Whether you are a bilingual family or not, it is never too late to learn a new language.
So if your child is already older than 6 years old please do not worry. The main reason why they say kids between 2-5 learn them faster is because they aren’t afraid of making mistakes and they are soaking up everything they are learning anyhow.
Secondly, it is also probably harder for the parent than for the kids, as the parent will be working full time and then needs to make an effort to incorporate both languages every day. Raising bilingual kids is definitely not easy, but just remember it will pay off in the end. No parent ever wished they didn’t teach their child another language. 🙂
I grew up in a bilingual home, but do not remember how I learned. All I remember from when I was little that I just knew how to speak 2 languages fluently (English & German). After University is when I started teaching myself languages and now I know what I need to do to learn and how I can help others.
I have 3 children ages 6, 3 and 5 months. I am new to the world of parenting and am learning how to teach them languages as I go along. So far most of the tips I am recommending can be applied to adults too.
Some important pointers to remember along the way when raising bilingual kids is:
Be patient and persistent
Learning a second language doesn’t happen over night. As an adult it took me more than 1 year to become fully fluent. Also remember that each child is different and therefore not all the same methodologies apply or work. It is important that you use a variety of resources to adapt to their particular learning style.
Mix it up
Kids get bored easily so it helps to mix up the activities & methodologies and incorporate them into your every day life.
- Read bilingual books
- Use bilingual activity books
- Meet with other families/kids who speak the same language
- Teach/sing traditional songs
- Download educational apps in your language
- Tell a story in your target language
- Listen to audio books
- Do activities (i.e. baking/cooking) in your language
- Change Ipad, Netflix, Disney+ to your language
- Play games/sports
Remember to always celebrate their progress. This will make language learning not feel like a chose and be an enjoyable and rewarding experience.
I hope you found this useful. If you have anymore questions please feel free to reach out to me on IG @lingobabies I regularly share bilingual resource suggestions in various languages.
If interested in more tips on how to raise bilingual children please read this blog here.
