Bilingualism has gone mainstream for today’s children. Instead of having to wait for the family vacation to Mexico or the school year to start for the next level of French class, options like bilingual television shows, educational toys, and reading material are plentiful for kindergarten through sixth-graders to take learning beyond the classroom. While it is common in other parts of the world for children to learn not just one, but multiple foreign languages as part of their formal education, bilingualism in American children is still falling short of the international mark.
So how can parents, with perhaps only a few years of high school Spanish or French, help foster an encouraging home environment in which to expand upon learning a foreign language for their children?
“If I were going to give any recommendations, even more important than the bilingual toys I believe in, for me, it is the attitude of the parent that makes the biggest difference,” says Spanish teacher Tracy Burroughs. “When parents show that they consider themselves citizens of the world, and if you show that you respect your child when they learn, attitudinally, it opens things.”
Teachers teach, Burroughs says, but when a child learns with an open mind, they progress much more readily. “If parents put a value on learning a foreign language,” she says, “the children will value it, too.” Burroughs points out that while each individual school may have its own language teaching philosophy, elementary children will learn best by “doing.”
For any elementary grade level, emphasizing the importance of learning the new language as a family is paramount.
“When kids get older it gets a little more difficult for them to buy into it, but the younger kids want to be like mom and dad,” says Burroughs. “So as much as you know, if you use it, the children will model that respect and interest.”
Mariser Manns is a Mexican-born mother of two. Married to an English-speaking American, Manns has used what is referred to as the “One Parent, One Language” (OPAL) method of teaching her children both English and Spanish. She speaks to them mostly in Spanish; her husband speaks to the children in English. But even with a built-in advantage, Manns admits that her children were stronger in Spanish until they began attending school. Her oldest, Gregory, is now in kindergarten.
“I think the children need to be in a school that is bilingual if parents really want to help them grow,” says Manns, also a Spanish teacher. She also recommends learning as a family. “Translate sentences together and make it a family experience,” she says. “I was learning sign language with my children, and we can say simple sentences in the language.”
Parents also can try to help encourage a bilingual environment outside of the classroom by:
• Taking classes together in a chosen language
• Watching age-appropriate foreign-language programming
• If a Spanish-, German-, or French-speaking nanny or au pair is part of your family dynamic, ask her to speak to the children in her native language
• Reading and listening to bilingual Scholastic books on tape and CD
• Having your child participate in a summer language immersion program
• Following international current events together
• Switching the language option on children’s DVDs
Manns cautions parents to avoid worrying that they are confusing their child by teaching a second language. “The children grow up speaking five languages in Europe. They adapt and they learn and can then communicate on a much broader level. It is an advantage.”
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Pauline M. Lupecio is a freelance writer.
