Am I Proficient Enough to Raise a Bilingual Child? | How to Raise a Bilingual Child

We all worry about our proficiency level in a foreign language. This worry can be even more pronounced when it comes with all the complications of raising a child as a non-native speaker. But don't worry--you can do it!
In this video, I speak about how raising a bilingual child as a non-native speaker might look different based on your proficiency level. I'll also share some valuable advice my professor gave me and briefly discuss an encouraging study. #bilingualchild #bilingualkids #bilingualchildren #nonnativeenglishspeaker
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Playlists:
STARTING YOUR BILINGUAL PARENTING JOURNEY: bit.ly/3q6M3nP
BILINGUAL PARENTING TOOLKIT: bit.ly/2ZM4i6G
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Mentioned in this video:
Test your vocabulary size
my.vocabularys...
Alternative vocabulary size test (less reputable, but with more languages to choose from and shorter)
www.arealme.co...
Research article:
Tao, L., & Taft, M. (2017). Effects of early home language environment on perception and production of speech. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 20(5), 1030-1044.
playlists that might interest you:
STARTING YOUR BILINGUAL PARENTING JOURNEY: bit.ly/3q6M3nP
BILINGUAL PARENTING TOOLKIT: bit.ly/2ZM4i6G

[@a.tigerjr.6132]

This is the video I have been looking for. I am expecting my baby in November and I am intermediate proficiency in Spanish. Thanks for this video. Great channel

[@LiveYourLanguage]

Thank you so much for watching! I'm so glad it was helpful for you!

[@Mac_an_Mheiriceanaigh]

I would have left out the Australian study. I haven't read it, but from your summary it sounds like it is sending the opposite message of what we are all here to promote. Effectively it says 'Abandon your language and speak English with your child even if you can't really express yourself in that language'. This not only kills bilingualism but creates families where parents and children cannot understand each other fully. Given that the children in question were spending their days 100% in English (both from parents and from community), this study really has nothing to tell us bilingualism.

[@Mac_an_Mheiriceanaigh]

I recommend Barbara Zurer Pearson's book 'Raising a Bilingual Child' to anyone interested in more research and Christine Jernigan's book 'Family Language Learning: Learn Another Language, Raise Bilingual Children' to anyone interested in speaking a language with their child for which they have lower levels of proficiency

[@TehillaBarron]

Thank you so much for your videos! I'm currently 6 months pregnant. My child will definitely speak 2 languages, my husband will speak English and my entire family also speaks English. In school they will learn our countries language. I would like to add a third language - Hungarian. I grew up with my mother speaking to me in Hungarian while to my siblings in English. For my mother, it was her mother tongue. For me, it was technically my mother tounge, but I know English and my countries language way better. For me, speaking in Hungarian requires a lot more effort. Your videos are very inspiring. I love it that it's not your native language, and you are still doing it. It's so nice to hear that it's possible!

[@martynab.2510]

Thank you for this video - it's so encouraging! We're expecting our first baby and I, as a linguist, really want to give my child a gift of multilingualism. My husband is bilingual (Polish and Russian) and I'm a Polish native speaker, but feel comfortable with both English and Russian. I've been having doubts about speaking English to our baby, though. Worst case scenario: my child will speak English on the same level I do, which is still awesome. Btw, love your voice :)

[@LiveYourLanguage]

That's exactly how I see it, only it's even better because our peak proficiency is only their starting line. They will have the rest of their young lives to fine tune their language skills! It really is a gift, so go for it if you feel comfortable in English. I'm so glad I did and now my two-year-old is a little French chatterbox. I'm very glad you found my video to be encouraging to you. I don't want any other babies to miss out on the opportunity to be bilingual like my child almost did!

[@lillatoth4214]

Hi! How did you decide? Why did you have reservations about raising your child in English?

[@MsHorsenut]

This was the best video I’ve seen on nurturing bilingualism as a non-native speaker. It’s so nice to hear the research and your professor’s advice. You’ve given me the courage to continue. Thank you!!

[@LiveYourLanguage]

Thank you for watching! I'm so glad this video and my professor's advice was encouraging to you! I tried to make the video I wish I'd been able to find when I was deciding to do this. Definitely keep it up!

[@dehobbyopositora.2465]

Very goods tips! Thanks from Spain

[@AnckiRK]

Thank you so much for making this video! We are taking in a 2 year old permanent foster child in a few weeks and I wad wondering if I can raise her to grow up bilingually since I am fluent in english but it it is not my native language so yehiiii :)

[@LiveYourLanguage]

Thank you so much for watching this video and for subscribing! What you are doing and what you plan to do sound wonderful! Yes, you can absolutely share your language with her. While I don't have personal experience starting from age 2, I do know 2 year olds demand surprisingly little explanation when it comes to language-related things. What I mean by that is if I have to correct a mistake in vocabulary I've been making since day 1, my 2 year old just accepts my correction and starts using the correct word! Perhaps it's because they are already used to being told so often about things they don't really understand that these mistakes are no different 🙂. What an exciting adventure you're about to begin! Good luck and feel free to ask me any questions !

[@MasonHatfieldLogorrhea]

J'adore cette vidéo-ci ! C'est top ça! Moi, j'aimerai bien élever mes enfants bilingue !

[@LiveYourLanguage]

Merci d'avoir regardé cette video😀. Vous pouvez le faire, surtout si vous commencez à planifier maintenant. Bonne chance!

