MultiLingual Children
There are so many benefits to knowing more than one language.
The Pros
The Children who are introduced to multiple languages at a very young age (less than 5 years) learn multilple languages easily and effortlessly, just as they are learning one language.
- It is easier to learn another language from birth than it is during any other time in life, baby learns both languages as first language.
- Later in life multilingual kids are able to learn new languages more easily than monolingual children. The differences in sounds, word order, stress, rhythm, intonation and grammatical structures will be easier to learn.
- Multilingualism has been proven to develop better reading and writing skills. (Look into the Reference Material).
- Multilingual children have over all better analytical, social, and academic skills than their monolingual peers.
- Knowing more than one language helps your child feel comfortable in different environments.
- Learning their parents’ native language may help them learn the culture and their ancestral heritage. This will help them identify their uniqueness and boost their self image.
- The child will develop acceptance and appreciation towards different cultures.
- Knowing more than one language can be helpfull in their career prospects.
- Multilingualism is the base to start multiliteracy amongst children.
- Multiliterate children grasp a lot of difficult concepts about the world around them at a very young age.
The Cons
Raising a multilingual baby has alot of misconceptions associated with it.
But, extensive medical studies on language development in the last 10-20 years have proven most of these myths wrong.
To make an informed decision, you simply need to know the facts. The truth is that there are basically only four potential problems.
- Late Speaking. There is no scientific proof that a multilingual child start speaking later. But, nonetheless, it is a general observation of parents that kids start speaking a few months later than their monolingual peers.
- Mixing words from different Languages. Mixing words is very common in children learning more than one language at a time. But this is a temporary phenomenon. At the age of four or five it has mostly disappeared. This automatically disappears when the vocabulary in each language increases. The best remedy is to be consistent when talking to your child. Your patience will be rewarded.
- Extra effort and Support by Parents. This is most difficult part of all. Raising a multilingual child is a commitment. It will require extra effort on your part to provide enough language exposure, extra encouragement, keeping your language rules consistent. It is easier to raise a multilingual second child if your first child was raised that way. Your second child learns alot from your first one.
- Learning to Read and Write. For some parents only speaking multiple languages is enough. But for some, it goes more than just that. They want their children to learn reading and writing in thier native language as well, and this give start to multiliteracy amongst children. But, going to the next level is often very tough for parents.
There’s no doubt that multilingual children have more advantages. Your extra effort will give them a valuable skill they’ll use in numerous ways for the rest of their lives.