How to create a bilingual environment (even if you're not a speaker).

The Gist:

Even if you’re not bilingual, you can set the stage for your child to speak a second language


Read more about it here:


Last time we talked about how to get your child to use a minority language at home when at least one person is a native speaker of the minority language. But what about families who are native speakers of the majority language (English for our purposes) who want to teach their kids about another language? 


If you want to create a bilingual environment, there are things you can do  -- especially early on -- to help your child learn another language.


The easiest way to do this is to hire a caregiver who speaks another language, and then ask them to speak that language to your child(ren). How much your kids learn from them depends on how many hours that caregiver spends with them, both in a day and over time. But even a little bit of language exposure can train a little one’s brain to be open to different sounds of different languages.


Creating a playgroup with speakers of the minority language is also an option in some places. Get together with other families who have the same language goals as you do for your kids and “use” them to gain exposure to the second language.


And of course, there are more bilingual school programs than ever before. Because of the strong research that speaking more than one language is actually good for your brain, school systems are ramping up dual-language programs. If you’ve got a dual-language program in your community, try it out for your child!


Books, movies and other media can help too. We live in an age where it’s easier than ever to get good content in other languages. But you need to be choosy: just because it’s in another language, doesn’t mean it’s developmentally appropriate for your child! 


And, you need to be present and involved whenever your child is consuming media of ANY KIND. There’s good research to show that screen time can be educational WHEN AN ADULT TALKS ABOUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ONSCREEN. 


Travel is another way you can start to expose your children to another language (and another culture). Can you take an extended trip? Or even just a short one and spend time immersed in the life of another place?


I’d love to hear from you about strategies you’ve used to provide a bilingual environment for your child. Will you message me and let me know?


All my best -

Gabriele


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