- my iParenting
- quick clicks
- moms today articles
- moms today q&a
- message boards
- research baby names
- prepare a birth plan
- content channels
- ip channel rss feeds
- read birth stories
- read parenting stories
- recommended books
- e-newsletters
- safety recalls
- ip diaries
- ip store
- mom of the month
- dad of the month
- editor's letter
- letters to the editor
 |
- e-newsletters
- Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters
- award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Doubletalk
Raising a Bilingual Family
By Tara Swords
Interestingly, there is a large group of Americans who -- although they have no background with a language other than English themselves -- want their children to have a larger language repertoire than they do.
"There are some areas where people are very interested in their children becoming bilingual, English-speaking people," Olmedo says. "In Chicago, there are several dual language schools in which children who are English-speaking are learning the curriculum in Spanish."
When young children begin learning a second language, they are often still learning to grasp the formalities of their first language. While it might seem this would cause confusion for kids, quite the opposite is true. Not only are they able to balance different languages, there also are real cognitive benefits to doing so.
"There's an extensive body of research done on children growing up bilingual and how they gain cognitive flexibility," Olmedo says. "In part, this is explained by that fact that they have to negotiate two different systems. That kind of skill transfers over into other kinds of tasks."
Conley has recognized that ability in her own son.
"He has an American accent when he talks, but his grammar is perfect," she says. "It's just incredible how he switches from one language to the other."
The Resistance FactorChildren often will thrive when learning two languages. But once they discover that one of the languages is not regularly used outside of the home, they can resist.
