How to maintain your child’s heritage language during the school years
Parents of heritage language speaking children are usually concerned about the children’s double language load
Parents of heritage language speaking children are usually concerned about the children’s double language load
Parenting is undoubtedly demanding and finding appropriate supports when multilingual parents need them can be difficult.
How can you as a parent make sure that your child understands how important language and culture is to your family?
You have met families who swear by the One Parent One Language (OPOL) strategy, and others who only speak the minority language at home, others who speak a specific language only some of the time, and you are now wondering who is doing it right.
Did you know that many of the world’s English language users are not native speakers of English? For so many years language learners have strived to become “like a native speaker”, with flawless grammar and pronunciation.
Children who develop two languages normally follow patterns of development similar to children who develop one single language. They coo, babble and form early sounds and simple words at first.
For many parents the first stumbling block is at the very start… is bilingualism a good idea? Is it common? Will my child grow up to feel different from everyone else?
With an ever-growing bilingual population, it is important to be aware of the benefits that bilingualism can bring. This can be helpful for parents, teachers and anyone responsible for advising and supporting those who raise and educate children who speak more than one language.