I don’t know how many times I have heard comments along those lines – someone regretting that one of their parents didn’t pass on their language. I have never heard the opposite though, anyone regretting that they learnt a language when they were small.

This speaks volumes about how important knowing your family’s languages is to you. I have heard a young girl speaking about how excited she was about meeting her grandparents for the first time in her mother’s home country, and how frustrated she was about not being able to bond with them due to the language barrier. I have spoken to a grandmother who feels that she can never get really close to her growing grandchildren, as they do not have a common language.

I have experienced this situation first hand myself, as my younger daughter Daniela learnt Swedish and Punjabi, but not Finnish which is the main language of her maternal grandmother’s family. I remember having to translate between her and her great grandmother during visits. Daniela has also said that she sometimes felt a bit left out as she couldn’t follow all the discussions in the family. If I could, I would go back and do things differently to make sure she also gained the knowledge of Finnish when she was small. I am so happy that she has now taken up Finnish lessons at university and is making good progress.

If you are a bilingual yourself, you don’t always realise what it feels like not to understand what people are saying around you. With the benefit of the languages I know at least a little of, I very rarely end up in a situation where I can’t communicate at all with people around me. When it does, it is always a bit of a shock to the system. Last time it happened was during our honeymoon in Hungary. The Finnish and Hungarian languages are remotely related, but there is nothing remotely common about them anymore!

Being bilingual is a great gift that every multilingual family should give their children – don’t miss the opportunity if you have it!

May the peace and power be with you.

Yours,
Rita

© Rita Rosenback 2013
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The post “I wish my Mum had taught me her language” appeared first on multilingual parenting - bilingual children.

We’re enjoying a relaxing holiday in Finland at the moment and I took the chance to speak to my younger daughter Daniela about her languages.

Which languages do you know?
– I know English, Swedish, Punjabi, German and a bit of Finnish.

How did you learn all your languages?
– I have always spoken Swedish with you and Punjabi with my dad. I live in England and picked up English as I have gone through the education system. I also learnt German at school. I never got the chance to learn Finnish before we moved to England, but I am now taking Finnish classes at the language centre at my university.

Do you remember how it felt to go to an English school when you didn’t yet know any of the language?
– At the age of six I don’t think I was as worried as I would have been had I been older. The teachers at my school were very helpful and the other children in my class made me feel welcome. I don’t remember it feeling particularly difficult and I looked forward to going to school every day.

Did you learn German purely at school?
– I was learning German for seven years at school and took A level German. I went to Osnabrück for two weeks and stayed with a host family. Doing work experience at the local hospital also gave me an opportunity to practice my German. I did find it easier to pick up German since I know Swedish and there are many similarities between the two languages in terms of grammar and vocabulary.

How do you think your language skills have benefited you so far and what will they do for you in the future?
– First and foremost they have enabled me to get to know the cultures my parents come from. It’s easier to understand other people when you speak the language they feel most comfortable in. It also makes travelling a lot more interesting and enjoyable. Knowing Punjabi particularly will help me when I qualify as a doctor because of the number of Punjabi speakers that live in the UK. I have also been thinking of working in Finland for a period of time, which I can do as there is apparently a shortage of Swedish speaking doctors in Finland.

What would you like to say to parents that are thinking of whether or not to bring up their children to speak more than one language?
– Passing on your language to your child is a great gift. I feel like I picked up so many languages for free. Monolingual people have often said to me that they wish they could speak another language. I think bilinguals take it for granted that they can speak more than one language, but they shouldn’t underestimate what a big difference it makes to someone’s life.

Anything else you would like to add?
– I think people sometimes worry that having more than one language in the family will make it harder to bond as a unit, but I think that having many languages makes a family feel unique and it brings its own joys.

Thank you, Daniela!
[Now let’s go for a swim]

May the peace and power be with you.

Yours,
Rita

© Rita Rosenback 2013

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The post Interview with my daughter appeared first on multilingual parenting - bilingual children.

Today I would like to draw your attention to an interesting blog by Professor François Grosjean: Life as a Bilingual.

I have thoroughly enjoyed his insightful comments on what it means to be bilingual, what advantages you gain and what challenges you can expect along wit many more interesting topics. Professor Grosjean has a great ability to share his extensive knowledge about bilingualism in a way that is easy to understand and digest.

Enjoy!

May the peace and power be with you.

Yours,
Rita

© Rita Rosenback 2013

The post Life as a Bilingual – Blog by Professor François Grosjean appeared first on multilingual parenting - bilingual children.

While picking some juicy blackberries in the back garden for my breakfast cereal, I noticed how well the pears are coming on this year and will soon also be ready for my morning muesli. Except for cutting the brambles back once in a while, it hasn’t required much effort from me to get these delicacies. I take the blackberries and pears for granted and it wasn’t until I noticed the price of a small punnet of blackberries in the local shop that I realised that it’s quite a valuable asset I have in the garden.

It came to my mind that it is the same with bilingual children, in some families it just happens: the circumstances are right and the children grow up to speak all the family languages. What a gift! Most of such families take this as a given and don’t think about how valuable their language skills are. Do you know how much it would set you back to learn a language as an adult? Remember that it is not only the cost of the tuition and the material but most of all the time investment it takes. The real cost for an adult to become as fluent in a language as a child who acquires it while growing up is significant – both in time and money.

There are of course all the other reasons why you should pass on your language to your offspring – all the benefits that bilingualism brings with it: social, educational, health, career and so on, but sometimes we forget that it will also bring a financial benefit. According to a study done in the US, bilinguals receive on average 3% higher pay than their monolingual peers. That might not sound much, but over a life time it will add up to a nice sum. Bilinguals also have better employment prospects and have a greater choice in where they live, study and work.

