Tag Archives: bilingual

10/06/2013 · 1:57 pm

Top 5 reasons to raise your children bilingually (v2.0)

Every once in a while I meet someone who makes me consider this point again. It’s usually (as it was this time) someone who says to me that they aren’t bothering to have their children learn another language, because there is “no point because they speak English already”. I’m always a bit taken aback by these statements, and my mind and mouth get bogged down in “but, but, but!’. And then, after the conversation is over, I have what the French call “l’esprit d’escalier” (translates to spirit of the staircase – when you find the great come back just as someone is walking away…) and think of *exactly* what I should have said. So I’m going to use this space today to put my best arguments down “on paper” so I will remember them next time, and hopefully it will be useful to you too. I’m going to put a link in each point, not to a dry academic textbook for you to buy, but to an internet article (from a reputable source) that talks about the point I am making.

1. Bilingual kids are better at math! Really, they are… so if you have ever wished you were better at math (put your hands up!) this is a way to help out your kids. Bilingual kids are better at math and logic, because they are good at processing and analysing, and they have an earlier development of abstract thought. Check out this and other facts in the article Raising a bilingual child.

2. Bilingual kids develop better working memory. Another true fact – being bilingual improves how your brain deals with and stores information. Read about it here: Bilingual Children have a better working memory than monolingual children.

3. Bilingual kids are great communicators. The experience of becoming bilingual helps kids understand the communicative act in a deeper way, and also understand that people can be different, via language, and yet the same.
I can’t link directly to the article as it is a subscription site, but here is a quote from The Multilingual Dividend: Antonella Sorace (Bilingualism Matters) says:
“Hire more multilingual employees, because these employees can communicate better, have better intercultural sensitivity, are better at co-operating, negotiating, compromising. But they can also think more efficiently.”

4. Bilingualism is good exercise for your brain. In fact, it’s so good for your brain that bilinguals show a delayed onset of age-related memory diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Read about it here: The Bilingual Advantage. And it makes us better at multitasking…

5. Bilingualism is a hot commodity on the job market. These quotes are from the same Financial Times article I linked to in #3:
“Multilingualism will be better valued and better leveraged by companies,” says Laurence Monnery, co-head of global diversity and inclusion at Egon Zehnder, the executive search company. “Multiculturalism makes bet­ter leaders.”

“Do multilinguals make better managers?” asks Ann Francke, chief executive of the UK’s Chartered Management Institute. “Probably the answer to that question is yes.”

I rest my case.

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29/05/2013 · 3:01 pm

“But she won’t speak *my* language…”

Unfortunately, most bilingual families go through this crisis at some point; despite best efforts to provide good and consistent input, despite the ability to use the language if necessary… most bilingual kids, at some point, figure out which language gets them the most effect for the least effort, and choose to use that language, all the time. I’ve worked with parents who have tried bribery, threats, enticements, and the old stand by “I don’t understand you.”. The bottom line is, once your child figures out that you *do* speak, or at least understand, the majority (or other) language, it’s very, very hard to get them to make the effort to use the less popular language. So, what’s a parent to do?
Here are my suggestions:

Firstly, don’t try to pretend that you don’t understand. It usually doesn’t work (either they don’t believe you or they don’t care…), and it can cause bad feeling between the parent and child. In the moment that your child is trying to communicate with you, it’s important to support that, even if it isn’t in the *right* language. In this case, what you can do (although not, obviously, all the time) is recast – restate the phrase, in your language, and continue the conversation. This gives them input in your language, but doesn’t interrupt the communicative act.

Secondly, work very hard to find or create “monolingual situations”, where the child needs to use the language to be understood, and preferably to play with other children. The reality of play dates is that as parents we often spend time with people simply because we have our kids in common – even if you wouldn’t normally seek out your language community to socialize with, it’s worth it if it helps your child have the motivation to communicate in your language.

