Raising Bilingual Child

Some would argue that being a parent or a child existing in a bilingual environment may be only of an invaluable merit. This is true, with the assumption that both parties have similar expectations or do not have any that would conflict them and there is no the outside or a so called family pressure. Let us dwell to some extent on the merits. To begin with, the unquestionable advantage children would experience is the exposure to double language environment. If the learning process is not impacted by any negative factors, the language acquisition comes naturally and bilingualism is found as if the person were always a native speaker belonging to both speaking communities. The language command is easy and does not strain the speaker. A child has contact with two cultures represented by two languages and is exposed to sometimes two various communities differing in race, beliefs, religion, creed, values and geographical location. Secondly, bilingual children are more open to changing environments and have better learning abilities. Their intelligence may be of a higher level but not in a sense of the possessed IQ. Bilingual children are more creative and have learning flexibility. They are characterized by a better sense of the language as well as greater accuracy in choosing language vocabulary and structures for expressing themselves. Children who enjoy a multilingual education can transfer knowledge of one language to another, which allows for deeper comprehension. On the other hand, the most easily overlooked drawback to taking multilingual path is that it requires more effort on the part of the parents. Raising a bilingual child is a commitment, long-term investment in a child. It will demand extra effort on parent’s part to provide enough language exposure, extra encouragement, keeping language rules consistent, and if it possible find the best multilingual school or after school supplementary education program for a child. In addition, there comes a question what language is the basis for the thinking process. The exposure and learning of two languages simultaneously demands an extra brain and emotional effort as a child needs to find himself in two language ruled worlds and to find his/her way through. There might be some conflicts or creation of emotional barriers to acquire and use more sophisticated language structures in both languages at the same time. Taking everything into account, raising a bilingual child in a monolingual country can be challenging, however, learning an extra language is easier during childhood when the human brain is absorbing everything like a sponge. Arming a child with more than one language can lead to more job opportunities, as well as the ability to connect to more people, both socially and professionally.