Raising trilingual children {Family Fridays – an update}

(Photo via Carissa Rogers, Flickr CC)

¡Feliz viernes, amig@s! We’re back with another edition of Family Fridays here on the blog, a series in which I highlight a different multilingual family from around the globe.

I’m so happy to have back again my dear friend J.K., whose family was the first to be interviewed for this series over a year ago. Originally from Korea, she and her American husband are raising their two (soon to be three!) children in three languages while living as expats in China. You can catch her first interview here.

Today, she gives us an update on her family’s language policy, shares challenges she and her husband have experienced in their six years raising trilingual children, and provides encouragement for families in a similar situation.

Be encouraged, friends!

E.’s Language Development at Two Years

 

Part of raising a bilingual child is fielding questions of curiosity (which is totally fine) like, “So is your daughter bilingual?” or “How’s her English?” or “What language does she understand?” Although I’m still working on my elevator speech-style answer of 10 seconds or less, and although this post is not meant to be a defense of our choice to parent only in the minority language, Spanish, I did want to write a more personal, or narrative, style post to give you a snapshot of her current language(s) use.

“We hope we aren’t confusing her.” {Letter from a reader – part 2}

(Photo courtesy of urbanworkbench, Flickr CC)

The first day of September?! Where did summer go??

I refuse to welcome Autumn, even though today marks the first day back to school for children in our city. Speaking of school, a reader wrote me a letter a few days ago, asking advice about a situation related to a change in her daughter’s language development due to starting a new school. Below you’ll find her letter and my advice.

Be encouraged, friends.

Letter from a reader: Transitioning to school & the minority language

Hello, amig@s!

I apologize for the weeklong radio silence here on the blog. Can I be honest with you? I needed a break from writing. Blame it on the heat (or, the humidity here on the East Coast), the long days, or my “no-para-quieta toddler.” Anyway, the break did me good, and I’m back!

Today, I’d like to share with you a short letter I received from a mother raising her daughter in two languages. She expresses a concern I’m sure most, if not all of us, have experienced (or, will experience) at some point: what will happen to the minority language once my child begins school?

Although this is not an immediate concern for my husband and I, it is an issue we have discussed several times. So, below you will find my response (expanded for today’s blog post). I am not an expert on this topic, but do share advice that I have learned from other more experienced parents, as well as from research into language development.

Be encouraged, friends, and please share your own thoughts, too, if there is something I’ve missed!

Dear Españolita,

“I have a soon to be 2 year old little one, who will start an (English Speaking) toddler school very soon. My husband and I are bilingual (Spanish/English) speakers. We have raised our daughter to know/speak Spanish only. She throughly understands and speaks it so well. We have a fear now….a fear that she will lose interest in speaking Spanish or prefer to speak English only. Since she will be attending an all English school, are there any ideas you would suggest we practice?”

Hi!

From what we know through research (Welsh/English, Irish/English, Bilingualism and Children/Parents) and experience, the language of the majority culture and a child’s schooling (in your case, English) has a huge impact on the minority’s language, Spanish in this case. So, to continue to support and encourage your child’s use of Spanish I recommend the following:

1. Remain an informed parent:

What does the research in bilingualism say?  What are the best ways to maintain your family’s language policy? How can parents best support their child’s dual language development? Do you need a good book on the topic? Check out some of my reviews here and here and here on the blog. Also, the resources page has a list of blogs and websites that I have found helpful in my bilingual parenting journey.

2.  Remain consistent with your own language use:

This is hard, really hard. When the language we parents speak to our children is not the majority language, it’s challenging to remain consistent, especially in public. When we parent in a language that isn’t our native tongue, it can be difficult to refrain from switching to our first language, especially when we’re angry, tired, or sad. I get it. I feel it every day!

Fortunately, we’re working toward a worthy goal: that our children grow up bilingual. What an awesome gift we are giving them for the future. This encourages me to take it one day at time, to remain consistent with my Spanish, even when I’m mentally tired.

3. Provide your child with opportunities to use the language with other speakers:

On his blog about bilinguals, researcher Dr. François Grosjean states:

“Older bilingual children and adolescents who become conscious of which language their peers speak may well reject a language (usually the home language) so as not to be different from them. An Arabic-English bilingual once wrote to me that as an adolescent he pretended he did not know Arabic. He continued: ‘I did this because I wanted very badly not to be different from the rest of my friends.'”