Taking into account how many advantages people with language skills gain not only for themselves but for their family, their employer and the country’s economy as a whole it is surprising how little governments do to support families who want to bring up their children to be confident fluent bilinguals. We should take every opportunity to be vocal about how important a matter this is and make sure we always appreciate the gift we have received and what we can offer our children.

May the peace and power be with you.

Yours,
Rita

© Rita Rosenback 2013

The post Things we take for granted appeared first on multilingual parenting - bilingual children.

When you have always been bilingual, like I have, you quite often take it for granted and forget how important an aspect it is in your life. So today I want to shout from the rooftops (or tweet from the top of a tree) the first 20 reasons for being thankful for all the languages I know. These are not in order of importance, just in the order they came into my mind.

I am thankful that…

1 – my parents raised me to be bilingual – it gave me a good start in life and a solid foundation for further language learning.

2 – my daughters have also become bilingual and they can communicate with their relatives who live in many different parts of the world.

3 – I learnt and still can speak the Finland-Swedish dialect of my home village Dagsmark, Finland.

4 – my language skills have often been the deciding factor when I have been offered a new job.

5 – according to research, my brain’s executive control centre has grown thanks to the use of more than one language.

6 – travelling in different countries has been so much easier and more enjoyable.

7 – I have had the opportunity to read great literature in the language it was originally written in.

8 – I was able to choose in which language I wanted to study, and also attend a university abroad for a while.

9 – when I was young I had pen pals (with pen and paper via snail mail!) in several countries all over the world.

10 – my languages have enabled me to have closer relationships with people from other countries and cultures.

11 – I have apparently postponed a possible dementia by about 4.5 years by being bilingual.

12 – knowing many languages has made it easier to move between countries.

13 – being bilingual has made me more open-minded.

14 – I have been able to help others when they have struggled with languages.

15 – my bilingualism has, according to research, enhanced my creativity.

16 – knowing the language of a culture gives me a better understanding of it.

17 – speaking more than one language is thought to have positively impacted my school results.

18 – it has been much more easier to learn additional languages.

19 – I can now help other families bring up their children to become bilingual.

20 – my languages have hugely contributed to who I am and what I do – they are a big part of my identity.

… and Thank You for reading!

May the peace and power be with you.

Yours,
Rita

© Rita Rosenback 2013

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Like my post? Subscribe to the weekly Multilingual Parenting Newsletter! In the newsletter you will find exclusive extracts from my book, links to interesting articles, videos and websites as well as other useful information. Each week I also answer a reader question on raising bilingual children.

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Today I am starting a four part A-B-C for all you parents passing on your languages to your children – or maybe you are planning to do so, but haven’t quite made up your mind yet.

A is for Advantages

The list of benefits that accompanies being bilingual is long, ranging from the obvious one of being able to communicate with more people to more surprising ones to do with health, such as being able to stave off dementia on average 4.5 years longer than monolinguals of the same age.

B is for Bilingual

Your aim should be for your children to grow up to become active bilinguals, i.e. that they can both understand and speak your language. Someone who only understands a language, but is unable to speak it, is called a receptive or passive bilingual.

C is for Consistency

Research has shown that children in families where the parents are consistent about their language use are more likely to become fluent speakers of both the languages. Consistency can also be achieved by choosing a specific space or time for a certain language.

D is for Doubts

Once you have decided to raise a bilingual child you will come across those who question your decision. Some may (incorrectly) think that you are doing your children a disfavour by “burdening” them with an additional language. Others will try to tell you that it is never going to work. Stay strong and stick to your decision! The same goes when you have doubts about your own ability – ask for advice and support to help you stay on track – you will receive it.

E is for Exposure

For your children to acquire your language you need to ensure they get enough exposure to it. Ideally children should be exposed to a language for at least thirty per cent of their waking time to pick it up. Most of this time should consist of interactive use of the language. Your children will not learn by sitting alone watching a DVD in your language.

F is for Fluency

It is important to reflect on how fluent you want your children to become in your language. Do you want them to be able to speak as natives or are you happy as long as they are able to comfortably communicate in it? Do you want them to be able to read and write? The more fluent you want your children to be, the more attention you need to pay to how much exposure they are getting to it, and the more effort you will have to put in yourself.

Over the next two weeks I will be posting the remaining three parts of the series: G-L, M-S and T-Z.

May the peace and power be with you.

Yours,
Rita

© Rita Rosenback 2013

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I have been reading many articles on the benefits of bilingualism lately and I decided to gather some of the best ones into one post and share them with you. This is one of my favourite topics, so I have already written about it on different occasions: how languages have helped me in my career, my daughter’s experience of being bilingual, how bilingualism gives you a confidence boost and how it makes you focus better.

The most significant advantage which has been reported recently must be the fact that “bilingual patients developed dementia 4.5 years later than the monolingual ones.” This was the outcome of a research lead by Dr Thomas Bak. It also concluded that “bilingual switching between different sounds, words, concepts, grammatical structures and social norms constituted a form of natural brain training, which was likely to be more effective than any artificial brain training programme”. For further details, read BBC’s article Speaking a second language may delay dementia. The full research paper can be bought here.

