The debate about the pro and cons of Bilingualism is often an ill informed one. It is quite common to think that Bilingualism can cause problems to children, but these are just prejudices. Let’s look at some of the most common myths about Bilingualism.
- To be bilingual one should master both languages as a native speaker. There isn’t an official definition of bilingualism, but there is overall agreement that the above is not a good definition, as it is too restrictive and quite unrealistic. Even people who have been raised in two languages and are native speakers on both, normally master a detailed vocabulary for specific areas in either one of the languages, for instance words pertaining to things like DIY, or medicine, or cooking… Could one say that a person is not bilingual because s/he can’t translate rivet or jugular? In any case these debates are better left to the experts, let’s be content with saying that is bilingual who speaks more than one language or even who speaks only one but understands well another (which is called passive bilingualism, quite common among bilingual children)
- Bilingual children are late talkers. This has not been proved by research, which instead seems to point otherwise, however it is true that some families did report a delay. Reality is that each child starts to talk, crawl, walk, etc whenever s/he is ready to do so and is easy to blame a natural delay on bilingualism. In any case a bilingual child will catch up easily and will be able to express himself clearly in both languages.
- Bilingual children mix the two languages. This is a normal and temporary phase of the learning cycle. Once the child learns more words and acquires confidence s/he will be able to speak each language properly
- Bilingual children are exposed to each language less than monolingual children. This could be true but has no impact whatsoever. Bilingual children will eventually master each language like their monolingual peers.
- It is difficult and it requires a lot of effort. It can’t be denied that raising a child bilingual requires lot’s of dedication, patience and persistence in implementing the chosen methodology. However the upsides are well worth the effort!
- One can raise a child bilingual only in his/her native tongue. That’s not true! Sure native speaker parents are in an ideal situation, but it is perfectly possible to raise a child bilingual also in one’s second language or even in a language one masters just a bit. The trick is to find the right method for one’s family.
- Children can learn a second language watching TV or DVD. That’s not really true. Young children learn to talk by interacting with other people, TV and similar tools have little or no impact. Older children, say at school age, can have fun and learn also with TV and DVD, however they should always be used as support tools only, children of all ages learn primarily through interaction with people.
- One can’t teach a child more than two languages. There is no proof that this is true, while many children who grew up speaking more than two languages seem to hint otherwise. It really all depends on the effort and dedication a family is willing to and can put into it.
- It’s too late for my child. It’s never too late! It is certainly true that the earlier the better and ideally one would want to start as a baby is born. However reality is that one can start at any time and help a child becoming bilingual, it just takes motivation and persistence as well as some consistency in the approach adopted. Children’s learning pace is just amazing.
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When to start with BilingualismMy baby is bilingual, how can I help him learn English too?7 Strategies to use when a bilingual child doesn’t want to speak a languageThe Advantages of Bilingualism and of Raising Children BilingualBilingual children in non bilingual families
2 Comments
This is really good to read. We’re raising our daughter trilingual (English-Italian-Dutch) mainly because we’re an Australian-Dutch couple living in Italy so it just comes naturally – but we’ve been told all kinds of things from “your child will be a late talker” to “more than two languages is too much.”
I found it very enlightening to talk to an Indian friend of mine who said that pretty much all educated Indians in his native Mumbai learn and become fluent in 4 languages – Hindi, English, and a couple of other Indian languages. He said that he, his brother and his schoolmates had no problems speaking all 4 on a daily basis. Although he’s struggling to learn French as an adult. Puts things into perspective!
Thanks for sharing your experience Kataroma! You touch on a very very good point, bilingualism is just a matter of fact in most countries, something that happens naturally because the country is multilingual, because some neighgbours will speak a language and some school mates will speak another, kind of thing… Easy.
All this fuzz is typical of European countries that are just not familiar with bilingualism.
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[...] Let me say it, I’m really happy! A. is a fully bilingual little boy. He understands everything in both languages, acts to instructions given in either language, and most of all, he speaks both languages! He was quite a late talker, so now that he’s 23 month old neither the quantity nor the variety of his speech are astonishing, and this is perfectly Ok. Every child has his/her own pace, and being male, a single child and (may be also) bilingual does not help. [...]