[@EverydayEnglishwithKids]

Great tips thank you!

[@LiveYourLanguage]

Thank you for watching! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

[@ms2lovely2hate]

Very awesome Cousin 👏🏾💯

[@LiveYourLanguage]

Thank you for watching :)

[@happynaturalpark6914]

Thank you

[@LiveYourLanguage]

You're welcome🙂. Thank you for watching!

[@babysciencetv]

Hi! My name is Jeongeun Park, I'm running a youtube channel that is mainly about evidence-basaed parenting. I would like to introduce your video to some of my subscribers, who are very interested in bilingual parenting as a non-native speaker. I kinda hope, if you don't mind, you could add Korean subtitles to this video? - I can provide the file through your email!

[@LiveYourLanguage]

Hi, Jeongeun! I'm sorry I didn't get to this sooner. Thank you for watching! I'm so glad you think this would be of interest to your subscribers! Thank you also for offering to provide me the subtitles. I'd be happy to! I've never added subtitles before so please give me a little bit of time while I figure it out. Please email them to [e-mail].

[@LyzJGV]

Thanks for the vocabulary Test level I tried to do it on my phone but I guess I messed up at the end cause I did not get the results. I’ll try again Great and encouraging video. Thx 🙏

[@LiveYourLanguage]

Oh no! I'm sorry, that's a long test! If you can't get that one to work, here's a link to another one. Just scroll to the bottom and choose which language you want to take the test for. I think the source is less reputable, but it has more language choices and is shorter. www.arealme.com/vocabulary-size-test/en/

[@LyzJGV]

@@LiveYourLanguage I ll try again please don’t worry 😉

[@LyzJGV]

OK eventually took the test again, I did 14k when native is 20k... not sure how this rates or rather what this means..

[@LiveYourLanguage]

@@LyzJGV I think that score is really great for a non-native English speaker! I'm much much much lower in French. Chapeau!

[@LyzJGV]

@@LiveYourLanguage thanks Stephanie that’s encouraging. I must admit I was disappointed but I decided I ll work harder on my English and shall take the test again in a few months. It should pay off 😀hard work always does !

[@ilariandre_]

I took the test you put in the description box.. the first one.. the result is that I know 7,800 English family words... I'm at the intermediate level.. something between b1 and b2... I don't fully understand what that result means 😅

[@natalyaakselaleksander4502]

What about homeschooling? I grew up speaking some French as a third language so IM intermediate. I plan on homeschooling my kids, does that make it easier or harder?

[@abigailwoolley6389]

Any tips for how a caregiver (au pair) can overcome hesitations and obstacles in providing an immersive environment in the child’s second-language? We have a caregiver we brought into our home specifically for the purpose of helping us raise our kids bilingually, but it turns out that she has a hard time sticking to her native language (Spanish) and requiring our kids to use it too, no matter how much we remind her. Is there any resource that can give her more confidence and concrete tips for helping my kids transition to speaking 100% Spanish with her?

[@LiveYourLanguage]

Hello, and thank you for watching my video. I have a few tips for you: 1. How old are your children and do they already speak some of the target language? It's important to have realistic expectations and allow for a transition period while everyone gets adjusted. It's a more difficult transition the older your kids are and they might need extra support and encouragement while the language of communication is established. 2. Provide specific tips on what the caregiver can focus that day (and then ask about it at the end of the day, every day). If you know your kids will be going to the beach or zoo soon, try to ask the caregiver to discuss a book about that topic in Spanish or if you're doing screen time, actively watching and discussing a very short related video, pausing to discuss new words and answer questions. Asking about what you did in Spanish every day will prompt the caregiver to make sure he or she does it every day. 3. Make sure to prove resources that promote Spanish use. Does your library have a Spanish book section? Can you request books? 4. Coach your caregiver on how to use English resources for Spanish language education. Model with a book just describing what you see on the page then asking question about what you see. Remember, for kids that don't read, all they see is the pictures anyways, so describe them in detail and ask the kids simple questions. 5. Choose themes for the week. continuing with thematic content will allow the kids to reuse the new vocabulary they have, making it stick. 6. Focus first on routines and things that are repeated often. These can be quick wins. 7. During the transition period, focus on the routines first and then expand out to other contexts. I takes time to get the language established, so it's best to make it as easy as possible. I hope these tips help!

[@frasenp8411]

1:00 Just out of curiosity from the bookpile, are you also learning Arabic? 👀

[@LiveYourLanguage]

Yes! I got a minor in Arabic, but I haven't continued with it unfortunately. I hope to go back to studying it one day.

[@frasenp8411]

@@LiveYourLanguage واااه إن شاء الله تجدين الوقت 🤲🏻

[@reemalshobaki8773]

I want to make my baby bilingual but I’m not a native speaker of English. So since I can watch your videos and understand them do you think I should speak to my baby English all the time and not make him hear me speaking in my native language. I am confused how to start 😅😅 My baby is 7 months now

[@naomiparsons462]

It's important that your child can differentiate between the languages, so you should use one language with certain people or at certain times and the other languages with other certain people and other times. This will help your child learn that they are different languages - also use other videos on this channel for more specific tips because they're very helpful. How is progress going?

[@thomasmooney5653]

It's proficient or not proficient. There is no 'proficient enough'.