Thirdly, continue the discussion with your kids about why you do what you do in terms of language. Every bilingual family should have an on-going discussion about who does what and why (and who does not and why…). It helps your kids better understand the languages in their family and their world, and have a better understanding of why they need their different languages. Each person has the right to make their own language decisions, and so you have the right to continue to use your language of choice, just as they have the right to use the language of their choice. Sometimes, just by keeping an open dialogue and transmitting the message of importance, kids will come back to using both or all their languages (in their own time, of course…).

And finally, don’t feel guilty. If you are doing all you can do to give your kids good quality, consistent input in your language, you are doing your best. At the very least, they will have a solid foundation in the language when one day they decide it would actually be useful to speak that other language… and at best, your consistency and communication will help the come back to your language sooner rather than later.

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16/04/2013 · 10:20 am

The Multilingual World of Irish Dance

Over the weekend, I spent many hours running the canteen at an Irish dance “Feis”. My daughter is a dancer, and every year they host a competition, attracting dancers from various parts of Europe. Over the weekend, I spoke to people from Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Finland, England, Ireland, the US and Canada. The most satisfying part of the experience was being able to help people in their own language. People say that English is the global language, and that if you speak English you don’t need anything else. I disagree, and this weekend was a good example of why. When people approached my canteen counter, I could often tell they were hesitant to order – worried about which language to use, and not wanting to get it wrong. I quickly figured out that the best way to put them at ease was to offer “English, francais or nederlands?”. I only speak a little German, but there was a German woman helping out and she took over the German side of things. It was such an amazing experience to see how people relax and feel more at ease when someone offers them linguistic options – and communication becomes an act of inclusion rather than exclusion when both people are making an effort.
But watching my daughter do the same was equally moving as well – she speaks English and French fluently and her Dutch is reasonably good, but she is shy about using it. Having the opportunity to use all three languages, sometimes in the same conversation was something that really brought home to her how lucky she is to have the opportunity to be multilingual, and how powerful it can be to speak to people in their own languages, rather than always through the medium of English.
The whole event was surrounded by an impressive linguistic atmosphere, with people speaking in many languages, and moving back and forth between them to achieve the best communication. Germans speaking French with Belgians, and Belgians speaking English with Italians and so many other combinations. It led me to reflect, once again, on the idea of “translanguaging” in bilingualism. Once we move past our ideas that a language is static and must be used as such, we realize that language is infinitely changeable and malleable and that we can do whatever we want with it to promote communication and inclusion. Seeing translanguaging in action was a brief insight into what communication could be like if we all make an effort to use the languages of people around us.

Next week: An introduction to translanguaging for bilingual education and bilingual families.