Bilingualism has also been found to enhance a child’s working memory as shown by a research  conducted at the University of Granada under the supervision of Ellen Bialystok.  The “working memory includes the structures and processes associated with the storage and processing of information over short periods of time.” You can read more about this in the article Bilingual children have a better “working memory” than monolingual children

In their article Being Bilingual Makes You Smarter The social network Verbalisti  write that “the bilingual experience improves the brain’s so-called executive function — a command system that directs the attention processes that we use for planning, solving problems and performing various other mentally demanding tasks.”

Bilinguals are better at multi-tasking. “Children who grow up learning to speak two languages are better at switching between tasks than are children who learn to speak only one language” as explained in Bilingual Children Switch Tasks Faster than Speakers of a Single Language

Bilingualism makes you more open-minded and sensitive to others:  “bilinguals have an enhanced awareness of other people’s points of view, born from their deeper understanding, from an early age, that some people have a different perspective.” This probably makes bilinguals better managers as well as stated in the Financial Times article The Multilingual Dividend

Another study found that bilingualism enhances your listening ability. It showed that in a noisy environment bilinguals are “better at detecting the different sounds, therefore enhancing attention.” Read more in the article Study Indicates Bilinguals are Better Listeners (Literally).

Bilingual children are less easily distracted. Judy Willis MD, a neurologist, teacher and author states that “compared to monolinguals, the bilingual children develop greater attention focus, distraction resistance, decision-making judgment and responsiveness to feedback”  and that “research supports encouraging parents to retain use of their native language in the home” in her article Neuroscience and the Bilingual Brain.

If you grow up as a bilingual you are often also bicultural. In his article Advantages of Being Bicultural  Prof François Grosjean lists the benefits as “having a greater number of social networks, being aware of cultural differences, taking part in the life of two or more cultures, being an intermediary between cultures” as well as having “greater creativity and professional success”.

I will finish with a great infographic from www.BHLingual.com which says it all:

May the peace and power be with you.

Yours,
Rita

© Rita Rosenback 2014

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Like my post? Subscribe to the weekly Multilingual Parenting Newsletter! In the newsletter you will find exclusive extracts from my book, links to interesting articles, videos and websites as well as other useful information. Each week I also answer a reader question on raising bilingual children.

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The post Bilingual is better: the advantages of speaking more than one language appeared first on multilingual parenting - bilingual children.

This post is also available in the following languages (click on the picture to read the post). More translations to follow:

Catalan

Chinese (Trad)

Chinese (Simpl)

Czech

Estonian

Finnish

French

German

Greek

Hungarian

Irish

Italian

Persian

Polish

Portuguese (Br)

Romanian

Slovak

Spanish

Swedish

Ukrainian

1 – It doesn’t happen by magic

Children do not become bilingual “by magic”. There is a persistent myth claiming that “children are like sponges when it comes to language” and that they will learn all languages they hear regularly – this is simply not true. Yes, in the right circumstances children will naturally grow up to acquire the family languages, but this cannot be taken for granted.

2 – You need a plan

To be in with the best chance of succeeding in bringing up bilingual children, you need to plan ahead. How fluent do you want your children to be? What about reading and writing? Who speaks what and when? Discuss this in the family and agree on the goals.

3 – Consistency is crucial

Once you have your plan, you need to commit to it as a family and stay consistent in your language use. Yes, children can certainly become bilingual if parents mix their languages with them, but the risk that they will at some point prefer to stick to the majority language is far greater if they have become used to the minority language parent easily switching to the majority language.

4 – You will have to pay attention to exposure times

Once you have your plan, you need to look into how much exposure your children get to each language. There is general recommendation that children should be exposed to a language at least thirty percent of their waking time to naturally become bilingual. This should however only be taken as a guidance – depending on the type of exposure, children might need more or less time to acquire a language.

5 – You will have to invest some extra time (and sometimes maybe a bit of money)

You will need to find the time talk a lot, to do the reading and to find resources to help your children learn the language. You might find that you need to use your holidays to make a trip to boost your children’s motivation to speak the language.

6 – There will be doubters

Not everyone will agree with you that it is a good idea to raise your children to speak all family languages. There will be those who tell you that there is no point, that it is not going to work. Others will think that you are expecting too much of your children, and some will say that you are confusing your children with all these languages. Ignore these doubters, but also forgive them, as they do not know what they are talking about.

7 – Don’t listen to bad advice

There might be times when a professional tells you to stop speaking a certain language to your children. If in doubt with regards to your child’s language development – speak to a specialist who is experienced in dealing with bilingual children.

8 – It is not always easy

There will be all sorts of challenges along your family’s multilingual journey – apart from the doubters and the ill-informed “experts” there will be more mundane obstacles: will you be able to stick to your plan when “life happens” and offers its surprises in form of changed family circumstances, moves, career progressions, influence from others and so on? When it feels difficult, ask for advice and help.

9 – Your child might answer you in the “wrong” language

This one usually hits the minority language parent. You feel that you have done everything right and stayed consistent, and still your darling comes home from school one day and no longer answers you in your language. You will feel disappointed and disheartened if it this happens, but it is crucial that you don’t give up at this point, and that you continue to stay consistent and if possible, also increase the exposure time.

10 – Your children will gain an array of benefits by becoming bilingual

If you are still in doubt about whether to bring up your children to become bilinguals or not, read about all the great benefits your children will gain if you do decide to do it. We all want what is best for our children, so why wouldn’t you support yours to have the wonderful gift of speaking more than one language?

11 – You will never regret it

I can assure you, you will not regret your decision to stick with it and make sure that your children grow up to speak all the family languages. On the other hand, I have heard several parents who are sad that they gave up on passing on their languages – not to mention the many adults expressing their disappointment that they were not taught a language their mother or father knew when they were small.

