image credit: don't panic, by patrick hoesly, via flickr

I just discovered your website, which I find very useful and interesting. I’ve been thinking about bilingualism for some time now, from the time my now one year old daughter, Marina, was born. My greatest concern is that we would like for her to learn a second language right away for all the usual reasons: globalization, lack of jobs in Spain, cultural enrichment, the ability to travel with ease…

Our problem is that we learned English poorly: with little or no conversation and too much grammar, without native teachers…We do not feel able to teach her and we fear that the majority of the bilingual schools are not doing much to improve the system (I’m a teacher). On the other hand, the bilingual schools in Valencia (where we’re from) are expensive, especially if we want to have more children and give them all the same opportunities. And there are other disadvantages, like the educational style and the fact that they are far away.

My questions are: What can we do to help Marina learn English? Movies and cartoons in English? Should we save up money so that she can study abroad when she is older? A native speaking teacher at home once per day or once per week? Where can we find an ideal teacher? Thank you in advance for your response.

Miguel Ángel Mascarell

Dear Miguel Ángel,

First I want to encourage you to follow through with this bilingual project for your daughter. Of course, I’ll also tell you that it is not easy and it does require some effort and cost. But first and foremost, you should decide on a realistic project which will not cause you to sacrifice other essential things in your family.

Fortunately, there are now many ways to expose children to a new language. This no longer depends completely on parents or school. But we must always bear in mind that our children must be motivated to learn the language if we want this to happen in a natural way. This is the key, helping your child to feel motivated to communicate and interact in a language.

This is why movies and cartoons can be a useful tool if one of you sits down with your daughter to share this activity and talk about what you’re watching. Like I said before, motivation comes from interaction. Simply watching television can be a source of entertainment, but it is not enough to acquire a language.

I don’t know what your level of English is, but sometimes you don’t need to worry about speaking to them with an accent if you’re just trying to provide support and reinforcement for the language. For many parents who don’t feel confident about their English, it can be very helpful to read stories, so that they don’t have to worry about grammatical errors. If you feel up to it, you can buy bilingual books and have a favorite stuffed animal “read” the story in English when it is time to “speak/play” the second language. This is a shared activity with Mom and Dad, so this is a motivating way to expose your child to a new language.

Of course, this alone will not make your child bilingual. That’s why it is important that you give her opportunities to do activities with people who will only speak to her in English often enough for her to truly learn the language.

For young children, playgroups with parents, children and teachers who only speak English while doing fun activities can be very helpful. The idea is not to “learn” a language but rather to acquire it in a natural way.

Another option which would be appropriate for a child your daughter’s age would be to hire a native speaking babysitter or invite an au pair to stay at your home (you can find more information on this kind of services at www.soschildcare.com).

Finally, the idea of spending some time abroad is a great one. But there will be plenty of time for that. Now you can start with these other resources, while Marina is young and able to learn a second language naturally and effortlessly.

As you can see, there are several options for helping a child to learn a new language. But whatever you do, remember that the most important thing is to give your daughter opportunites to communicate and to create a need for her to communicate in English while having fun.

Best of luck!

Mariana Lombardo is an experienced children speech therapist. She does clinical work at SINEWS with bilingual families in the expat community in Madrid. Mariana is in charge of the workshops for bilingual families offered by SINEWS and she also gives personalized speech therapy sessions to bilingual families. For more information, please visit www.sinews.es.

image credit: beach ball language activity, by brandi jordan (via flickr)

If you’re a regular reader of Bilingual Readers, you may know that our entire company’s mission is based on two main principles: a passion for great, high quality books and a passion for languages. We often publish articles about the benefits of bilingualism to encourage parents and educators to expose children to multiple languages from a very early age. In previous posts we’ve discussed studies that have shown the many cognitive benefits of bilingualism (for example, bilingualism appears to improve reading speed and comprehension), but until now I had never seen a study which demonstrates that bilingual children are actually much better prepared to learn new languages (in addition to their native languages) as they grow up. That’s why I was so excited this morning when I read about a new study which provides scientific backing to a theory that many have believed in for years.

