The Bilingual Family
Of course, it's easy to learn another language if you are brought up in a bilingual household. Isn't it? Not always - but it's a wonderful gift if successful. Here is some guidance, and an indication of the pitfalls.
Naturally bilingual
Babies and infants learn languages instinctually, and with consummate ease. So if their parents have different mother tongues, it makes sense to bring up the children with two languages. It saves them all the much-harder process of school learning, or adult-learning courses later in life. It also allows them to communicate with relatives from both sides of the family, and enjoy the full benefit of their dual heritage.
Doing what comes naturally
For some families, raising bilingual children comes naturally and easily. The children have no difficulty switching from one language to another, without confusion. If there are any signs of slightly late language development in the early years, because the child is taking on two languages instead of one, this is soon rectified. The human brain is perfectly capable of such feats. Indeed, some children are not just bilingual, but multi-lingual: they are raised with not two languages, but as many as five. Asian families brought up in East Africa, for instance, might speak Urdu, Gujarati, Hindi, English and Swahili, with more or less equal fluency.
But are both languages equally useful?
Some languages appear to be more useful than others. English is the world's most widely spoken second language, and is the official language of 54 countries; it is also the language of computing. French is the official language of 33 countries, and Spanish 21. But as a mother tongue, more people speak Mandarin Chinese than any other language, by far. But it is impossible to put any value on a language: all languages are essentially equal. To give just one example, if you are brought up bilingually, and one of those languages is the language of a small minority, your knowledge of it is a rarity, and thus could be considered all the more precious, and so could potentially be more valuable in the workplace.
Obstacles
But it is a mistake to assert that, if parents have different mother tongues, the children should (or must) be brought up bilingually. Sometimes it just does not work. There may be several reasons for this.
- The children may resist. Children have a natural resistance to being marked out as different: they want to be the same as other children in the playground.
- Children may also have a natural inclination to learn just one language properly, and may not wish to complicate this process by taking on a second language. Such instincts should be respected.
- The dominant language outside the home may make bilingualism inside the home seem unnatural. If one parent is, say, French, and the other is English, insisting on French may seem forced, if television, radio, visitors, telephone calls etc all come into the home in English.
The disciplined approach
Some bilingual parents believe that a strictly disciplined approach to language in the home is the way to get round such obstacles. For instance, the mother will only speak her own language to the children, and the father will only speak his. If this comes naturally, and seems to work, and does not cause confusion or resentment, then this is fine. But too rigorous an approach can have counterproductive - and potentially damaging - repercussions. Growing up with two languages is in many ways excellent, but not if it is at the expense of the child's happiness and self-confidence.
Speak one language perfectly
It is essential that a child grows up to learn one language completely fluently. Competent and confident use of language is not simply useful for efficient communication: it also helps to shape thought. Having less-than-perfect knowledge of two languages is no substitute for this.
Consolation prizes
If you can successfully bring up children bilingually, they will gain a wonderful gift. If you fail in this ambition, do not chastise yourself. The chances are that your children will at least have an instinctual understanding of the missing language, and a natural ear for it, which will help them immeasurably if and when they try to learn it the hard way. Remember: in the end, second languages are useful only to the extent that you may wish or need to use them.