Raising children with 3 languages has been relatively easy. Dealing with the incomprehension of some people, including teachers, has not always been so. Here are some of the questions (or accusations) I have come across the last 15 years, and my reply to these. This article is a work in progress.
TLDR: Q. 3 year old does not speak proper English yet. A. Multilinguals often start to speak later
When my son went to nursery in the UK, they insisted that he had serious speech and language issues. As a parent, if you are concerned, by all means, have it checked out by a professional linguist familiar with multilingualism. However, my son was fully capable of expressing himself, knew a number of words in 3 languages, and made up his own words (in a consistent way!). He has had to learn 3 languages at the same time. I was not concerned. As I expected, it sorted itself out by the time he was 4,5/5 years old, and he could speak and understand the 3 languages. If you look at one language in itself, the number of words a multilingual child has acquired may seem low. However, sum up the three and they follow a normal speech development pattern.
TLDR: Q. You should speak English (or language of the country) to your child to help him/her at school. A: Absolutely NOT.
This is a something I encountered myself and I have heard a lot from speaking to other parents with bilingual or multilingual children. The child’s teacher explaining to you in a professional manner that you should really help your child by stopping speaking your native language with them, but to speak the country’s language instead. After all, you don’t want your child to fall behind and being disadvantaged, right?
I am fortunate that I have a linguistic background, and I am rather assertive. I am wondering how many children have lost their parents’ native language this way over the years though. So here is some feedback you could give:
Studies have shown that children that are spoken to by a parent in a limited language (a parent born and raised in Turkey is told to speak Dutch to the child for example) will have a less broad range of vocabulary. Basically, if they are not taught the nuances of language in their first language, it is more difficult for them to transfer these skills to another language. If they get a broad range of language in the parent’s native language, they can then transfer these skills to another language.
Secondly, a child may take longer to learn to read and write properly, but at the same time they also know another language. That is a big win, no matter how you look at it.
Thirdly, many families have relatives that can only speak the parent’s native language. You do not want to make communication with relatives impossible.
Fourthly, you don’t want to teach a child that the language of their parents is less important than another one. I cannot stress enough how important language is for emotional wellbeing. If you are a parent that speaks limited French, and the whole family only speaks French, it is not a good feeling! And the child is missing out on building a more in-depth relationship with this parent.
TLDR: Q. Raising a child bilingually or multilingually is exceptional. A. Actually no, worldwide it is estimated that over 50% is bilingual or multilingual.
It is hard to find exact statistics, as not every country includes languages in their censuses, or some methods include people that have learnt a language later in life as a second language. The current estimate for bilingualism from child onwards is between 50 and 60%. References: Encyclopedia of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education by Colin Baker, Sylvia Prys Jones and Life as a Bilingual – Knowing and Using Two or More Languages by François Grosjean
TLDR: Q. If you don’t speak the language of the school at home, you put your child at a disadvantage A. I don’t think so!
In my personal experience, any disadvantage has more to do with social expectations than with the ability of the children (in general). I have worked in a multilingual school for 10 years, where I have seen up close that where children are expected to cope, they generally just get on with it. Since everyone, including staff and teachers, all spoke at least 2 languages, it was the norm.
I have read a lot about EAL (English as an additional language) in school environments, and have often been baffled by the expectation that these children had a learning disadvantage. Even so much, that state schools receive additional funding for these children the first couple of years.
From my point of view, if children are encouraged to be proud of their home language and are expected to cope with the school language – with some additional support where required – children do fine. Shame them about the home language and they may end up struggling with both.
Do you have a question you would like me to look into? Please contact me.