12 – You will be proud

You will be immensely proud when your children for the first time speak to their grandparents or other relatives in “their” language. I can assure you that the feeling is absolutely wonderful. Not only will you be proud, so will your children and the rest of your family. You will also be a great role model to other families.

May the peace and power be with you.

Yours,

Rita

© Rita Rosenback 2014

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Like my post? Subscribe to the weekly Multilingual Parenting Newsletter! In the newsletter you will find exclusive extracts from my book, links to interesting articles, videos and websites as well as other useful information.

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The post 12 things parents raising bilingual children need to know appeared first on multilingual parenting - bilingual children.

Every child is good at something and as parents we love seeing our children do well. Bilingual children have an added advantage in different situations in their lives – and they often get really good, and – depending on their personality – sometimes cheeky with their language skills.

1. Correct their parents’ language

Children in multilingual families often grow up to become fluent, native-like speakers of the language of the community they live in – and do end up correcting their mums and dads! I have certainly been on the receiving end of this since we moved to England – and I am very thankful for it … really, honest!

2. Get better results at school

Bilingual children on average do better than their monolingual peers at school. Long gone is the myth that speaking more than one language will confuse a child and detract from learning other school subjects.

3. Don’t think being bilingual is anything special

Children growing up acquiring many languages don’t find it unusual or even that special to speak two, three, four or even more languages. It’s just part of their normal daily lives.

4. Amaze adults with their language skills

While they themselves don’t think that speaking many language is a great achievement, adults do find their skills amazing. Especially those who have tried to learn a new language themselves as adults find it difficult to get their head around a five-year-old confidently switching between three languages.

5. Enjoy it if their language is a school subject

Bilingual children get a “free ride” if one of their languages is a subject they have to study at school – you may think that your kid is using this time to learn something new, but actually, they are just enjoying a class where they can do well without much effort at all. I remember myself relaxing during the Finnish lessons at my Swedish-speaking school.

6. Giving cheeky incorrect translations

“How do you say it in your language?” – children can sometimes be really cheeky and give a translation which is not quite right. My Finnish-speaking aunt and her friends used to help a Swedish-speaking farmer when they were teenagers. The farmer thought that the girls could possibly work a bit harder and asked how to say that in Finnish. My aunt told him to say “Huilata! Huilata!” which actually means “Take a rest!”

7. Pretend not to know a language

Adults tend to forget that children can be bilingual, and children may well pretend not to know a language … and then secretly listen in on conversations. Remember this when you next time say something in your language when you are out and about.

8. Use a secret language

Bilingual siblings have the advantage of having a common secret language when they are among monolinguals. Not only does this help to convey “important” messages between them, but it also adds to their bond with each other and the language.

9. Make their parents proud

Language is an important part of every person’s identity and parents would normally want their children to learn the language they themselves have grown up with. Experiencing your child switching languages when speaking to different relatives in the extended family fills your heart with joy and pride.

10. Grow up with many additional benefits

Thanks to how bilinguals use their brain when speaking more than one language and switching between them they have found to be more creative, more open-minded, more flexible in their thinking and culturally more aware than monolinguals. Fantastic attributes to look forward to in the bilingual adults our children grow up to become!

May the peace and power be with you.

Yours, Rita

© Rita Rosenback 2014
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The post 10 things bilingual children do really well appeared first on multilingual parenting - bilingual children.

Throughout history bilingual people have been (and still are) asked some fairly silly questions. What if the shoe was on the other foot – what questions could we as bilinguals ask?

1 – What have you done to cure your monolingualism?
Bilingual people have been classed as strange and some people have wanted to shield children from the perils of speaking more than one language. What if monolingualism were instead to be classified as a deficiency that should be remedied?

2 – How does it feel to know only one word for something?
Bilinguals have been described as having a split identity because they have several words for the same things and phenomena. What if monolinguals were to be labelled as having “restricted” personalities?

3 – Why are you depriving your child of the advantaged of bilingualism?
Many parents of bilingual children have had to answer questions about why they are confusing their child or why they are making their child’s life so much more difficult with the many languages in the family. In today’s world there are several ways parents can help their children to learn another language – why wouldn’t they do it?

4 – How does it feel being a part of the monolingual minority of the world?
Depending on how strictly you define the term ‘language’ the estimates of how many people are bilingual vary between 55% and 65% – in any case, monolinguals are in the minority. However, in many places bilinguals are still not being considered when governments set their policies.

5 – When will you start speaking more than one language in the family?
Many bilingual families have been incorrectly advised to change their use of languages and stick to only one language – what if families were to be told to introduce another language instead?

6 – Why did you choose a monolingual school for your children?
What if immersion and bilingual schools were to become the norm and you would have pay extra to send your child to a monolingual school?

7 – Do you know how much less you will earn in your lifetime as you can only speak one language?
The estimates of the increase in earnings for bilinguals vary between 2% and 10% – in any case, a significant amount in anyone’s books. In addition, I think bilinguals should also get a tax break of at least 5% per additional spoken language. Are you with me?

8 – Most people are bilingual – how come you speak only one language?
Monolingualism has been the norm for so long, what if we were to start presuming that everyone should be bilingual?

9 – What do you do to exercise the executive control area of your brain?
By switching between two languages, bilinguals automatically do brain training which strengthens the executive control centre of the brain. This and other bilingualism benefits help bilinguals fend off Alzheimer’s disease, on average, for four and a half years longer – so we are less of a burden to the health care system. We really should be awarded tax benefits!

