Why choose bilingualism?

The Gist:

You might decide to expose your child to more than one language, because being bilingual is good for people’s brains and helps them in lots of different ways.


Read more here:

My husband’s family is from Peru, though they’ve lived in the US for many years now. When my husband was growing up, there were only a handful of families around them who spoke another language in addition to English. 


My husband’s family was one of the few who decided to speak only Spanish at home with their children. 


And now, my husband is one of the few adults from that set of kids who speaks another language in addition to English.


Most non-English speaking families at that time, in that place, decided to speak only English with their children. Looking back it’s easy to see why it “seemed like a good idea at the time” (more integration, more acceptance, less social pressure). Certainly, my husband felt conspicuous at times, and that was hard.


But the benefits are so clear! And the topic of bilingualism is at the forefront of education more so than ever before. 


Why? Because neuroscience is showing us that being bilingual actually gives us a brain boost (in addition to being cool, which bilingual people have known for years).


In study after study, people who speak more than one language are shown to be (among other things):

  • more flexible

  • better able to solve complex problems

  • more self-aware

  • better communicators overall

  • more empathetic of others

  • And to have a broader worldview

In today’s interconnected world, you can see how these attributes would be useful and appreciated. 

So, if you are a parent  -- particularly the parent of a young child (though it’s never too late) -- you might decide to introduce a second (or third) language to your child.

If you already speak another language, this is a FREE GIFT you can give your child! It costs you nothing (maybe some time and some brainpower), but can have a huge impact on your child’s life  -- and their brain!

Even if you don’t speak another language, stay tuned in the following weeks to find out more about bilingualism, its benefits, challenges, and how to nurture a bilingual child.

We’re talking all things bilingualism for the next few weeks! How to raise a bilingual child. Why you should. What to do if your child has trouble learning their second (or first!) language. What to do when they mix languages.

We’ll hit the big ones but please feel free to post any other questions in the comments. As always, I’m happy to answer questions!

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