to enter preschool or kindergarten they have easily caught up in their language skills with both languages and no speech and language delay is noted. Hopefully tips like this will not lose something in the translation when it comes to considering whether or not to teach your young children to be bilingual. This is pediatrician Dr. Lewis First with the University of Vermont Children’s Hospital reminding you to always be first with your kids.