10 – Children can learn two or more languages at a very young age – you are an adult, how come you haven’t?
Instead of just being amazed at the language skills of bilingual children – why not turn the spotlight on monolingual adults?

11 – Doesn’t it get boring to always speak the same language?
That’s a thought now isn’t it? If you do speak more than one language, can you imagine speaking only one? Variety is the spice of life – why only speak one language when you can learn two, three or more?

12 – Was it a hard decision to stay monolingual? (corrected, initially said ‘bilingual’)
What if all communities and schools were geared to ensure that everyone becomes bilingual and that staying monolingual would have to be a conscious decision which you would have to defend from time to time?

These are tongue-in-cheek questions and not all of them are fair, and I am certainly not saying we should actually ask them. But what do they tell us about the situation today? How far are we from bilingualism being accepted all over the world and being taken into consideration when education and cultural policy decisions are made? What do you think?

May the peace and power be with you.

Yours,
Rita

© Rita Rosenback 2014
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The post 12 silly questions a bilingual could ask a monolingual appeared first on multilingual parenting - bilingual children.

Every single child is lovable and should be loved, just for existing in this world. Today, my list is about the specific lovability factor of bilingual children, as they are my favourite topic:

Create and maintain relationships

The more languages bilingual children know, the wider their network of contacts is. By learning their family languages children can keep an extended family bond going across continents and oceans, and most importantly, from one generation to the next.

Creative with their languages

Bilingual children often creatively make up words, using the knowledge they have of all their languages. It is fascinating to follow their language development as they pick and choose from the languages they know. Initially they may not always know the difference between them, but they soon become skilled code-switchers.

Better at learning languages

With the right support and exposure children are amazing at picking up languages. For example, when a family moves from one country to another, the parents are usually the ones to worry the most about how their kids will cope with a new language. However, the children are the ones that come out on top and learn the quickest and become native-like speakers. And the cheeky little talkers love correcting their mums and dads!

Switch effortlessly from one language to another

It is fascinating to observe a small child switch from speaking one language with one person to talking a different one with the next. This can be really mind-boggling, especially for monolingual adults. I remember with fondness how our lovely neighbour used to give me pocket money for being able to speak both Swedish and Finnish!

Can surprise you with language skills

You should never take for granted that a child cannot understand the language you speak. They may stand quietly next to you in a crowd where you think you speak a language only you and your companion knows – and then loudly comment on something you said! Also, if you are a parent who speaks a “secret” language with your partner, I can inform you that your kid probably understands a lot more of your “secret” communication than you think!

What do you love about your bilingual child?

This post was written for the Valentine’s Day and February edition of the Raising Multilingual Children blogging carnival organised by Annabelle from The PiriPiri Lexicon, this month hosted by Adam from Bilingual Monkeys.

May the peace and power be with you.

Yours, Rita

© Rita Rosenback 2016

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Do you have a specific question? You can send it to our team of Family Language Coaches and we will reply in a Q&A (questions are answered in order of arrival). If you are interested in tailor-made family language coaching, please, contact me and I will send you a proposal.

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Fantastic interview with Professor François Grosjean, my all-time favourite specialist on bilingualism, conducted by Fabrice Jaumont, Education Attaché at the Cultural Services in New York. The video is brimming with useful information, to-the-point observations and helpful advice on raising bilingual children, not forgetting interesting insights into Professor Grosjean’s own bilingual background.

The interview lasts about 1 hour and 20 minutes, and you can find an outline of it below, so you can easily jump to a topic that is especially interesting for you, if you wish. I do, however, recommend that you listen to the whole video, it is definitely worth it! Where relevant, I have also linked to my own post on the topic at hand.

02:55 Prof Grosjean speaks about his youth, living in the UK, France and the U.S. How he is a mosaic of cultures.

04:13 When did he become bilingual? – Did you know he was not a child bilingual? And did you know his mother actually kidnapped him and moved him to an English-speaking school?!

05:08 Prof Grosjean tells us about his own family’s bilingualism and how they started off wrongly with their own children. There is a very comforting message to you if you feel it might be too late to pass on your language to your child!

06:36 Prof Grosjean answers the question whether his language skills helped him become a researcher and author.

07:34 He emphasises that to try to understand bilingualism, you have to also read the research about it. Being bilingual does not make you an expert on bilingualism.

08:23 Prof Grosjean speaks about his books “Bilingual – Life and Reality” (English) and “Parler Plusieurs Langues: Le Monde de Bilingues. (French) and describes how his wish to write books about bilingualism for the general public became reality, both in English and French. Swiss chocolate and senior citizens have played an important role! [my review of “Bilingual – Life and Reality”]

11:07 Prof Grosjean describes what his books are about:
– What is bilingualism? How half the world’s population is bilingual. How you can become bilingual at any point in life. How bilinguals are not born translators. How bilingualism does not necessarily mean biculturalism.
– Busting the myths: Bilingualism does not cause any delay in children’s language development, nor in their general learning.

12:06 “Who is bilingual?” Prof Grosjean’s definition: ‘Those who regularly use two or more languages in their everyday lives’, and explains his thinking behind this. You don’t have to be fully fluent, speak without an accent nor have to have learnt your languages at an early age.

13:20 Why is the monolingual view on bilingualism still so pervasive? Bilinguals are not two monolinguals in one, but communicators in their own right and should not be measured by monolingual yardsticks. [My comment: This is why you should be very cautious if your bilingual child’s language development is ever measured in a test designed for monolingual children.]

15:54 The complementarity principle (first characteristic of bilingualism). Bilinguals use their languages in different domains of life and have a varying fluency in them. Their language dominance changes throughout their lives. Why bilingual children do not develop equal vocabularies in all their languages.

