Why and How I’m Raising My Son Bilingual

Three summers ago, I went to spend some time living in Paris. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I was an Au Pair to three adorable French children. I got to learn a lot about the way Europeans raise their children. Not surprisingly, it’s very different than how children are raised here. One of the things I admire most about European culture, is that almost everyone speaks more than one language. In fact, America is one of the only places where we generally only speak one language. The children that I watched were bilingual, and were learning a third language. They were 2, 5, and 7 years old. 

When Bastian was born, we immediately decided that we were going to try to raise him bilingual. Because it’s been so long since I lived in France, and I never have an opportunity to practice it here, my French is a little bit rusty. I was really discouraged at first. I think knowing multiple languages is a valuable skill, but I also didn’t want to hinder him by teaching him broken French because my own language skills are lacking.

Did you know that children are born with the ability to make the sounds of absolutely any language? They lose this natural ability when they learn a language that doesn’t utilize those sounds. So it makes sense to start teaching your child another language from the very beginning, or as young as possible, to give them this advanage.

Ultimately, we decided to teach him French anyway, despite no longer being fluent. We both speak English to him, and about half of the time I speak to him in French. Anything that I’m confident I’m saying correctly with the correct grammar, I say to him in French.

But I know that’s not enough for him to become bilingual! Whenever we watch TV or movies during the day, we watch it with French dubbing. There aren’t a lot of options on Netflix, frankly, with French dubbing. But we’ve found a few children shows and movies that are great and we’re working our way through those. We also listen to French music constantly throughout the day. Children learn best through songs and music, so the only nursery/children songs we listen to, are French songs.

Before I continue, I just want to clarify that I don’t sit my four month old son in front of the TV all day, everyday, for the sake of  teaching him a language. But some days, I don’t have the energy to entertain him the entire day. Sometimes I need him to be occupied for twenty minutes so I can vacuum, or finish the dishes, or write. So, in those instances, we turn on French Veggie Tales. I don’t think letting your child watch tv makes you a bad mom, just like I don’t think not letting your child watch tv doesn’t make you a bad mom. I’m just a mom, trying to educate my child the best I know how.

Lastly, I know that Bastian will not be successful learning to speak French, if he has no one to converse with. So everyday(or a few days a week, if we’re being honest), I do a few duolingo lessons while he’s awake and playing next to me. He hears the words as I learn them, and it is helping me become more familiar with the language again.

I think knowing multiple languages is an amazing skill! Seth and I love to travel, and it would be amazing if we were able to converse in languages other than English when we were in different countries. So, I’m doing my best to give my child this skill.

One Reply to “Why and How I’m Raising My Son Bilingual”

  1. How great to teach a second language to your baby! I think educational tv programs are awesome! Especially when your with your child all day. Most TV programs are rhymes and songs and dances, something I may not think to do on my own. I am Housewives fan and I was just watching on Dallas where she took her young daughter to a Mexican restaurant and she ordered for everyone in Spanish! Amazing!

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