Like most things in parenting, raising multilingual children does not come with a manual. The science is there, and it’s encouraging.
Daily family life with young children, however, can be so hectic that even the best-meaning parents might lose sight of their goals.
Are you feeling overwhelmed and don’t know where to start or who to listen to?
Start here! This is Part 1 of my seven simple do’s and don’ts when raising multilingual children, based on my academic expertise and my experience as a parent to three young multilinguals.
My husband was born in Hong Kong and is a native speaker of Cantonese. I am a native speaker of Italian. The language of our relationship is English.
Whereas his Italian has greatly improved over the years, my Cantonese is not quite there. This means that he can communicate with family members in Italian, whereas I often need to resort to English in order to communicate with his family (well, now our kids interpret for me sometimes!).
Both my husband and I feel comfortable not understating the other’s language fully, and we never worried about not understanding what the other was saying to the kids.
This, however, is not always the case for all parents who speak different languages. It is understandable that someone might feel or fear being left out, which is not pleasant. Sometimes, one might think to be ok with not understanding conversations, until they find out that they’d really rather not.
So, how do we prepare for this?
1. Do: Plan Ahead
The number one advice I give to those wishing to raise multilingual children is to plan ahead.
What scenarios are most likely to arise? How will you make sure that your family will communicate in such a way that and no one feels left out? What resources do we have? What are our strengths and what are areas we need to work on?
It’s easy to overestimate how little brainpower is left to think and strategize in those first sleepless days, weeks or even months.
Therefore, whenever possible, it is useful to think ahead and do our best to anticipate the difficulties that might arise. If parents are equipped to face potential difficulties, they will be more confident and less stressed, and in turn enjoy their beautiful multilingual parenting journey.
Please note, though, that no plans are ever set in stone. While it’s helpful to anticipate potential difficulties and brainstorm solutions, it is also healthy to stay flexible and open to change.
Change is inevitable and other challenges will arise as your children grow older. The key is to stay open and to…keep planning ahead!
Are you ready to start your own family’s multilingual journey? My multilingual consultation package is 100% individualized and tailored to your family’s unique needs.