18:38 Language mode (second characteristic of bilingualism). Bilingual vs monolingual mode. Language choice – should another language be brought in or not? Code-switching and borrowing. Continuum of choice between the different modes during communication. In the bilingual mode, bilingual people can use the full extent of their languages to communicate, interact, read and write.

21:30 Prof Grosjean answers the question whether parents should worry about their children being bilingual and bicultural and how biculturalism differs from bilingualism.

23:46 Biculturalism and identity. Which culture do bilingual people identify with? Accept that you are a combination of several cultures. Parents, educators and scientist should do their best to help young people understand and accept being bicultural. It is fine to be a mosaic of one’s cultures!

26:00 The role of the family and the school in the life of bilingual children. Prof Grosjean recommends having a plan for when children should acquire their languages. Which strategy should a family choose? [he prefers Minority Language at Home] Each family should decide on the best approach for them.

27:35 The NEED to speak a language (third characteristic of bilingualism). Children are pragmatic, if they don’t need to speak a language, they will not do it. He explains how he and his wife created the need for their son to speak French.

28:55 Parents need support when passing on a language. It is hard if you have to do it all on your own. Plan ahead to find the support and read up about bilingualism.

30:52 The advantages and disadvantages of bilingualism. Will all bilingual children be geniuses?
Benefits: cognitive advantages, communicate with more people, open-mindedness, job opportunities etc.
Disadvantages: communicating in the weaker language in a language domain you are not familiar with; mixing languages when tired or otherwise affected; adjusting to cultures and being accepted for who you are.

35:10 How schools can help children be bilingual. Bilingual children are a country’s natural language resource and should be supported. The importance of maintaining children’s languages in monolingual schools. Prof Grosjean is a strong proponent of dual language schools, at any level and in any form.

41:54 Where to find Prof Grosjean’s writings? BLOG WEBSITE [see list of books below this article].

43:09 Current project: The story of his parents who he never knew – his French father who was a fighter pilot and a double agent in WWII and his English mother who was also an agent!
UPDATE Prof Grosjean’s book about his parents is now available in French: A la recherche de Roger et Sallie, and an English translation is in the making.

45:30 He answers the question whether he has ever regretted being bilingual, and emphasises the importance of supporting bilingual and bicultural kids to understand who they are.

In the Q&A session Prof Grosjean answers the following questions:

47:51 Q&A – To achieve the benefit of being able to multitask should bilingual children’s parents stick to the OPOL strategy?

50:58 Q&A – Do you notice your personality changing when you speak different languages?

53:25 Q&A – What is the ideal age to learn a language?

56:04 Q&A – What to do when a speech therapist discourages bilingualism?

01:00:15 Q&A – How can educators help children and parents relieve the pressure of testing while still supporting the children’s languages?

01:05:08 Q&A – In which language should a bilingual child learn to read first?

01:06:23 Q&A – Opinion on parents who want their children to learn several foreign languages at an early age?

01:08:44 Q&A – How can society support bilingual children?

01:12:54 Q&A – How to get a small child to speak the minority language?

01:14:02 Q&A – How does neuroscience support the findings of bilingualism?

01:15:30 Q&A – How much exposure to a language does a child need to learn it?

May the peace and power be with you.

Yours, Rita

© Rita Rosenback 2016

Never miss a post! Sign up to the Multilingual Parenting newsletter and I will send you a recap of the week’s posts every Sunday. Every second week you will receive a more extensive issue with links to research articles and interesting posts from other writers, as well as handy tips and ideas!

Want to read more like this? My book Bringing up a Bilingual Child is available on Amazon and in well-stocked bookshops.

Do you have a specific question? You can send it to our team of Family Language Coaches and we will reply in a Q&A (questions are answered in order of arrival). If you are interested in tailor-made family language coaching, please, contact me and I will send you a proposal.

The post Professor François Grosjean – on bilingualism, language mode and identity appeared first on multilingual parenting - bilingual children.

This week’s topic is another manifestation of bilingual living: translanguaging.

If you look up the term in Wikipedia, it is described as “the dynamic process whereby multilingual language users mediate complex social and cognitive activities through strategic employment of multiple semiotic resources to act, to know and to be” Clear? For linguists maybe, but not for everyone, so let me expand.

Translanguaging is when a person who knows more than one language freely uses all her languages to ask questions, understand, learn, explain and communicate in a social (often educational) setting.

In a classroom this can mean that minority language pupils are not only allowed but encouraged to use their languages to help with the learning. This does not necessarily require that the teacher also knows the minority languages – instead the children can use the languages when speaking between them, and also use them to find information on the topic at hand, e.g. in the form of videos or texts. Any outputs, such as reports, write-ups, presentations or homework, are produced in the school language – unless all pupils and the teacher have at least some level of understanding of both languages, in which case both can be used.

This is an approach that is already (often unofficially) in practice in many schools – children use the language that they are most comfortable in to acquire and process the knowledge they need for completing a task. However, we still find classrooms where pupils are discouraged or even forbidden from using any other language than the official school language. The rigid restrictions are often based on the (false) presumption that children learn (especially languages) most efficiently when there is no interference from other languages.

Last weekend I attended the International Conference on Bilingualism in Education, held in Bangor in Wales, and listened to several researchers report that allowing pupils to use all their language skills in the classroom actually enhances their learning and allows them to participate more in class. Actively encouraging the pupils to use their home languages further helps with the children’s confidence and identity and raises the status of the minority languages overall.

