Raising a Trilingual Child: How To Raise a Bilingual or Multilingual child. Where to start?

Monday, April 15, 2013

How To Raise a Bilingual or Multilingual child. Where to start?

Are you expecting a baby?

You have many questions:
What I need to do first?
What language should I speak to my bilingual baby?
I speak several languages, should I pass them all onto my child? Should I bring up my baby trilingual or multilingual?
Are three language too much for my baby's brain?

Here you will find information that will help you answer all this questions and make some important decisions regarding your family's language strategy in the future.

Let's start from the first steps of bilingual baby planing that you should follow before your baby is born.

1. Plan ahead.
Yes! If you are thinking to bring up a bilingual baby you should plan ahead and have your family language strategy figured out and ready, while your baby is still in your womb.

2. Read related literature.

There are many interesting books written about raising bilingual children that help to understand what method is best for your particular case.
I used as a guide line Raising a Bilingual Child by Barbara Pearson & 7 Steps to Raising a Bilingual Child by Naomi Steiner ( it is more for parents who would like to teach a language they do speak little or don't speak). You can also find more information on Language Strategies page and in the articles, written by me and by other parents on this website.
And check the books I reselected here.

3. Discuss your ideas with your partner.
It is important to do as you might discover that your partner has a different view.

4. Write the action plan.
The languages you would like to teach. Set the minimum and maximum goal for each of them.

5. Wait for your baby to come out and go head and implement it!
Good Luck!

Articles to prepare you for your bilingual baby:

(click on either a link or a picture to read the article)

Can babies distinguish foreign languages?

Bilingualism and speech delay. How can you help?

Do you and your partner speak to each other in a language different from the one you plan to speak to your child? - Planting a language tree. Does passive language learning work?