Why raise bilingual children? In addition to potential academic or career opportunities, language is a powerful factor in shaping a child’s identity. When children in bilingual families understand the culture of each parent, family bonds are strengthened. Bilingual language skills have also been correlated with improved cognitive performance in children. According to the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, D.C., bilinguals take a more creative approach to problem-solving, read earlier on average than their monolingual peers and score higher on standardized tests like the SAT.

Children enjoy advantages in language learning, making childhood a great time to introduce a second language. Although children may not actually learn languages faster than adults, those who start a language early will ultimately speak it better. However, even for children to acquire a language, they have to need it. Parents in bilingual families in the United States, where English is the dominant language, may be frustrated when their children don’t speak each language equally well.

Realistic expectations are key to having a successful experience with bilingual childrearing. Even parents able to spend every summer in the ‘home country’ or enroll their children in language immersion programs at school may find that their children’s language proficiency is not exactly the same in each language. The good news is that this is completely normal and what most adult bilinguals typically experience, too.

In one form of bilingualism called ‘receptive bilingualism,’ children understand, but do not speak the family’s minority language. This kind of bilingualism is more common than people realize in the United States. It can develop under a variety of circumstances, but generally reflects a situation where children hear, but do not actually have to speak the family’s minority language. There are creative ways to encourage children to speak the second language. Parents have told children that they, the new baby or the dog, don’t understand English. Some parents simply don’t respond until rebellious older children use the appropriate language. Other parents will be more comfortable with insisting on a certain language at particular times, like the dinner hour, and being more flexible at other times.

Family Language Patterns

If you want your child to become bilingual, you need to decide on a language use pattern for the family. Common patterns include the one person-one language approach (OPOL), in which each parent uses a different language with the children; the home language strategy; and enrolling children in a foreign language immersion program.

The OPOL approach is popular because parents don’t worry that children will enter school in the United States unable to speak English. The biggest drawback is that it tends to be difficult to continue use of the family’s minority language as children grow older when children only use it with one parent. It helps if the parents can use the family’s minority language with each other, and when the parent who is the primary caregiver, speaks the family’s minority language.

The home language approach has the advantage of providing clear boundaries regarding language use and at least one additional person to interact with in the family’s language. Children who have started school will most likely begin to use English at home with each other if allowed, but use of the family language by everyone at home is subtly encouraged if both parents use it. Some families worry about their children starting school without much English, but it is usually possible in the United States to find playgroups or story times to introduce English before school without using it much at home.

Foreign language immersion programs are an excellent way for parents who are not bilingual to provide their children with the opportunity to learn a second language. Parents who don’t speak the school language can help children develop general language and literacy skills by reading to them and encouraging discussion in whatever language is normally used at home.

Extra Support for Your Child’s Second Language

In addition to deciding on a plan for family language use, parents should also look for resources outside the immediate family. In some American communities, it is easy to find a Spanish story hour, Vietnamese grocer or Korean church service. Media such as the Internet, books and magazines in the family language, TV or radio if available, software and computer games can also help extend children’s language use.

Many bilingual families find that visits to family abroad are a wonderful way to maintain children’s interest in a language, especially if there are cousins of a similar age. Children can continue the connection through letters, phone calls and e-mail. Instant messaging and Webcams are fun ways for cousins or friends to communicate over distance. Communication with peers allows children to learn about aspects of the family’s home country’s culture with which their parents may be out of touch.

How to Measure Success

Making the decision to raise children with two languages requires thought and careful planning for success, especially in a country like the U.S., where speaking one language is the norm.

Probably the most important thing for parents to remember is that their expectations should be in line with the level of support they can provide for their children’s two languages. The opportunity to acquire an additional language is a gift parents can give their children, and like all gifts, should be carefully chosen and given.

Carey Myles is the author of Raising Bilingual Children (Mars Publishing). She currently teaches English as a Second Language in the Waseda Transnational Program at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.