From this example above, it’s important to remember two points: 1) all bilingual children will, at some point in their language journey, hesitate or refuse to speak the minority language; it’s normal 2) parents can encourage their children to use the language by providing them with opportunities to use it with multiple speakers, particularly peers of the same age.

That is why I encourage parents to consider sending their children to bilingual schools, if they have the opportunity. Or, consider creating a neighborhood play group in the minority language (that’s what I’ve done).

4.  Remain in regular contact with extended family:

Skype and FaceTime are amazing inventions! I make it a priority to video call family in Spain a few times each week. Also, consider saving your money for visits to the home country, instead of purchasing more toys.

I hope this has been helpful. Best of luck to you!

“I don’t think she understands any English….”

And, just like that, with one simple observation, my new-mom fears of “What if she doesn’t understand the minority language?” and “What if my errors get in the way of her learning Spanish?” were allayed. (For more of my “what ifs?” check out this previous blog post.)

Adjusting your family’s language policy – part 2 (Family Fridays)

 (Photo via Carissa Rogers, Flickr CC)

¡Feliz viernes, amig@s! Today I’m excited to bring your part 2 of a special installment of Family Fridays: adjusting your family’s language policy. (You can read part 1 here.)

Three multilingual blogger mamás share their experiences with making a changes to their home language plan. We’ll first hear from Jen, who you may remember from this past Family Friday interview; Becky, who lives in Texas with her husband and five children; and, Maria, trilingual mom living in France.

If you and your family are considering adjusting your language plan, I hope you will find helpful advice and encouragement from today’s moms.

Happy reading, and happy weekend!

“Good job!”: Positive Reinforcement & Language Development

I’ve decided to eliminate “Good job!” from my parent vocabulary.

From now on, I plan to avoid telling my daughter, “¡muy bien!” when she correctly points to Harry the dog on the page in response to my ¿Dónde está el perrito?

I will refrain from saying ¡Buen trabajo! when she eventually learns to say Se me ha roto (“I broke it”) instead of the incorrect Se me ha rompido* that most young children say before they learn that the Spanish verb romper takes the irregular form in the past participle.

And, I will not exclaim, ¡Qué bien pronuncias la “rr” en río! when she succeeds in rolling her Rs with the tip of her tongue.

While I plan to employ many creative strategies to encourage her bilingual language development over the coming years, I will not use positive reinforcement.

Here’s why.

Five Recommendations for Choosing Bilingual Baby Books – Year One

Photo via Monica Holli

“There is no such thing as a child who hates to read;

there are only children who have not found the right book.” (Frank Serafini)

As a former English teacher, I couldn’t agree more with Serafini’s words. And, as a mother, it is my responsibility to help my daughter find the right books, at the right time. Today I’d like to share with you five characteristics that I looked for when selecting”the right book[s]” for my daughter in her first year.

Book Review: “Bilingual by Choice” by Virginie Raguenaud

As I’ve written previously, I didn’t run out and purchase every last parenting book I could get my hands on when I learned I was pregnant.

But, I did scour the bookstores for any and all books on bilingual parenting. While I didn’t know whether I’d be into attachment parenting or sleep training, baby purees or baby weaning – I figured I’d see as I went along – I did make the decision to raise my daughter bilingually.

Today’s book under review centers around that premise: bilingual parenting is a choice and that choice requires active and intentional support on the part of parents. Bilingual by Choice: Raising Kids in Two (or more!) Languages (2009) by Virginie Raguenaud is another great resource for parents undertaking the daunting and exciting journey of bilingual parenting.

Conversation with Dr. Kendall King, linguistics professor, researcher, and co-author of “The Bilingual Edge”

Kendall King and her two children

 

¡Hola, amig@s! If you’ve been following the blog you may have read my recent review of the bilingual parenting book “The Bilingual Edge.” Not only has it been an invaluable resource to me and my family, but it was co-authored by one of my graduate school professors at Georgetown University, Kendall King. Dr. King is now a professor of second languages and culture at the University of Minnesota.

Today, I have the privilege to share with you a recent conversation I had with her in which we discuss her 2007 book, her current research, and her own bilingual family.

Be encouraged, friends.