In a new study published by Janet Werker from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, researchers asked the following questions based on a previous study which showed that bilingual children could distinguish between their two languages soley by observing facial cues from bilingual speakers:

“Is this a specific sensitivity just to the two languages that the baby is being exposed to? Or as a function of having to pay attention to the cues that will distinguish the two languages in their world, if they’re growing up bilingual, do bilingual babies learn something more general? Do they learn to pay attention to the cues in language that might allow them to keep any two languages apart?”

Not surprisingly, the results of this new study seem to suggest that bilingual children develop cognitive abilities that help them differentiate between languages. Since monolingual children lose this ability when they are around seven or eight months old, this gives bilingual children a significant advantage when they are learning a third language. So there you have it, one more reason why raising a child in two or more languages can be extremely beneficial in so many ways! Click here to read an interview with the study’s author, who has lots to say about the benefits of bilingualism for young children.

image credit: dominio de las lenguas, via Público (click to view full size image)

If you’ve been reading us for a while, I’m sure you know that we try to avoid political discussions about bilingualism and the minority languages spoken in Spain. This is primarily because we believe that there is plenty of evidence to support the fact that a bilingual upbringing has loads of benefits, regardless of which combination of languages you choose to teach your children. One of the most recent studies on the subject demonstrates some of the many cognitive advantages bilingual children and adults have over their monolingual peers. Click here for more in-depth information on the benefits of bilingualism. So we strongly encourage parents to raise their children bilingually, whether that means English/Spanish, Arabic/French, Polish/Chinese or whatever language combination you feel motivated to share with your children.

That said, a interesting article in the Spanish daily newspaper Publico recently caught my eye. Under the headline “La recuperación de las lenguas aún es un reto” (Language Recovery is Still a Challenge), the article uses pictographs and numerical data to show the evolution of each of Spain’s minority languages over the last 30 years in those regions where each language is spoken. It’s especially interesting to see the challenges each region has faced over the years and the impact that social and political support for these minority languages has had on the recovery of each language.

The main (non-political) conclusion we can gain from these statistics is that it takes work for children to learn any language that is not the primary community language. Children first need to be exposed to a language and then they need to feel a motivation to communicate in that language. Just as those communities who have supported the use of their minority languages and worked for more opportunities for children to find a practical use for those languages have seen a growth in the percentage of the population that is truly bilingual, any family that makes the choice to raise their children bilingually will see greater results if they take active steps to both expose children to the language and create real opportunities for them to use the language on a daily basis. Best of luck to those of you who are fighting to give your children the wonderful gift of bilingualism!

image credit: School Girls playing Hopscotch_Cuba 042, via flickr

We all know that children learn all sorts of important skills from playing, but did you know that child’s play is also essential for language development? The truth is that children use play to discover the world around them, develop their imaginations, form bonds with their peers and learn many other important life skills. According to a recent article by Marisa Constantinides for TEFL Matters, there are nine different types of play (conceptual games, visual perceptual tasks, auditory perceptual tasks, fine motor tasks, artistic activities, material play, physical play, representational object play and fantasy play), which all contribute to developing various facets of your child’s language skills. Of course there are specific games which may help parents from bilingual families gently nudge children into using developing language skills in both languages. Here are a few time tested Spanish/English favorites, as well as some more modern ideas, to get you started:

*I Spy/Veo veo: This guessing game reinforces vocabulary and sentence structure by repeating the same little rhyme over and over again with the child. It also teaches deductive reasoning skills and can be played pretty much anytime, anywhere. Older children can play a sort of 20 questions version of this game, in which the child may ask you 20 questions to help narrow down the item you “spied”.

*Mother May I?: This time tested favorite, along with Simon Says and other similar games, teach children how to listen to, give and follow orders. They also teach vocabulary and help develop fine motor skills.

*Songs and Nursery rhymes: Singing songs and reciting nursery rhymes with your children is another great way to reinforce vocabulary and sentence structure. The rhythm and rhyme of this sort of language also makes it easy for children to remember and reproduce. Who doesn’t remember the songs and nursery rhymes of his youth?

