I was being interviewed recently about my book, Raising Bilingual Children, and the reporter asked me about the myths vs the facts of raising bilingual kids. She said that there are parents out there that truly believe that it is better if the child only speaks English because in order to get ahead academically, he or she needs to become fluent in that language. If he speaks Spanish at home, he loses that fluency. I told her that in my experience and after interviewing experts in the fields of linguistics and science, as well as parents that have raised children with more than one language, I can say for certain that children that are raised bilingual become fluent in both languages at the same time. And that is better for the child.
Dr. Delfin Carbonell Basset, a lexicographer, language expert and founder of the Unialphabet system believes that “one-language-only speakers create myths and tell untruths about bilingual kids.” To that end, Carbonell Basset often discusses his five myths and the real facts of raising bilingual children.
As you make your decision about raising your children in a bilingual home, consider the following two myths and let me know your thoughts. Inevitably, these are questions that have entered your mind regarding language.
For example, Carbonell Basset’s first myth about raising bilingual children debates that a bilingual child’s brain will get confused with so many different words spoken in so many different languages and that learning two or more languages can delay the child’s communication’s skills. The FACT is that language starts as soon as the baby is born, (really since the baby is inside the belly we should be talking to him/her), and the brain, because of its plasticity, will adapt to whatever it is exposed to. “The more stimuli, the better for the language, and the children can tell the difference between one language and another very soon. No confusion, ever,” said Dr. Carbonell Basset.
The second myth is the idea that the kid’s cognitive development will be negatively affected by teaching him/her two languages at the same time. The FACT is that so many studies now show that the opposite is true. “Two- language children have the advantage over one-language children, who have only one way of communicating and thus less stimulus for neuronal development. This misconception has deprived millions in the United States of the blessings of two-language education.”
Next time, I will share the last three myths and facts developed by Dr. Carbonell Basset so you can add to your file with information that will help you in your own journey of raising bilingual children.