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11/03/2013 · 12:49 pm

When Bilingualism Goes Political

As a Canadian, I am very aware of the political nature of bilingualism in many places. Historically, language has been used to dominate and assimilate, and to include or exclude certain groups from mainstream society. Language is not only about communication, but also about culture and thought and how we interact with others. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml#atop) forbids discrimination on the basis of language. Yet still, in the 21st century, language is used as a political weapon.
A few weeks ago a good friend in Canada (hi Ian!) directed my attention to an article about the Quebec language laws, and plans to restrict English further. (http://m.publishing.rogers.com/macleans/share/2012-35/08a_nat_patriquin.html). I’ve been gone from Canada for a long time, but I lived in Quebec for almost ten years, and became bilingual in Quebec, and felt a strong sense of belonging in my “francophone” life there. It saddens me greatly to see that politicians in Quebec are still restricting access to English, for reasons that are entirely political and not at all pragmatic. For people who aren’t aware of the language laws in Quebec, Bill 101 lays out what activities can happen in English in the province, and under what conditions, including in the field of education. Generally speaking, the only people who have the right to English-language schooling for their children must also have been schooled in English themselves, at the primary or secondary levels. This was done to prevent immigrants and refugees from choosing English-language schools for their children, to increase the numbers of French speakers. A worthy end-goal, but certainly a vinegar approach rather than honey. In the new legislation, they would extend these limitations to post-secondary education as well, meaning that francophone students would no longer be allowed to attend English-language colleges (CEGEPS).
I absolutely understand the desire to maintain the French language as the language of Quebec, both emotionally and functionally. However, I abhor the use of language to segregate and marginalize. When I was teaching in France, my students often mentioned that it must be hard to teach such low-level learners, after teaching in Quebec, where everyone surely spoke English very well. Unfortunately, not true. Years of politicking about language and restricting language learning and use has led to a great divide in Quebec, as one of the only places in the world that I can think of where people actively refuse the use of a second language.
Far from learning from our past, when linguistic minority groups were routinely discriminated against and eliminated, language discrimination seems to be once again on the rise. From the Quebec situation to activist groups in the US pushing for “English-only” legislation, we seem to be celebrating bilingualism on an individual level, but still can’t deal with it on a societal level in many places. Europe has a “language rich Europe” program, but speakers of minority or immigrant languages are still routinely discriminated against. School children are still being forbidden the use of their home language at school, and being forced to use only a language that they do not master. And politicians are still using the emotional power that language stirs up to promote their own nationalist, discriminatory agendas.
There is not really one thing we can do to change this, except to keep advocating, not only for our own families, but for everyone’s families, the benefits of bilingualism and the understanding that comes with using the language of another.
In the next weeks I am going to spend some time looking for online resources to help share the message of positive bilingualism, please share your resources as well.

/end political diatribe…

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17/12/2012 · 6:23 am

Local Language or Not?

Continuing in the spirit and theme of helping your children fit in with a new culture, I’d like to talk briefly about the benefits of having your children acquire a “temporary” language. These days, more families are moving to other countries/cultures with their children, for a few or several years, and then moving either home or on to the next posting. How should parents decide if a language is “worthwhile” or not?
In my opinion, it is almost always valuable to have your children learn the host-country language, as least to some extent. How much time and effort to put into it depends on the family situation – schooling options, age of children, length of posting and other languages in the family.
Firstly, let’s consider very young children from monolingual families. Any family moving with children who are under school age should consider day care/play school/preschool options in the local language. There are demonstrated benefits to acquiring two languages from a young age (cognitive, linguistic, social), so if you have this opportunity for your children, why pass it up? At most, they will go on to become fluent speakers of the language, and to have improved abilities to learn other languages later in life. At worst, they will have developed their language-learning facility and broadened their phonetic repertoire – even if they don’t maintain the language after leaving the host country. In addition, it sends a powerful message to children about the value of learning other languages – an especially important message in families where both parents speak the same language.
For school-age children, the decision is affected by different factors. I have seen school-aged children “dropped” into local schools, and have great experiences and come out “bilingual” in a few years. However, I’ve also seen school-aged children struggle with the transition to being in an environment where they are not linguistically competent. At this age and stage, much depends on the personality and motivation of the individual child. If the child is willing and able, they can absolutely benefit from a few years of school in another language, and if they become literate in the language they have the means to sustain it after leaving the host country. For other children, the compromise to academic achievement, confidence and social skills is too great, and the sink-or-swim method is not appropriate. A best-case scenario is sometimes a local school that has programs in place for language learners and support for the home language as well. In the (frequent) absence of such a school, an international that teaches in the home language but emphasizes learning of the host country language is sometimes the best option.
For older children – secondary school age – immersion in a local school is generally very difficult. The weight of academic content at the secondary school level leaves very little time for learning language to the level children need to function in academic classes. Therefore, the best choice again is often a school that teachers in the home language, but that also has strong support for learning the local language.
Overall, children of all ages can benefit from learning a language that they may not ultimately maintain throughout their lives. For younger children, the benefits may be more linguistic and cognitive in nature, while for older children the benefits may be more attitudinal, but there is almost always a case to be made for helping your children learn the local language in your travels.

