Parents feel often overwhelmed by responsibility, as if the success or failure of their children’s Bilingualism depended only on them. If children refuse to speak the second language parents often react with deep disappointment, if not a sense of betrayal. But children don’t speak a language because “it is important”, for them language is, and should be, solely a means to communicate. This implies that the minority language needs a social context to flourish, a context where the language is both necessary, useful, and associated with positive experiences.
Parents feel often overwhelmed by responsibility, as if the success or failure of their children’s Bilingualism depended only on them. If children refuse to speak the second language parents often react with deep disappointment, if not a sense of betrayal. But children don’t speak a language because “it is important”, for them language is, and should be, solely a means to communicate. This implies that the minority language needs a social context to flourish, a context where the language is both necessary, useful, and associated with positive experiences.
The importance of a social context for bilingual children
Playgroups help bilingual children speak the second language
Bilingual For Fun’s Playgroups in Italy
Playgroups: What When Where Who