Myths About Bilingual Children

Brenda K. Gorman, PH.D, discusses the myths of bilingualism in children with the CEO/Founder of LinguaHealth, John Consalvi, M.A. CCC-SLP.
Subscribe to our KZbin channel for more video resources! For more about LinguaHealth, visit www.linguahealth.com.

[@coolshadow78]

On top of everything, I believe that, the more you use your brain, the better it gets!!! Being multilingual definitely has advantage!!!

[@ABB1115RB]

Oh God,this is a breath of fresh air! We live in Belgium and the doctors did exactly as you say! I have been told that my child who soon will turn 3,is already behind(because my son did not like the gp and did not want to talk to her) and then I have been told to give up English and stick just to dutch as it is healthier for him! Then another one sent us to a speech and language therapist! We did not went! I would not take a healthy,happy child to a therapist just to put money in their pockets! Not to mention that we have family who speak another language the the two mentioned above and my son was very eager to join in and learn some wordsI:-)))i have done my research and we are continuing with bilingual education!As a parent though,when you get no support,you do forever wonder:"am I good enough for my child? do I do enough for him?" and so on,so your video is truly like a refreshing summer rain!thank you! ;-)

[@Dontincludeme]

I didn't know there was a fear about teaching kids two languages. I would have thought every parent would want their kids to speak more than one language. I grew up with French and English. It could have been Swedish as well, but my dad didn't teach me and I really regret that. As far as intelligence... I mean, I taught myself how to read at 4 years old if that's any indication.

[@Joseph565112]

My daughter is trilingual. We focused on English first and foremost, integrated German early on, however. By age 6, we started teaching her Korean. MBAs, and most BAs are just not worth it anymore, governments and companies want bilingual and trilingual employees. She thanks us every other day it seems.

[@trilingual_tx_center]

I am so grateful for this video! It's a great summary of bilingualism & the negativity that has surrounded it for so many years!

[@JacquesCinema]

My daughter is 9 and she was born in America! She speals read and writte French and English absolutely fluently! She now speaks italien too becasue we are close to Iltaly, and she is Learning Chinese in a bilingal school in France! She has no problem at all Learning several langages plus the rest! She is very intelligent and it may be thanks to this multilungal culture from the date she was born!

[@beejayworld]

awesome video, I plan on teaching my future children to be bilingual. My husband is Brazilian and I am German and I want them to get to know each culture.

[@Darlansk8]

My child got a bit later to speak her 4 languages, but by now she's able to speak 4 languages with a perfct native accent.

[@heipaadegduP]

I speak 4 languages, and I think its great!

[@KAMIKAZi169]

i always belief that being bilingual was setting me back. but then i realized i was always above average in both math and science; my English was normal now proficient.

[@bestgreendaygirlever]

It's such a waste to set aside the opportunity to broad the abilities of one's children. I had never heard that some parents raise their children in a language they don't speak fluently. I find that ridiculous! Language involves not only the message that it's trying to be transmitted but a lot of cultural and identity aspects that are essential in one's growth. nice video!

[@carolinesigns]

thank you for creating this video ... ASL is my first language and I am a Hearing Child of Deaf Parents. My Mother-Father Deaf status I am very proud of! I plan to share this video with other Deaf parents who often share there concerns about their hearing children.

[@TyTruba]

A very good insight into the nature of bilingualism.

[@GrynHelix]

Haha I was raised bilingual and hasn't held me back at all. My kids will most definitely be bilingual, most probably trilingual. English, Dutch and Chinese.

[@sconnieknd3]

My son is 3 yrs old speaking spanish, indonesian and english and i noticed that he do things than the others can't at this age such as mathematic, spelling and writting and i know is hard to believe even for the doctors, people tells me that im forcing him but it's natural mexican mom, indonesian dad and usa enviroment.

[@azforthlol]

I think this fear of bi-lingualism is actually more to do with cultural stereotypes, and the belief that if immigrant parents don't restrict their children to the language of the country they inhabit, then the child won't have equal exposure the language they'll be using for school and therefore fall behind their class. Zweifellos dies ist Unsinn :)

[@clancylassydonohue9552]

Alice, have them listen to the language on CDs or videos, they will remember it and learn more and more. Children speak language by association, the environment they are in, they'll adjust. It's actually normal. This from my own experiences. My youngest daughter spoke 3 languages by the time she was 5 along with a little Italian she learned from a babysitter.

[@LinguaHealth]

thanks for the comment alice, this video is meant to address the myths that lots of people view as truth about children who are bilingual.

[@clancylassydonohue9552]

Child in Germany only Cdn in daycare. Age 3 fluent in Eng&Ger spoke by ass'n. Home Eng. School Ger. took me a while to get that, didn't know how well she spoke til in shop she told a sales clk I didn't speak much Ger. she did & be happy to explain what I wanted. ??? I made an error, she knew! Back home went to Fr. gr. 1-10 then Eng. many speak between 5-7 languages. It's all in the EAR. Immersion, if hear it you will learn it. I'm not a genius but I can get by in 3 languages....slowly!

[@DontPaniku]

Great video.

[@EricAll4soundsAlbert]

this also applies to bilingual "adults" , ça peut concerner les 'adultes' bilingues également :D

[@beijosparavoce]

wow. great video.