I can understand that this could feel a bit counterintuitive for a teacher “How can I control a class where I don’t understand what half of the class is talking about?” – and it will need a bit of a rethink and a lot of trust in the pupils. However, another research project presented at the conference found that pupils who are allowed and encouraged to use their home languages, actually do not use this as an opportunity to speak “off-task” any more than what monolingual pupils do. It did however make them more engaged in the learning process.

Parents can also use the translanguaging model when helping children with homework. For example, the child can explain a task either in the home or school language to the parent, and they can then together discuss the topic and find out more information using the home language. Finally, the child would complete the homework in the school language. Having to process a task in two languages allows for a deeper understanding and learning of words, phrases and concepts in both languages.

I know that we are probably still some way away from making translanguaging an acceptable form of language use in schools, but as I firmly want to believe that teachers’ main goal is for all their pupils to learn as much and efficiently as possible, I would hope that more schools would embrace translanguaging. Food for thought, indeed!

May the peace and power be with you.

Yours, Rita

© Rita Rosenback 2016

Never miss a post! Sign up to the Multilingual Parenting newsletter and I will send you a recap of the week’s posts every Sunday. Every second week you will receive a more extensive issue with links to research articles and interesting posts from other writers, as well as handy tips and ideas!

Want to read more like this? My book Bringing up a Bilingual Child is available on Amazon and in well-stocked bookshops.

Do you have a specific question? You can send it to our team of Family Language Coaches and we will reply in a Q&A (questions are answered in order of arrival). If you are interested in tailor-made family language coaching, please, contact me and I will send you a proposal.

The post Translanguaging as a way of enhancing learning appeared first on multilingual parenting - bilingual children.

Can monolingualism make you ill?

“Is monolingualism making us ill?” was the somewhat provocative title of an excellent talk by Dr Thomas Bak, neuroscientist and dementia researcher at the University of Edinburgh, which I was fortunate to listen to last week. Alongside many other language enthusiasts from different organisations: schools, universities, businesses, charities and the government, I was invited to the “Speaking to a Global Future” symposium organised by Speak to the Future at the Language Show in London. We were treated to a full day of interesting presentations, and in this post, I focus on the talk held by Dr Bak about the potential positive health benefits of bilingualism.

According to Dr Bak, for decades, researches have been spending huge amounts of money on finding a cure for dementia, without any significant success. Dr Bak’s suggestion is that instead of looking for a cure, “we should use at least some of the money on finding ways to minimise the risk factors and maximise the protective ones”. Here is where multilingualism enters the stage.

By using several languages, you build up a cognitive reserve which makes your brain more resilient. Actively “speaking more than one language does not prevent you from getting dementia,”  but it allows you to “function longer” than a monolingual person with the same level of brain damage, Dr Bak explained. Switching between your languages and fending off the languages you do not need in a certain situation is an effective mental exercise, which trains the executive control area of your brain.

Dr Bak went on to quote several different research findings which have all found similar encouraging effects. He however also mentioned, that there are studies, which have not come to the same conclusion, and which question whether multilingualism makes people healthy or whether healthy people are more likely to learn more languages. It will be a while before we get certainty about this, but Dr Bak’s most recent study is taking steps toward it.

In their research, Dr Bak and his colleagues studied 608 monolingual and bilingual stroke sufferers and how well they recover after a stroke. Their findings are rather astounding. A bilingual person is equally likely as a monolingual to be affected by aphasia (some degree of language disorder) after a stroke. However, bilinguals are 20% less likely to suffer from global aphasia (when you only have minimal language functions). According to Dr Bak’s research, while 20% of the monolinguals regained normal brain functions after their stroke, this number doubled to 40% for bilinguals. Bilinguals were also 20% less likely to have subsequent vascular dementia after a stroke.

Those are significant figures, and they should make any decision maker stand up and take notice. Taking into account how much money goes into dementia and stroke care every year, supporting multingualism and language learning should be a priority for every government across the globe!

Using his own 3-year-old daughter as an example, Dr Bak, went on to describe children’s amazing abilities to learn languages. “Kids are extremely good at telling languages apart,” Dr Bak said and continued that “the idea that children get confused [by the use of several languages] is completely unrealistic”.

Bilingual children gain and amazing level of metalinguistic awareness at an early age, and they know which language to speak when and with whom. This also teaches them to take other people’s knowledge and point of view into consideration when communicating.

Dr Thomas Bak and yours truly – you can see how excited I was to meet him!

“It is never too late to learn a new language,” Dr Bak said and used the writer, poet and translator Mary Hobson as an example. She started learning Russian at the age of 56 and is today, at the age of 91, one of the most respected Russian translators in the UK.

“Multilingualism is probably the most natural form of mental exercise,” Dr Bak pointed out. “It is however important to continue speaking your languages,” he continued, as the positive effects of bilingualism on the brain will wear off if you drop your other languages and start speaking only one. “It is about usage, not about abstract knowledge,” Dr Bak explained and reminded everyone that “practice is much more important than perfection”

What about those, especially in the English-speaking world, who claim that it is unnecessary to learn any other languages because “everybody speaks English” (not true, as we all know). According to Dr Bak, “the convenience of not having to learn other languages means that you rob yourself of one of the best ways of having mental exercise”!

Does monolingualism make you ill? No, not as such, but it may make you less healthy.

[My next article from the symposium I will be about Dr Dina Mehmedbegovic’s talk on a “Healthy Linguistic Diet”]

May the peace and power be with you.

