Being bilingual means speaking two languages. 43% of the world’s population is bilingual, but only 20.6% of the US population is bilingual, and 12.5% have Spanish as their first language. In the US, many people speak foreign languages, so much so that the US has no official language. Federally, the US allows citizens to speak whatever language they please. But what are the advantages and disadvantages of raising your children to be bilingual?
Being bilingual can greatly improve cognitive skills in children, these include critical thinking, multitasking, and problem-solving. It can open up new opportunities in different cultures and new social experiences.
On the other hand, it can slow down language development (not often but it happens), lead to language confusion, cause difficulty learning, and cause social and emotional difficulties. It can also cause the child to struggle to form a solid identity due to exposure to multiple cultures.
I think it would be beneficial to raise a bilingual child as knowing multiple languages can provide them with more opportunities both in jobs and international travel.
Would you want to be raised bilingual?
Do you want to raise a bilingual child?
Replies
I persoanlly think that if a child is raised bilingual they would have a benefit on life with have such communication skills so early in life.I think that it would defenetly be a positive for my future if i were rasied bilingual, but it is also probably a difficult task to help a child learn a new language so young.
I agree that the child would be able to communicate earlier than usual and in more ways than one, helping a child learn a language at a young age can be difficult but not impossible, for example, you could point at a dog and give the english version, then the foreign version of the word.
I totally agree that bilingualism would create more good than bad for a person. Teaching your child another language is a great way to push them ahead in life and provide them opportunities they wouldn't have if they only spoke one language!
I think that raising bilingual kids is definitely a challenge, I would probably do it if only to keep my own foreign language skills sharp. People often forget Spanish after high school and I would hate to spend hours of my life on a language just to lose it.
I think it would be very benefital if you raised a child bilingually. They could get better job oppertunities if they can translate to the people. I wish I knew another language very well. I only took spanish for 2 years. I don't know it very well.
I agree that knowing more than one language can be a big advantage for getting jobs, especially in diverse areas. I've heard that the job of a translator pays really well too, and it's always good to have that in your back pocket.
I think that children who are raised bilingually have a great advantage in the world. When you learn something from a young age, it becomes easier and easier, because it is just engraved in your mind. I wish that I would have been raised bilingually, because it would have put me ahead of the average person.
I agree that being bilingual and having that automatic knowledge of language would boost you past someone who only knows one language. It would help you get through schooling because you don't have to take a language class to get into college either.
I wouldn't want to be raise bilingually because it could be easy to mix multiple languages together when talking. If I needed to raise a bilingual child then I would, b ut I personally don't want kids.
I get that it may be difficult to stay in just one language, especially if you often switch between the languages at home. But I imagine that with practice you would become pretty good about when to switch languages.
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