Language Development in Bilingual Children
Parents have many reasons for wanting their children to be bilingual. Some recognize that the world is more global than ever and that speaking more than one language can provide future opportunities for their children. Families in which the parents speak different birth languages may want their children to understand and appreciate both cultures and extended families. Careful planning and patience make it possible to raise children who are fully bilingual.
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Start Early
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It is easier for infants and toddlers to become proficient bilingual communicators than for older children to achieve the same. The younger a child is when he is exposed to languages, the more likely he is to speak without an accent. Babies and small children who are consistently being exposed to more than one language are able to speak and understand both languages at the same rate as children who are learning one language.
Defining Bilingualism
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Bilingualism can be determined by a person's ability to read, write, speak and understand a language. The ability to speak more than one language without the ability to write that language can be considered a form of bilingualism. Understanding both languages but having the ability to communicate in only one of the languages can also be considered a form of bilingualism. A fully bilingual person is one who is able to read, write, speak and understand both languages fluently.
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Language Plan
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A language plan is the strategy you and your partner follow to enable your child to become bilingual. Your language plan can be you only speaking your native language to your child while your partner speaks only his native language. Deciding that one language will be spoken at home and the other learned in day care and school is another form of a language plan. Starting a conversation in one language and ending it in another can confuse your child and cause the child difficulty in learning words and grammar of both languages. Consistency is the most important part of a language plan.
Encourage Usage
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It is important that the child responds to her parents in the language each one is communicating in. This solidifies the language in the mind of the child. In order for your child to learn languages, he must feel safe in practicing those languages. Parents should not make fun of or tease a child if he misuses or misunderstands a word or phrase. This could make the child shy of using both languages. Encouraging a child to read in both languages strengthens her understanding of grammar and usage in the languages.
Cultural Understanding
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Bilingual children have the advantage of being more aware of the world around them than many other children. Exposing a child to the cultures of the languages he is speaking will help him better use the language. Opportunities for cultural understanding will help the bilingual child understand that the language she speaks opens up new worlds for her where opportunities are endless.
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