7 Steps to Raising a Bilingual Child

Naomi Steiner · Susan Hayes · Steven Parker

Nov 2008 · Sold by AMACOM

About this ebook

Find out why early childhood is the best time to teach your child a second language and learn how to do it with this step-by-step guide.

The best time to learn a second language is as a child. During childhood, the brain is more receptive to language learning than at any other time in life. Aware that a second language can enrich their child's understanding of other cultures and bring future job opportunities in a world drawn ever closer by globalization, many parents today are motivated to raise their children bilingual.

7 Steps to Raising a Bilingual Child helps parents in both monolingual and multilingual families determine and achieve their bilingual goals for their child, whether those goals are understanding others, the ability to speak a second language, reading and/or writing in two languages, or some combination of all of these. The authors will:

• explain how the brain learns more than one language,
• explode common myths,
• address frequently asked questions,
• and reveal an array of resources available to families.

Packed with insightful anecdotes and powerful strategies, 7 Steps to Raising a Bilingual Child is a one-of-a-kind guidebook for those seeking to provide their children with a uniquely valuable experience.

Ratings and reviews

I came across this book in local library. And I went through the whole book on a Sunday afternoon. If I'd got to choose one takeaway from this book among all other practical advices, I would highly recommend the OPOL (One-Parent-One-Language) method. It's seemingly effortless to the parents. It helps create boundaries and maximize language inputs to your child in a consistent way. My wife and I immediately gave it a try with me speaking Mandarin and she Cantonese to our two little girls (5 and 1 yr old), and relying on the school and daycare for teaching them in English (as we're living in US). With this simple switch, we've already ensured a tri-lingual foundation to our children. In the future, according to their needs, they can either advance the read and write skills in Chinese, or add to their plate a fourth or fifth language (be it French, Spanish, or Japanese etc.). Other thoughtful takeaways: 1. Talk to your child's school language department and ask if there is a second language program with the language of your choice. Otherwise, also think of Saturday/Sunday language schools, or Summer camps. Continued learning is so crucial since language is simply a "use it, or lose it" skill. 2. Make your language choice and goals clear and realistic. There are rare balanced bilingualism. In the real world, your child is likely to have a dominant language. And language learning requires years of effort (5-10 yrs for learning read/write). It's very common that your second language is one/two levels lower than your dominant language. So make sure your goal for each language of your choice is realistic and well-prioritized. At last, I want to talk about something I personally don't find it too useful -- the "Bilingual Action Plan". It doesn't seem to be a natural thing to do. You could definitely make a list of family activities that are suitable for different languages. But making a concrete weekly schedule (on top of your already busy work/school schedule) is more likely to be a setup for failure and frustration to both parents and child. That said, this book overall is easy to follow and has not only strengthened my belief in but really nudge me into actions to raising a bilingual/multilingual family. Thank you, Dr. Steiner!

About the author

Naomi Steiner, M.D. (Boston, MA) is a developmental-behavioral pediatrician who works with bilingual families at Tufts Medical Center Boston. Susan L. Hayes (Brooklyn, NY) is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in Parent Child, Parenting, Woman's Day, and other publications.