RAISING BILINGUAL CHILDREN

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When I was pregnant with my first child, friends and family continually asked me if my child would be bilingual.
My husband’s first language is Spanish and mine is English.

At first, I wasn’t sure what we should do.  I began to do some research into the advantages of raising bilingual children.

The research poignantly pointed in the direction that raising bilingual children was advantageous for many reasons.

Some of the advantages that I read about included:

*It’s easier to learn a second language while still very young.  As parents, we can all relate to the fact that children can be like sponges.  They absorb pretty much everything they hear, for better or worse.

*Improved brain function.  Learning a second language as a child strengthens a child’s ability to focus.

*Provides consistent exercise for the brain.  There have been numerous studies that detail that, statistically, raising bilingual children decreases the risk of stroke and also delays the onset of Alzheimer’s.

*Children who are taught more than one language develop a better capacity for mastering new concepts quickly.

*Learning a second language for a child also leads towards better concentration, which is extremely beneficial as a child begins formal education.

The advantages of raising bilingual children are definitely impressive.

Then I needed to start thinking realistically so that I could choose whether or not this is what I wanted for my children.

What hit home the most for me was that my children would be able to communicate with relatives that primarily spoke Spanish or English.  I felt that this would be a great way to expose them to both cultures.

Raising bilingual children will definitely raise their cultural awareness.  Very important to me as a mom, was(still is) for my children to appreciate different cultures. Teaching them a second language would definitely help me to accomplish this goal.

My husband and I talked extensively about the advantages of raising bilingual children.  I’m sure many people would assume that raising them to be bilingual would be a no-brainer decision for us.  However, it was not. It was very difficult. My husband had an extremely difficult time learning English as a second language.  His biggest fear was that raising our children to be bilingual would cause them confusion and possibly become a barrier to them in different educational environments.  He’s the type of father that would do anything to make life easier on our children. In his eyes, making sure that they learned primarily English, was a necessity. We went back and forth on this issue throughout my whole first pregnancy.

Each subsequent child brought this issue back into the forefront.  Our family members all had very definite ideas about how we should raise our children.

Ultimately, we made the decision that was right for us.
Our children would definitely identify with English as their first and primary language.  They were always exposed to Spanish as well. We did listen to spanish music quite regularly.  My husband watched the news on TV in Spanish nightly. When we went to the library, we checked out some books in Spanish, in addition to the many we checked out in English.  Honestly, they did just absorb it.
During their high school years, each child(so far) has expressed a desire to become fluent in Spanish.  They began to study Spanish, mainly so that they could learn to write it and become more confident in their ability to speak and understand it.  We chose not to make raising bilingual children a priority, but not to avoid it either. We did not force it on them, nor did we shield them from it.  We chose to focus more on character development. However, we did lay the foundation for the second language and the ease at which they’ve been able to become completely fluent in Spanish has amazed me.

Now that my children are older, I realize how much being bilingual makes them more marketable as they are entering the workforce.

Learning a second language, regardless of when you begin, will help improve brain function, and boost confidence.

I am a Barefoot Books Ambassador. These books focus strongly on raising cultural awareness and multiculturalism. I encourage you strongly to take a look at my website.
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