How to Choose a Language | 6 Things to Consider for Raising Bilingual Children

You've decided you want your child to learn a new language. That's great! But which language should you choose? If you are raising or planning to raise a bilingual or a multilingual child, choosing a language to learn can be difficult. In this video, I discuss 6 things to consider when deciding which language to introduce to your child. Then at the end, I reveal which language I will be introducing next to my son and how I followed these steps to come to that conclusion. #bilingualchild #bilingualkids #bilingualchildren
Music: Through The Woods by Shane Ivers - www.silvermansound.com
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The Bilingual Edge: Why, When, and How to Teach Your Child a Second Language
by Kendall King, PhD, and Alison Mackey, PhD
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playlists that might interest you:
STARTING YOUR BILINGUAL PARENTING JOURNEY: bit.ly/3q6M3nP
BILINGUAL PARENTING TOOLKIT: bit.ly/2ZM4i6G

[@LiveYourLanguage]

What thought process did you go through to choose which language you or your child would learn next? Let me know!

[@Aizenjnn]

I recently discoverd your channel and I'm really glad I did :) I'm a native Arabic speaking ( Palestinian dialect ) and I also acquired English as a child , from KZbin actually! And you could say I'm a level A2 in French, planning to study it in university and hopefully start German or another language whenever I get a bit more proficient and confident in it hehe . I don't have kids and I won't anytime soon but I'm so hooked on your videos ! They're extremely well made and interesting ♡ would you consider making a video about studying languages in university and your journey from a bachelor's student in French ( correct me if I'm wrong pls) to a PhD student in second language acquisition? Would love to hear more from you 😊

[@LiveYourLanguage]

Wow! That's so wonderful that you were able to acquire English through KZbin! That's incredible! It's also great that you are continuing to learn more languages. Thanks for watching and for your kind words about my videos! University study of a language will push your proficiency the way other study has not. Also, thank you for your video suggestion! I'll definitely consider it!

[@Mac_an_Mheiriceanaigh]

I await eagerly your plan for how you are going to introduce Spanish. Andrea Breitenmoser (KZbin channel: Multilingual Family) has a lot of videos about how she introduced Swiss German to her daughter before she started preschool in Swiss German and about how she now speaks High German with her daughter using the time-and-place method. Her husband and she speak Danish and Spanish with their children normally. My main concern is exposure. I know now you spend so much time with your son that it's completely possible to reach 30% in French and Spanish as well as English. But what about at older ages? I am guessing that your plan is to have your family (your son's grandpa, aunts, and maybe dad?) and school continue with Spanish while you go back to 100% French. Like yourself I speak many languages, but I don't know if I am brave enough to be like Andrea or you. My main minority language is too important for me to risk it by trying to do two, my heart tells me. Even with only one minority language, English is so dominant that most families end up not being successful. One other thing I want to mention (sorry for the stream of consciousness) is that as I have discussed with family and friends how I plan to speak my minority language with our future child (trying now), people often say 'Why would you speak that useless language when you are fluent in Spanish?' In a sense I worry that if I were to introduce Spanish as well everyone would send implicit or overt messages to the child that Spanish is more valuable...

[@LyzJGV]

Hi Stephanie Thanks for this new yet again super interesting interesting video We went through the same thought process recently for our son and hesitated between Spanish, Portuguese and… Russian. Basically for the same reasons you considered your languages too. We decided to go for Russian which is a little less daring than Chinese. I really hope we manage to make it work. If it turns out too ambitious I believe we’ll change for Spanish which is far less ambitious and that as you were saying I hope he ll easily acquire later on without too much difficulty. It s been a really difficult choice though and I must say I’m still full of doubts Looking forward to hearing how things are going for your son and a huge thanks for sharing your thoughts and doubts. It lakes such a difference to feel I’m not the only one going through these considerations

[@LiveYourLanguage]

Lily, thank you so much for watching! Wow, it's so exciting to know someone else who is doing something similar to us, only you're a few steps ahead! Russian is daring, but if things go well it will be so wonderful! I'm excited to hear about how it goes for you! We're definitely still in the process of making a plan for Spanish right now, so I'm curious about where you decided to start after deciding.😃. Any tips?

[@LyzJGV]

Thanks Stephanie. Your enthusiasm is highly contagious. To be honest we re kind of tiptoeing atm. This is a very recent decision too. But as you mentioned I believe I need to get things more on track and define more clearly what moments are going to be dedicated to Russian. Right now the approach was rather hectic so it has not been super fruitful yet. We have an au pair leaving with us whose native language is Russian. So far she always talked to our son in English - his minority language. I have asked her to introduce words in Russian on a daily basis. But I do not think this is enough. I speak basic Russian so I have decided to go back to learning this beautiful language to increase my level. We count everyday until ten with my son when he brushes his teeth and then I congratulate him in Russian. I was thinking of having specific actions done in this third language such as describing his clothes in the morning (color, type, etc), mention what food we are eating at diner. He also asked how to name his favorite toys. I guess once he s more comfortable we can slowly add more and more. But of course this “gentle” approach will not be as fruitful as a more intensive one… so I need to think more about this. I always fear being too pushy and having a counterproductive method. Not sure I m making sense here. Sorry if that’s the case. I need to say I was very impressed by how you mastered to explain your thought process on how you made your decision. We basically thought about all of this but I would have never been able to explain this clearly. So thank you. I’m sure it’ll help me when I need to remember why I have chosen this language over another one and when I need to find my motivation back 😜

[@LiveYourLanguage]

@@LyzJGV Thanks for the detailed explanation! Yes, I do worry sometimes that all my planning will be too ridgid and unnatural as well. I'm finding that i am forced to be much more flexible than I'd planned already. Today, for example, my son wanted to read Spanish books we got from the library all day ("But what about French?!" I thought). Thanks for the reminder to try and strike that balance to keep things natural and fun 🙂.