Are you raising a child with more than one language? Congratulations! You are giving your child a gift of a lifetime! But you will probably also have encountered many questions and challenges. I bet you have come across at least one or more of the following myths! Did you know it was a myth? Let’s explore and then destroy them.
As soon as you start talking about raising bilingual children, you’ll find that everyone around you has a (different) opinion about it. Over time, many of these opinions and half-truths have become myths that continue to confuse and annoy motivated parents over and over again. Knowing what is true and what is false about raising bilingual children is vital to preparing for any unfounded comments from well-meaning friends and family. Instead of letting those comments make you doubt your efforts and throw you off course, you can confidently ignore or even educate them.
Answer the following questions to see what you currently believe to be true about bilingual children. Simply circle the number that best reflects your degree of agreement with each of these statements (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree) When raising your child with more than one language.
1. you must keep it to two languages or it will not work ( 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 )
2. you will only confuse it ( 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 )
3. Your child’s brain can get confused ( 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 )
4. make sure you learn a language correctly first ( 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 )
5. you don’t need to do much; he/she will pick it up in no time ( 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 )
6. Your child will always mix languages ( 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 )
7. your child will do worse in school ( 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 )
Myth #1: You only confuse your child.
Research has shown that your child will in no way be confused growing up with multiple languages per se. Our brain is capable of handling many languages and stores them in different places. While the languages that are heard constantly during the first year are stored in a pre-designed area in the left hemisphere of the brain, all subsequent languages are stored in the right hemisphere.
With that being said, it is absolutely possible for YOU to confuse your child by switching languages and language strategies (see Step 7) or by mixing languages. With the right knowledge and a consistent strategy, you never have to worry about confusing your child.
Myth #2: “More than 2 languages” doesn’t work.
When you consider that we only use 5% of our brain, you immediately realize that our brain has ample space and capacity to learn languages. While bilingual children are the most common, research has found as many as 4 languages to work without a problem. 4 languages typically occur in a family with parents with different native languages, an environment/country that provides a third, and a school that provides a fourth language. Among the members of my parent network I have parents who are successfully managing 6 languages for their children. This requires the child to spend time in that language on a regular basis and you can imagine the organization it requires on the part of the parents, so the effort is very high. Such a commitment to languages naturally requires trade-offs in other areas of life (eg sports, arts, school work, etc.) that most families I’ve met are unwilling to make. Simply put, you can raise your child with many languages, but you must commit to the effort it takes to maintain them over a long period of time.
Myth #3: Learn a language correctly first.
The sooner you expose your child to all the languages you want them to grow up with, the better. There are many benefits to early exposure and I’ll talk about it in detail in Step 3. So waiting until your child speaks the first language “adequately” just wastes time and makes it more difficult for you. And what’s more, I bet you couldn’t tell me when it’s been achieved “adequately” anyway. How many words, grammar rules equal “correctly”?
Myth #4: Your child will only mix languages
In fact, you can expect your child to temporarily mix languages up to the age of 4, using the vocabulary that is most readily available. This is perfectly normal and nothing to worry about as long as YOU don’t mix languages. You are your child’s role model and must provide good language input. Have you heard of “garbage in – garbage out”, the same applies here. Assuming you don’t mix languages and your toddler does, you can help your child provide the correct word(s) by repeating the sentence, for example, as a question using the same correct vocabulary as your son was using – more on this technique later.
Myth #5: You don’t need to do anything; your child will learn the language in no time.
While it is true that children generally learn languages quickly, successful bilingualism does not happen by chance. You probably wouldn’t have started reading this book if you believed otherwise. There are circumstances that facilitate your children’s bilingualism more than others, and in the right environment it can seem like you are doing nothing to help your children’s language journey. To understand those circumstances, you will at least need to educate yourself (by reading Step 2 of this book). Doing nothing leaves your children’s bilingualism to chance.
Myth #6: Stop bilingualism if your pediatrician tells you to.
Sometimes families have stopped raising their children with more than one language because their pediatrician told them it would be better for their child’s speech development, stuttering problem, dyslexia, etc. Most developmental issues are NOT related to bilingualism, numerous studies have proven the point. So before abandoning a language, consult a specialist and get a second opinion.
Myth #7: Bilingual children do worse in school.
When you examine the research studies that have been done on the subject, you will find that they conclude that bilingual children perform just as well as monolinguals, or indeed show that bilinguals do better in school. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise unless they have data to prove it.
How do you feel now, totally clear about what is a myth and what is the truth? Would you like to learn more and get your personal success plan for raising your children with more than one language? Visit www.themlnetwork.com/ebook/