No Frills Guide to Raising Bilingual Kids

Do:

• Make yourself knowledgeable about childhood bilingualism.
• Match your method to your goals.
• Be persistent.
• Be patient.
• Believe in long term gains.
• Know your child. If necessary, adapt whatever method you’re using to meet the child’s needs.
• Compliment/celebrate their little and big successes along the way.
• Surround them with resources in the target language (music, books, DVDs, on-line resources – don’t forget to check whether your library has a collection or can get things for you through interlibrary loans; try Craig’s List, Freecycle, etc.; exchange with your bilingual friends).
• Get your kid(s) together with other kids who also speak the target language.
• Think about how flexible you can be with the minority language when discussing things that might be too difficult for the child (e.g., lacking vocabulary, emotions running wild).
• Expect responses in the target language, unless you are happy with your child understanding the language only.
• Remember that no one has ever regretted knowing more than one language.

Don't:

• Despair.
• Correct every mistake the kid makes in his or her minority language.
• Assume that what works for one child works for another.
• Punish the child for not speaking the minority language.
• Expect perfection.
• Turn it into a struggle.
• Ignore the kid’s questions and comments about why they are expected to speak the target language, dislike speaking it, etc.
• Make fun of the kid for trying.
• Let them get away without trying too often.
• Give up.