Oui, s’il vous plait! The Joys and Challenges of Raising Bilingual Children
Alex Practices Her Days of the Week in French
According to the August 15, 2011 copy of Newsweek Magazine, learning new languages may be the brain’s true “super-food.” We all know that kid’s brains grow rapidly, especially before the age of five, and that they quickly absorb what’s going on around them and learn new vocabulary and concepts daily. The earlier you introduce your children to a foreign language, the easier it will be for them to pick up that language’s unique sounds.
We introduced Alexandria to French this summer and it has gone phenomenally well. We began with the French alphabet and moved on to colors and numbers. There are so many awesome, visual, hands-on tools out there for learning languages! You Tube has proved invaluable for finding kids videos in French. We also love McGraw Hill’s “French For Kids” program. The songs and lessons are short and fun and Alex sings them frequently outside of class. We have worksheets, music CDs, and lots of books in French, French-language programs, and flashcards on the iPad too. We carry on practice conversations between dolls and stuffed animals (yep, high excitement there) and role play greetings, shopping, going to restaurants, etc. Learning a new language is a blast! There’s really no separation between play and learning in our house. Why should learning be a chore?
I had pretty low expectations when we began. I expected that we’d work on colors for a month, then move on to greetings and such. It would be a very lengthy process and eventually … years down the line perhaps… Alex would be able to hold a French conversation. However, something unexpected happened. Alex picked up the new words and greetings really, really quickly. Sometimes I swear she’s known this stuff her whole life! She hears something once or twice and it forever sticks in her amazing little mind. She practices her new French skills morning, noon, and night. She can’t wait to move on and learn more! She loves to quiz herself on the iPad and test her skills. Because of the success of our language time, we moved it up in our daily schedule. At first we practiced a few afternoons a week. Now, French is our first formal subject of the school day.
Something else happened… the other kids started participating as well. First, Ethan surprised the heck out of me by joining us one lesson and singing the French alphabet. It turns out he’d picked up a lot of what we’d been doing just by listening. Yesterday he surprised me again during math, counting out his math problems in French and then repeating them in English! Another surprise was when Derek, age 3, grabbed his toy microphone and belted out the French alphabet during Circle Time. Was this really happening? It was a mother’s dream come true. My 3-year-old is learning French just by hearing us speak the language. How cool is that? He can count to 10 in both English and French as well. Did I drill it into his head? Nope, not at all. He simply picked it up.
Raising bilingual kids is increasingly important in today’s global world. Children in Europe learn multiple languages in school. Kids in China are learning English from a young age! I want my kids to be part of this trend. Why start with French, you may ask? I speak passable French. I took it in high school and lived in the South of France for a time. Am I an expert? Heck, no. It’s fun to refresh the old French skills, though, and sing along with the kids. I’d like them to learn several languages during their school years. French seemed like the natural place to start for me because I’m familiar with the language and am a closet francophile (meaning I love everything French).
In a few years, we’ll introduce Spanish or Chinese. Until then, I look forward to many more French conversations with my kids. I look forward to seeing that look of pride on their accomplished faces when they successfully remember new words and carry on a successful conversation. I look forward to taking them to a French-speaking country in a few years and experiencing the wonders of discovery with them. I love the adventure and the challenge of it all.
Feeding little brains is so much fun.
Newsweek—“Why It’s Smart to Be Bilingual” http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/08/07/why-it-s-smart-to-be-bilingual.html
Here’s an interesting link about raising bilingual kids: http://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/development/language/teaching-second-language/
Here’s another interesting article: http://www.omniglot.com/language/articles/bilingualkids1.htm
One last resource! http://www.multilingualchildren.org/
