Bilingual culture is a part of everyday society, including in the world of children. The proved benefits of children speaking dual languages have been reflected in schools and the media. From dual language immersion programs in elementary schools to television shows that portray bilingual children, such as Disney’s Spanish Handy Manny or Nickelodeon’s Chinese Ni Hao, Kai-Lan, teaching another language to a child has become highly recommended.
Most families of multiples have an “instant” preschool in their home with two or more children of the same age. In a recent article in the New York Times, language specialist Roberta Golinkoff says, “Being immersed in a dual language and living within it are what lead to language learning.” Parents, including those of multiples, can create a daily environment where the dual language is prominent. For a bilingual family, you can keep the languages separate by person and place. A mother only speaks Spanish and a father speaks English to the children. Grandma’s house might be a place where only Spanish is spoken. Pregnant with twins, Olga Murphy, wanted to raise her twins bilingual. Olga spoke to her twins in German and her husband spoke to them in English. At the age of two, the twins had no problem separating the language saying goodnight to Olga in German and goodnight to her husband in English. Now in school, the twins speak to each other in English at school but German at home.
Some resources to help parents navigate the world of raising bilingual children are the following:
http://www.examiner.com/x-24159-Alexandria-Parenting-Multiples-Examiner~y2010m1d5-Introduction-to-raising-bilingual-children
Joscelyn, Owner of Mami of Multiples & Mami Innovative Media
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I agree. My daughter is 8 and she started learning English when we moved to United States 4 year ago. It hasn’t been easy to keep the Spanish she learned before, but I have insisted. She will be grateful later on. Right now she prefers English, but I won’t give up. I will keep reinforcing the Spanish she once knew.