*On-line games: For this new tech savvy generation, it’s never to early to play on-line games. There are all sorts of bilingual and language learning websites which can help your child develop their language and technological skills at the same time, and many of them are even free! You can check out a few of our favorite English and Spanish language sites for kids in the Just for Kids! section of our resources page.

We should never underestimate the power of bilingual play for children of all ages, so have a blast!

I’m afraid I’ve always been a bit of a summer addict. When most people are busy complaining about the heat and hiding out in air conditioned buildings, I’ve always been happy to break out my little sundresses, coat myself in sunscreen (a girl’s got to protect her skin after all) and enjoy all that fabulous sunshine. So after waving goodbye to my parents at the Madrid airport last week and noticing that it’s no longer light outside when my alarm clock rings at 7:01 am, I have to admit it would be very tempting for me to develop a case of the post vacation blues. And then I remember something that makes me almost want to speed the whole end of summer/start of fall process along: our new (and first) catalogue of bilingual books and games is set to launch in just six weeks!

While it may be the end of summer now, this fall is the start of something big for Bilingual Readers, and I can’t wait to see the books we’ve been working so hard on for so long in the hands of the bilingual families they were created for! That’s one of the many reasons we were so excited to see our first complete sample copies of Easy Alphabet!/¡Abecedario fácil! arrive from the printers last Friday. Our hands were trembling as we opened up the box and examined each item in this bilingual early literacy kit one at a time. Then yesterday we received another package from the printers with samples of Two Little Libros: Jungle Animals and Sea Animals. We could hardly believe it ourselves, but both the books and the kit turned out exactly how we envisioned them, so we just had to post a few pictures to give you all a sneak peak of what you can look forward to in October. We hope you love them as much as we do!

image credit: stumble trip, via flickr

My husband is Portuguese, but we live in Spain. My husband says that it feels unnatural for him to speak to our seven month old son Marco in Portuguese, although he plans to speak Portuguese to him when he is old enough to speak back. I’m always telling my husband it will be too late by then. How can I convince him to speak to our son in Portuguese now? What are the technical reasons why it is so important for Marco to hear both languages from the beginning?

María, Bilbao, Spain

Dear María:

When you feel comfortable speaking to your child in one language, it can be difficult to switch gears and speak to him in another language. Forcing this type of change can even cause emotional difficulties, since it is already hard enough to learn to be a parent, establish emotional ties with your child, etc. This is especially true when your baby’s communication skills are still rudimentary. I would encourage you not to worry too much because IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO LEARN A NEW LANGUAGE.

At this point it seems like I support your husband’s decision, right? The truth is I’m not radically opposed to him waiting until your son is older to speak to him in his native language or even never speaking to him in Portuguese at all if that would somehow damage his relationship with his child. BUT…there would have to be a very good reason for him not to do so.

The following is a list of common myths which are NOT good reasons for your husband to avoid speaking to your son in his native language:
-Myth 1: Portuguese would not be useful for my child, since it’s not as “prestigious” as languages such as English, German or French. Portuguese and its variants are spoken by millions of people worldwide (Brazil, Africa, etc.), and sometimes learning a less “popular” language can provide unexpected academic and career advantages for your child. Who knows if Brazil, like China, may one day become an important trade location for multinational companies?
-Myth 2: If my child learns both Spanish and Portuguese at the same time, this choice may prevent him from learning other important world languages like English. On the contrary, speaking two languages from the time he is small will help your child learn a third language later in life.
-Myth 3: All of my efforts to communicate with my son are in vain until he learns to speak. If that were the case, why should we speak to our children in any language if they don’t understand us?

I would like to help you both make the best possible decision for your family by giving you a few reasons why your son would benefit from hearing both languages as soon as possible:
-Language development begins when the fetus begins to hear. Babies can hear you from the very beginning, even when they’re in their mother’s womb. This process is passive at first, then it becomes more active as the child grows.
-A four month old baby is perfectly capable of distinguishing between the sounds and musicality of both his languages and reacts in a different way to each one.
-Four month olds are also able to learn (by imitating) the movements their parents’ mouths make when speaking with them. According to recent studies, they can even distinguish between facial movements of those who are speaking with them when presented with visual recordings with no sound.
-When a baby begins to babble, he is producing only those sounds included in the phonetic repertoire of the languages he hears at home. He generally produces the easiest sounds first and the more complicated ones later.
-One of the first steps in learning a language is to distinguish its musicality and phonetics. It has also been demonstrated that the earlier a child learns a second language, the easier it will be for him to speak without a foreign accent in that language.

