How to raise bilingual children at home: 5 tips.

Raising bilingual children can be a difficult decision to make. However, it has been proven that learning languages will bring an advantage to children who speak them. A second language helps improve concentration and cognitive skills, as well as activities such as multitasking, fast-thinking, and creativity; the benefits are almost endless. If you want to check our previous article to see the full advantages and benefits, click here.

If you have children and you are thinking about introducing them to a second language or are already doing it, it is of the utmost importance to use the appropriate teaching methods that promote better learning.

That is why today we will give you 5 tips to raise bilingual children at home:

1.- Use minority language at home

Using the least spoken language at home is a great strategy to improve it, since the language of the country where you live, your children will be able to experience it every day in daily situations such as going to school, going for a walk, etc. If your children focus on only one language at home, they will be able to develop it more easily as well as become more and more familiar with it and speak it more and more fluently.

Either choose to speak it in certain contexts such as at lunchtime, sleeping; at certain times, or always, depending on their level, but this will help a lot to perfect the language.

2.- Give the example

How do you expect your kids to learn a new language at home when you don't practice it?

One way to motivate and learn together with your children is by speaking with them in the target language. Establish dialogues with them, ask them questions, practice, so that they notice that you are also learning and have an interest in speaking that language and do not feel alone and pressured.

3.-Find resources

The best way to complement the learning is by using additional resources that allow a closer approach to the second language. Today you can find both physically and digitally endless resources such as:

TV shows and series
Books
Youtube videos
Web pages like Duolingo and WordReference
Facebook pages
Free guides

It's just a matter of investigating and asking to find the best quality material available.

4.- Join a community

Remember that you and your children are not the only ones going through this. It is easy to find groups of people with the same objective as you: to facilitate the learning of a language. Whether it's finding groups on Facebook, forming communities with people you know, or partnering with moms from the same school, find a group to belong to and where you can find resources, examples, tips, and more.

This will not only help you feel that the task becomes easier, but in the long term, you can even establish relationships and find friends with whom to talk and practice for joint learning.

5.- Change the path if goals are not met

Remember that the key is to never stop learning and constantly practice, using the minority language to narrate everyday life situations. Being in constant contact with the language is of vital importance. However, it is common that at first, you begin to try different forms of teaching and over time you notice which ones work for you and your children. There is nothing wrong with correcting and changing, it is never too late to choose the best path for your children.

Now, if you notice that your child has a lack of motivation to speak a second language for different reasons, there are also things you can do ...

What to do if your child rejects bilingualism?

Children imitate a lot of the behavior they see in their parents, so never stop being positive and share the importance of speaking another language.

Also, a very important aspect is to be creative and create the need. Invent dynamics, games, put your children in situations where they necessarily have to use another language and you will see how little by little they become more open to the possibility of learning it. Whether putting series that are only in the target language, meeting people who do not speak another language, or playing games that require translating words, but do dynamics, your mind is the limit for everything you can think of doing with your children that encourage their learning.

And remember: start as soon as possible! In the early years, children are more receptive to absorbing new information naturally, so take advantage of talking to them as much as possible on a daily basis.

And those were our 5 tips to raise bilingual children at home! What did you think? Do you have bilingual kids? Share with us your experience, we want to hear you.