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7 Tips for Raising Bilingual Children
- Play, listen and sing songs in English and Spanish. Musical books and toys in both English and Spanish are readily available. We play children’s songs by Timbiriche and Canciones que Hablan de Mí, a collection of children’s songs, many of which are popular tunes in both English and Spanish.
- One parent speaks in English, the other in Spanish. In our case Gaby is a native Spanish speaker, so she speaks to the children in Spanish. Scott is a native English speaker so he speaks to them in English. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, but it works in that it divides use of the languages up somewhat evenly.
- Read some books in Spanish and others in English, even if you have to violate tip #1. If the parents are bilingual each parent can read in either language. Last year our son Nathan was fascinated by the Spanish edition of El Expreso Polar. So, whenever he brought it to one of us—no matter which one of us it was—we read it to him in Spanish.
- Watch some videos in Spanish and others in English. Nathan prefers Toy Story in Spanish. Same with Jonah: A Veggie Tales Movie. Others, like Clifford the Big Red Dog, he prefers watching in English. Who knows why? We generally let him choose the language.
- Be polite. Scott started out pretty hard-core with the idea “you speak Spanish with the kids 100% of the time and I’ll speak English 100% of the time.” He’s mellowed. Now, if a friend or relative who is uncomfortable with one of the languages is visiting, we speak in his language. So, if “abue” is visiting, we all speak in Spanish. Same thing if we visit her.
- Don’t worry about your accent. Do your best, of course, but if you expose them to a variety of accents it’s not going to be a problem.
- Don’t worry about “pochismo”. Of course, you should teach proper vocabulary in both languages, but if you or a child forgets the word in one language and substitutes a word in the other, what’s the real harm done? Just keep going and keep improving.
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