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24/10/2012 · 2:21 pm

In Defense of the Bilingual Child

These three phrases, and the knowledge that goes behind them, could be the most important tools parents have when advocating for their bilingual child:

1) “His/her language development is on-target for bilingual acquisition. Would you like me to give you some resources to read about this topic?”

- This phrase demonstrates that you are not susceptible to fear-based tactics, and that you are following your child’s language development closely. In addition, it shows that you have knowledge about the topic, and have actual information behind your statements. And it shows that you are happy to be helpful and share the information with them.

2) “Research demonstrates that bilingualism has many benefits for children. Would you like me to give you some resources to read about this topic?”

- “Research demonstrates” is a powerful phrase when going up against health and education professionals. If you know what research says about bilingualism, and aren’t afraid to tell them, they will most likely defer to you rather than persist in trying to advise you. And of course, you helpfully offer to share the information with them, in case they are really interested in learning something.

3) “No, we are not worried. We have a family language plan for our children, based on the latest research. Would you like me to give you some resources to read about this topic?”

- This demonstrates that you are playing an active role in your child’s language journey, and the word “plan” shows that you are serious about what you are doing. When you throw “research” in there, it helps give you gravitas…. and of course, ever helpful, offer to share your information with them.

Now, this post may be (slightly) tongue-in-cheek, but my point is very serious. If you are choosing to raise a bilingual child in a place where this is not the norm, you need to be prepared to advocate for your child. Doctors, nurses, day care workers, teachers and other professionals you interact with may not support your choice, and may give poor or inaccurate advice about the process. Your best weapons are knowledge and conviction. Knowledge about bilingual language acquisition, knowledge that your family’s approach is a valid one, and the conviction to stand up for your child will be needed, at some point along the journey. The only question is, will you inform yourself now, or wait until you are challenged?

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15/10/2012 · 11:14 am

Seminar in The Hague: October 17

For any interested parents:
There are still a few spaces available for my “Raising Bilingual Children: Six steps for Success” seminar, October 17, in The Hague. More details can be found at: http://www.passionateparenting.nl

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26/09/2012 · 10:48 am

How much (insert language here) is enough?

Whether you are an expat family considering a new local language for your children, or a family dealing with multiple languages, the concern about amount of language is the same.
How much of a language, over what time frame, is enough for bilingualism to be successful? Or at the least, how much is enough to make it worthwhile for the parents and the children? There are three factors you need to consider when making the decision about what is “enough”.

The first is the age of the child. Generally speaking, the younger the child, the less you need to worry about “enough”. If you are considering putting your English-speaking 1-year old in a Dutch creche three times a week, for one year, that’s fine. They probably won’t gain enough Dutch to go on to be a Dutch speaker, but it won’t harm them, or their development in English, in any way (linguistically). They may be lucky and have some knock-on effects later in life in terms of other language learning, but they may not.
If you have a 7-year old and are considering school in a new language, “enough” is a much more serious issue. A school-aged child has not only language learning to do, but also content learning to do. During the language learning period (which for older children can be 3-7 years to full cognitive fluency), the child is necessarily either losing out on content learning, or having to work really, really hard to catch up at home. The social aspects of being an older child learning a language in school are also more tricky – some kids are fine with it and some kids really struggle. So, if you have older children, the point at which an immersion experience becomes “worth it” is when there is enough time to master the language, and a long-term prospect to keep it up, and willingness on the part of the child (whenever possible).
If you are a multilingual family and want your children to master more than two languages, you need to plan as much as possible for balanced input. A common number from research is that children need a minimum of 20% total input in each language. This means about 2.5 hours a day of quality input in each language you want them to be able to use. In my experience, this number is on the low side – I find that many children who get only 20% in a language are reluctant to use the language, although they may understand it well.

