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Character advantages

  • Raised self esteem. This may depend on the attitude of the wider community to the languages spoken. However, in general, in Europe/the US, being bilingual is seen as a positive thing (once achieved). Also, the praise and recognition of the second language given by parents in order to achieve bilingualism may also help self esteem.
  • Security in identity. Bilinguals have close links with their heritage, they know who they are and where they come from. Children who loose one half of their linguistic heritage may regret this later.

Curriculum advantages

  • Increased curriculum achievement. Studies have found that bilingual children who have a fairly well developed knowledge of two languages do better at school. This may result from multiple factors, such as higher self esteem, creative thinking and a wider worldview.
  • Bilinguals find it easier to learn a third language than monolinguals find it to learn a second language – two thirds of studies show this result, the other third could find no difference. It is not yet known why this should be – it could be down to higher confidence.

Cash advantages

  • Economic and employment. Studies show that bilinguals earn more on average in the US and more recently in the UK. As companies become more and more international there is a need for bilinguals in media, sales, marketing, customer services. Although children may resist one language, by the time that they are young adults almost without exception they are extremely grateful to have two (or more) languages. The short term struggle is worth it in the long term.

Key tips: Note that we are based in England and so we refer to English as the community language throughout.

  • If you are worried about your children learning English: Don’t! Your children will always learn the community language (here English), if you speak only another language at home, try to arrange some exposure to the community language – child care, play groups, nursery, visiting friends – before your child starts school. But don’t worry, even if they don’t speak English at all, when they start school they will very soon catch up.
  • Set yourself a goal: Think about what level of bilingualism you would like your children to achieve ultimately i.e. understand but not fluent in speaking, fluent in understanding and speaking at home, able to read a newspaper, able to work, speak at a meeting, write a report. A certain level of bilingualism, with the average child, can be achieved without much or any sacrifice at all. If you want to aim higher, then think about how far you are prepared to put yourself out in order to achieve this. If your options are limited because you have other constraints (money to pay for the ideal childcare, space for the minority language Au Pair, you need to work fulltime and cannot spend as much time as you would like with your children) or priorities (your career, your children’s piano/ballet/football lessons), you may have to accept a lower level of bilingualism.
  • More (high quality) input = more output: The general rule is that the more exposure your child has to both languages, the better their level of understanding and speaking will be. But remember that it is an issue of quality as well as quantity. “Bilingual quality time” is having a rich and varied conversation where both you and your child (once they are talking sentences) express a wide range of ideas or discuss concepts (from colours, numbers, animals, with younger children to space and science and relationships – or whatever your 4-7 year old is currently fascinated by). This is easy to say but more difficult to achieve. Everything that the books and experts say is good at developing one language is also good for developing two – nursery rhymes, poems, songs, reading stories together, word games, talking to your child and listening to your child in the car, in the supermarket, discussing a TV programme, a book, an event.
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