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Raising Multilingual Children - Advantages & Disadvantages

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Raising Multilingual Children

Hi and welcome to "Raising Multilingual Children". This page will discuss advantages and looks into potential disadvantages of raising children with more than one language.

You will also read about the term "bilingualism" and find out how common bilingualism is in the world.

For more information on raising multilingual / bilingual children visit themlnetwork.com.

What is Bilingualism?

First of all, it's a gift! A gift for the children, a gift for life. Probably one of the best gifts you can give your child. It will stay with your child for the rest of his or her life and will be of great use.

We will look into that later, but before we do that let's have a look at what bilingualism is in the academic world...

There's a guy called Francois Grosjean who defines: "Bilingual are those, who use more than one language in their daily life, not only those who do so in perfect equivalent levels".

What is interesting about that?

Well, most people when you ask them what bilingualism is, they say "someone who speaks two languages perfectly". And that's not at all what bilingualism is, it's actually about using the languages daily - two languages or more than that (which makes you multilingual).

Read more about bilingualism on themlnetwork.com.

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How Common is Bilingualism?

Raising your childrenn multilingual is not that uncommon...

If you have grown up in a western country you'll probably think of a low number, maybe 20% or 30% maximum, some people would even say 10% or 15%.

If you've grown up in an eastern country you'll probably know the answer that is: 50%+ of the world population!

So what does that mean?

It means it's the norm! That is normal. Bilingualism is the norm on this planet. Interesting, huh?

However, very few people have multiliteracy skills, so very few can read and write in more than one language. Well, that shouldn't surprise you, given there are so many people that can read and write in one language... But nevertheless, so there are a lot of bilingual children who just grow up like that.

Advantages of Multilingualism

Raising multilingual children brings a lot of benefits...

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Let's take a look at the advantages. What are they? We mentioned it's a gift for life... well, what is so great about it?
  • First of all, your kids get exposure to another culture. So rather than thinking there is only one way to everything, they stay open, open to possibilities. How fabulous is that? They know from the start that different people do things differently. And that's OK. It's not better, it's not worse, it's just different.
  • Bilingual children build bridges to new relationships because they have the capability: they can talk to diverse people, they build different sorts of relationships, and they can be the bridge between two kids who can't talk to each other - they can actually translate and help out.
  • There are also potential economic advantages, of course. Later in life when your child finishes school, with a second language he or she will be more in demand. We live in an ever smaller world where languages are the only barrier, distances are no longer. So if your child speaks a second or third one, there's a clear economic advantage.
  • Another advantage is the more flexible and divergent thinking. Researches actually show that kids who grow up with several languages think differently. They know from the start that there could be more than one word to one concept. So their mind stays more flexible and that often also led to the fact that bilingual children do at least as well in school as their monolingual counterparts.
  • Finally, the self-identity of your child will be affected as well. Your child will see himself or herself as a language or culture bridge. It's not only that they just are this bridge, they are actually conscious about it! And that is even more than doing it. It is about who your child is, the self-image your child adopts. Being bilingual increases, as a result, the self-esteem and the self-confidence.

    Learn more about the advantages of bilingualism on themlnetwork.com.

Disadvantages of Multilingualism

These are only POTENTIAL Disadvantages!

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So there are a lot of advantages and good reasons to tackle multilingualism or bilingualism for your child. But to be complete, we should have a look into potential disadvantages if you commit to bring up your child with another language. What is the price?

They are just potential disadvantages because you don't have to have those. you'll see, some of those might show up in your journey for bilingualism or multilingualism, but they don't have to.
  • Your child might start speaking three to six months later than a monolingual child. Is that a disadvantage? Not really, but it's important to know that you need to give your child those extra three to six months. Beyond that, if your child doesn't start speaking three to six months after what is expected for monolingual children, then what do you do? You do exactly the same that you would do with a monolingual child: you consult a specialist and you figure out what the cause is.
  • Another potential disadvantage is the temporary mixing of languages. Yes, your child might mix up different words from different languages into one sentence. This is absolutely normal until the age of four. Again, is that a disadvantage? It is a difference and not so much a disadvantage. If you know that that's to be expected you won't even see it as a disadvantage.
  • Added academic load. What is that all about? Well, most likely your child will go to a monolingual school. This means that if you also want your child to read and write in their second or third or fourth language, you'll have to find a way to add that to your child's curriculum, which means more hours, extra work in the afternoons after the normal regular school. So you've got to be aware of the extra effort for your child and yourself.

Your Opinion on Raising Multilingual Children

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Make YOUR Child Multilingual!

Well, what's left to say is: tackle it! Go for it, make your child multilingual! You'll have loads and loads of questions and that is normal. And there's lots of ways for you to find answers. There are websites, there are courses, workshops.

Make Your Child Multilingual is the first workbook that really enables and empowers you to build your own success plan step by step. It takes your family situation into account and allows you to build your plan and most importantly set your objectives and your strategy.

raising bilingual children

Everything is explained in the book and it is very much a workbook, so you go through one step at a time. So if you're interested in those 10 easy steps to your personal success plan, have a look at this website. The ebook is a really small investment for a gift for life and you are benefiting from a lot of coaching exercises and more.

Multilingual Children Advantages & Disadvantages on YouTube

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Raising Multilingual Children - Blog Posts from Google

Bilingual Kids Outperforming English-Only, Local Educators Say
During Thursday's address, Young made the case that bilingual students have a jump on kids who only have one language. ?In most other developed countries, children are taught more than one language from Kindergarten through high school,? he said, ...
Bilingual kids gain benefits in literacy skills
Bilingual children score higher on some cognitive tests than children who speak only English, a new Toronto study found. It's known that children who grow up speaking two languages tend to be slower in picking up each language than children raised ...
Maternal depression and bilingual households can impact infant language ...
In one study, Werker finds the period lasts longer for babies in bilingual households than in monolingual babies, particularly for the face recognition aspects of speech. In another study, Werker and collaborators at the Child & Family Research ...
Study examines role of bilingualism in children's development
A new study on children who are raised bilingual examined the effects on children's development of growing up speaking two languages. The study found that different factors were responsible for the language- and non-language-related outcomes of ...
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