Even if these arguments do convince your husband, he may still need some help deciding how to make the transition from one language to another. Here are few suggestions:
-A visit from a Portuguese family member or a vacation in Portugal would be a great help. When we hear others around us speaking in a language, it feels more natural for us to speak to our child in that language. In this context, the change may not feel as forced.
-It may be easier to make this transition when your husband is alone with your son in a relaxed environment such as bath time, when telling him a bedtime story or singing him a lullaby. The presence of a person he is not used to speaking Portuguese around may make the transition more uncomfortable or artificial.
-Sometimes reading a book in the native language can be a more practical first step. In this way your husband would only have to read what is written. The text could also inspire him to add his own comments or discuss the story with your son. Babies as young as nine months old already love to help turn the pages and look at the illustrations. Reading bilingual books is especially helpful, as each of you can read the text in your own language, which will help your son to associate two different words with the same illustration and actions.
-Playing some of the same games our parents played with us as children can also be helpful. Each culture has its own games, so have fun playing with your son!

Sometimes making these small changes can make the transition from one language to another easier. It also allows us to experiment before deciding whether or not we are capable of making this change, and just how fast or slow we want things to go.

María, I’m afraid this change won’t be immediate or forced, but I wish you both the best of luck with finding the right path for your bilingual family.

All the best,
Dr. Orlanda Varela

Dr. Orlanda Varela is a Child Psychiatrist and the Coordinator of the educational project for Bilingual Families at SINEWS Multilingual Therapy Institute in Madrid. SINEWS organizes bilingualism workshops for parents in Madrid, as well as personalized speech therapy sessions to bilingual families with specific language development problems. For more information, please visit sinews.es.

Update: Please feel free to send any questions you may have about raising children in a bilingual home to info@bilingualreaders.com, and the experts from Sinews will be happy to answer them.

image credit: bored, via flickr

The incredible capacity of a young human brain to simultaneously acquire several languages at a time is something that will never cease to amaze me. While learning a new language is often difficult for our mature adult brains, it’s actually a piece of cake for children under the age of 7. So how exactly does a child who depends on his parents for every single aspect of his existence become bilingual (or even multilingual) so effortlessly?

The answer won’t come as much of a shock to those who are raising bilingual children, but it is fascinating nonetheless. A recent Italian study confirmed that children who are exposed to two different languages from a very young age will actually develop two different neural circuits dedicated to both languages. In other words, babies are officially language learning machines. According to this study, “each language uses a unique set of sounds. Scientists now know babies are born with the ability to distinguish all of them, but that ability starts weakening even before they start talking, by the first birthday…Babies being raised bilingual-by simply speaking to them in two languages-can learn both in the time it takes most babies to learn one. On average, monolingual and bilingual babies start talking around age 1 and can say about 50 words by 18 months. While new language learning is easiest by age 7, it markedly declines before puberty.”

So what does all of this mean for bilingual families? The most important implication is the sheer importance of exposing young children to new languages before the age of 7. Whether they realize it or not, parents and other caregivers are constantly programming their children’s brains by using their input to develop their children’s language skills. A parent’s role in their children’s language development is of the utmost importance, so take advantage of every opportunity to talk to your children and expose them to as many opportunities to hear new languages as possible.  Reading stories and singing songs are great ways to help your child’s language development along, as are baby talk and even letting your baby listen to conversations between adults. The more your child hears each of his languages, the more fine tuned the language areas of his bilingual brain will become.

For those of you who may be considering the benefits of exposing your children to new languages, remember that the window of opportunity begins to close around the age of 7. Of course it’s never too late to discover a new language and culture, but learning languages will be much easier for your child if you start early. For more information on the benefits of bilingualism, please see the Bilingualism Basics section of our Resources page.