Yours,
Rita

© Rita Rosenback 2017

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10 reasons why your bilingual child has an advantage at school

“Should we drop a language to help our bilingual child do better at school?” is a question parents occasionally ask me when they are concerned about their kids’ educational progress. The answer is a resounding No! Giving up on speaking a home language is not beneficial for children’s success at school – on the contrary, it could lessen your child’s chances to do well.

To substantiate my claim that minority language parents should not drop a language in the false belief that this would be beneficial for their kids’ school progress, I have gathered a list of quotes from research findings, which you can find below (with links to the relevant articles).

1. Ability to focus

“Children fluent in two languages learn better in noisy classrooms than pupils who speak just one, research suggests.” LINK 

“the bilingual experience may help improve selective attention by enhancing the auditory brainstem response. Bilingual students showed a natural ability to determine which sounds were important, and then focus on relevant sounds while discounting the irrelevant.” LINK

2. More likely to complete higher education and earn more

“Analyses show significant effects of bilingualism on […] socioeconomic outcomes: decreasing the odds of dropping out of high school, and increasing occupational status and earnings.” LINK

3. High levels of mental control

“The bilingual children were more advanced than the monolinguals in the solving of experimental problems requiring high levels of control.” LINK

4. Arithmetic, problem-solving and creative thinking

“Our study has found that [bilingualism] can have demonstrable benefits, not only in language but in arithmetic, problem solving and enabling children to think creatively” LINK  

5. Ability to hypothesize in science

“There is a correlation between language learning and students’ ability to hypothesize in science” LINK 

6. Language and vocabulary

“In comparing 9-10 year-old bilinguals to English monolinguals on tasks in English, the bilingual skilled readers scored higher on word-reading and spelling tasks than the monolingual skilled readers” LINK 

“We also assessed the children’s vocabulary, not so much for their knowledge of words as their understanding of them. Again, there was a marked difference in the level of detail and richness in description from the bilingual pupils.”  LINK 

7. Complex spatial tasks

“as well as showing greater proficiency overall, bilinguals were better able to deal with the more complex tasks” and the researchers found “a relationship between some aspects of spatial ability, mental imagery and bilingual language processing.” LINK 

8. Constant brain work-out

“in a bilingual’s brain both language systems are active even when he is using only one language, thus creating situations in which one system obstructs the other. […] It forces the brain to resolve internal conflict, giving the mind a workout that strengthens its cognitive muscles.”

“[Bilinguals] not only performed better, but they also did so with less activity in parts of the brain involved in monitoring, indicating that they were more efficient at it.” LINK 

“We like to make a comparison to weightlifting in the gym,” — “A bilingual has to lift more weight than a monolingual when listening to speech. They’ve been working out like this for their entire lives, so they’ve built up strength for managing two languages— so this makes their brains more efficient.” LINK 

“The answer may lie in the fact that we are constantly using language.  Anything that is hard to do is good for the brain: solving math problems, playing chess, playing music.  But engaging in any of those activities employs language because it requires thought. In effect, if you are bilingual, you are thinking twice.” LINK 

“Multilingualism is probably the most natural form of mental exercise” Dr Thomas Bak

“Brain imaging studies in bilinguals suggest brain centers assigned for language processing are enlarged providing evidence for differential organization of bilingual brains.” LINK

9. Better communicators

Bilingual children learn to take others’ perspective into account at an early age. “Multilingual exposure may promote effective communication by enhancing perspective taking.” LINK

“Multilingual exposure, it seems, facilitates the basic skills of interpersonal understanding” so “multilingual children can be better at communication than monolingual children”. “Being raised in an environment in which multiple languages are spoken, rather than being bilingual per se, is the driving factor.” Amazingly, this is an advantage children get just by growing up in a multilingual environment! LINK

10. More tolerant

“… bilingual kids, especially those who learn another language in the preschool years, are more apt to understand that it’s what one learns, rather than what one is born with, that makes up a person’s psychological attributes.” “Everyday experience in one aspect — language learning — can influence children’s beliefs about a wide range of domains, reducing children’s essentialist biases.” LINK

Another language is not an additional burden

“Bilingual acquisition is as natural as monolingual acquisition and that it is not an additional burden for children in comparison to the challenges that children learning one language face.”

“Simultaneous bilinguals, despite the fact that they have approximately half as much exposure to each language as monolinguals, exhibit the same basic developmental patterns and at approximately the same age as monolingual children.”

“Students who have well developed decoding skills in one language can transfer those skills to the other language. Similarly, students with well-developed skills for reading longer material, like stories and academic textbooks, can transfer those skills to another language, provided they know the oral form of that language.”

LINK 

Children with speech and language impairment (SLI)

“… bilingual children with speech-language impairment do not acquire language more slowly than monolingual children with speech- language impairment. Rather, they will show the same patterns of impairment in both languages.”

LINK 

Advantage of the home language

“… maintaining a home language has no adverse effect at all on children’s proficiency in English” on the contrary, “pupils of minority and immigrant background who scored high on the proficiency test for their home language also showed high scores for English proficiency.” LINK 

Instead of dropping a home language, researchers have found that “bilingual children need continuous and regular exposure to both languages to ensure their complete acquisition” and that “discontinues, abrupt changes, and/or irregular exposure should consciously be avoided”

“Parents who do not speak the majority language should be encouraged to continue to use the home language with their children and, in particular, they should be encouraged to use the home language to help their children develop foundation skills related to literacy and academic language competence.”

LINK

Dear parents, please continue speaking your home languages!

Dear educators, please encourage the parents of your pupils to maintain their home languages!

May the peace and power be with you.

Yours,
Rita

© Rita Rosenback 2017

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