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Research has unambiguously shown that multi-lingual children have an edge throughout their life.  But for parents, it requires much planning, effort and dedication while juggling many other priorities.  Please stay a while, pick up some useful tips and share with us your practical, real World experiences.

A good place to start is the primer and the BLINGuals Daily Planner spreadsheet (new!)  Feel free to comment on blog entries, check out the survey and participate in the discussion forum on facebook.  

Those of you who are on facebook won't need to bookmark this web site or create (yet another) account.  You can comment on any of the entries and participate in the forum discussions using your existing facebook account.  Stay in touch just by clicking the "Like" button to the right in the facebook box.  Enjoy :)
 

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You CAN teach your child a second language even if you’re not a native speaker!

Sep 14

Written by: BLINGuals
9/14/2010 5:18 PM 

I spent some time recently with a couple of friends who didn’t have a baby yet, but were already thinking about which languages they would communicate with him/her. The husband is fluent in English, Latin and proficient in German, and his wife is fluent in English and French (albeit a little rusty.)

The discussion revolved specifically around French. The wife lamented that it’s been a while since she lived in France and practiced French, and as a result her grammar wasn’t all that great. She was concerned that communicating with her child as a non-native French speaker will instill some bad habits early on. Her concern is quite valid, but given that she spent years in France and is conversationally fluent, it would be a shame to squander such a learning opportunity for her unborn child.
Fortunately, other people have struggled with similar predicaments, and there’s now professional advice and definitive supporting research (The Bilingual Edge, By King, Mackey) on this topic. Here’s the gist of it: in early stages of your child’s language skills (years 0-3), fluency and perfect grammar are secondary to consistent interaction and exposure. But in later stages, as your child begins to construct more complex sentences, it’s time to up your game with some learning aids: language-centric play groups, educational videos and books. For deeper pocketed parents, you may want to consider: language immersion day care and school, foreign au-pair, or a bilingual nanny / babysitter.
Is it worth the trouble? Absolutely! On average, polyglots make better students, earn a higher income, are more socially and culturally comfortable. 

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Daily Planner

The BLINGuals Daily Planner is a neat and free Excel tool for parents who would like to be a bit more methodical when allocating language hours for children.  Learn More...

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