As a bi-lingual homeschooling mom, I get the opportunity to cross myself with many other bilingual moms or moms that are wondering about starting to learn a second language or include a second language in their homes.
Many of the questions that I get are typically "confusion" with teaching two languages at home.
I decided to do a little research and share with you a few of the most popular myths vs facts about raising bilingual children.
1. Myth: Speaking 2 or more languages to a child can "confuse" them, so it is better to only speak 1 language.
Fact: All children are capable of learning multiple languages, including children with developmental delays and learning disabilities.
2. Myth: Young bilingual children are delayed in learning language compared to peers who only speak 1 language.
Fact: Bilingualism does NOT cause language delays, and has been shown to improve children's ability to learn new worlds, identify sounds, and problems-solve.
3. Myth: It is better for families to only speak the language taught in school to their children, even if they do not speak the language well.
Fact: Families should speak the language they are most comfortable speaking, so children are given rich linguistic models and can interact best with other members of their community.
4. Myth: Bilingual children should not mix parts of the language they speak.
Fact: "Translanguaging" occurs when individuals grammatically mix aspects of the language they speak. It fosters cultural and metalinguistic awareness.
5. Myth: Children become bilingual just by listening to people around them speaking the second language.
Fact: Learning language is an active process that requires many opportunities for children communicating in context with others. Listening and responding are both crucial for developing competence.
“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.” -Nelson Mandela
Citations:
1. Bird, E.K.R., Cleave, P., Trudeau, N., Thordardttir, E., Sutton, A., (2005). The language abilities of bilingual children with Down syndrome. American Jounal of Speech-language Pathology, 14(3), 187-199,
2,Ellis, R. (1994). The study of second language aacquisition. Oxford University.
3. Kelly Ibanez, M.S. RPE/CF-SLP, Bilingual Speech Language Pathologist.