You know all the fantastic reasons to raise bilingual children: social and career advantages, improved memory, better problem-solving skills. And now, you want to give it a try.
So … what’s next?
Keep reading to learn more and decide what will work best for your family!
“With OPOL, each parent only speaks one language to their children.”
What to Do
To set your children up for success, you’re going to need a plan. Here are three popular methods to help get your bilingual family started!
One Person One Language (OPOL)
With OPOL, each parent only speaks one language to their children. For example, the mother only speaks to the kids in Italian, while the father only speaks English.
This method lets the children practice both languages equally. Also, because the languages are always used separately, there is less chance that the kids will get confused and mix them up while speaking.
“MLAH separates languages by home and community.”
Minority Language at Home (MLAH)
MLAH separates languages by home and community. Outside the home, the kids use the main language (that is, the language of the community). The second language, or minority language, is used at home. This method is often used by immigrant families.
A benefit of MLAH is that both parents are focused on the same language at home—not two separate ones—which helps build the children’s minority language skills more easily.
Time and Place (T&P)
Families who use T&P separate their languages by time, place, or both. For example, the family might speak German in the daytime and French in the evening. There are many variations of time and place that can be used.
An advantage of T&P is flexibility: Parents can set the language schedule however it works best for the family.
Wrapping It Up
There’s a lot to think about when you decide to raise bilingual children, and this guide will help get you started. Which method are you going to try?
Bilingual Children Reading Comprehension
I like this method for we learn our sons other language different to your mother tongue, this method we can to apply from an early age.
🙂
My wife and I speak the same language so the OPOL won’t make it but I speak fluently an other language which I try everyday to communicate with my children in our mother tangue and in the other language as well. I paid my sons an online subscription to learn English also as a third language to set them up.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us, Fayssal. It’s very interesting.
Great article.
very interesting article.. thanks