The second factor to consider is your language goals. If you want your child to be a fluent speaker of a language and be able to read and write, then “enough” is going to be a serious commitment. Most families find that they can manage enough input in two languages to achieve this level in two languages, but the more languages you include the harder it becomes to find the time (and energy!) to provide adequate, good quality input. When looking at your family situation then, you plan for the amount of input that will help your children reach your language goals. If you have a minority language spoken at home and want your children to be able to speak and understand it, you may be able to get away with a couple of hours every day. If you speak a minority language at home but would like your children to be able to go home to your country to university some day, the time and effort needed to develop the language to that level will be much greater (for the parents and the children).

The third factor you need to consider is the individual child. There is a common myth that all children are little sponges and can soak up many languages. To a certain extent, it is true that young children seem to learn language more easily than adults. This doesn’t mean that it isn’t really hard work, and it doesn’t mean that it comes as easily to all children. If your child is very young and used to being communication-challenged, it may not be as hard for them to be put in an environment where they need to learn to communicate in another language. If your child is preschool aged and very shy and has difficulty adapting to new situations, the pay-off for a couple of years in a different language preschool may not be worth the price for the child. This means that each child’s situation must be considered as a part of the decision, and the outcomes may not be the same for all children in a family.

So the short answer is that there is no clear answer to what is “enough”. You must look at the language opportunities, age of children, length of exposure, amount of exposure, language goals and last but not least, the child, to find the answer to your question.

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21/09/2012 · 10:03 pm

Talking about accents

Last night I went to the class meeting for my older daughter’s new class. Over the course of the meeting, I asked a couple of questions. Today, my daughter came home upset, because the father of a girl in her class said that I “talk French funny”. Now I am presuming that he was referring to the fact that I am Canadian (and anglophone) and so I don’t always have a “standard” French accent. Frankly, I was pretty irritated that I had to defend my French skills to my daughter, and give her a mini-lesson on accent and language use.
Shortly after this, I was having a conversation with another Mum at swimming, and she recounted her lunch hour trauma at her boys’ school. She went in as a volunteer lunch supervisory, and had some behavior problems from the kids in the class. As she was explaining to them why she wasn’t happy, one kid put up his hand and told her that “she doesn’t speak very good Dutch” (she is Italian). Needless to say, she was both hurt and offended.
Which leads me to a point that I make in every parent seminar that I do. When we live in a multilingual world, every comment and criticism we make about language, language use, speakers of other languages is a learning situation for our children. If we comment on someone’s accent, it cues in to our children that accent is important, and somehow hierarchical. Our children learn their attitudes about language mostly from us – if we show a good example of inclusiveness and acceptance, chances are our children will pick that up. If we evaluate, criticize or categorize, our children will do the same.
So, we all have a responsibility to think carefully about how we speak of other languages, other languages speakers, other accents before we make a comment in front of our children about how someone speaks a language that is not their own. After all, an accent is not inherently a negative thing – it’s marker of where in the language world we come from, a marker of our culture and heritage and above all, an indication that we are making an effort to speak a language that we are not a native speaker of. Surely that should be lauded and not criticized?
(Yes, I am a bit hot under the collar about this…)

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13/09/2012 · 3:56 pm

Blogging about bilingualism: One year on

This week marks the one year anniversary of my blog (although I technically started it in July, I didn’t start posting regularly until September – anyone with kids will understand why!). I wasn’t keen on the idea of blogging, and have often found it hard-going over the year to think of topics I think people would like to read about. As the year has gone on, I’ve found my groove to a certain extent, understanding that you have to grab the blog-inspiration when it appears, rather than trying to find it every Tuesday…
I would like to say a big thank-you to everyone who has read or who follows my blog, and I’m delighted to say that in the last six months, my blog has been read in 77 countries. It is both personally and professionally amazing to me that people in so many far-flung locations in the world have all clicked on my link and read what I have to say.
As always, I’m happy to take questions or feedback and to hear from my readers, wherever they may be.

Eowyn

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