Frequently Asked Questions

Below are questions that I am often asked regarding raising our children bilingually. These are my opinions based on my experience and learning, but this is not an exact science. There will be those who disagree with me. The important thing is that you consider your goals, your resources and your children.

A recent article on things you can expect from a Dual Immersion Program.

I'm afraid I will teach my kids bad grammar that they won't be able to undo later. Should I still teach them?

Short answer: Yes! (I pull out Google Translate all the time with my kids)

This is a valid concern to a certain extent. Fossilization, the continued use of incorrect grammar and terms even after exposure to the correct forms, is something that language teachers struggle with. BUT, in my experience and from looking at the research, it isn't as big of a deal or as scary as it seems.

First, consider why you want your child to learn a second language. Is it to get a better job? To become a renowned author in that language? To understand the culture better? I would say that in most if not all of the cases where parents have been concerned about this, they weren't expecting their child to become the world's best Spanish speaker, for example. Most of them wanted to give their children a gift but were afraid that it wasn't good enough. I think it is better that you give an imperfect gift than no gift at all. Any words or phrases that you teach your child in that other language will help them in the future. They will be closer to understanding a different language and, with it, a different way of life.

Second, it's not that big of a deal. Most people will understand that it isn't your child's first language and will give them grace for it. They will try to understand and communicate.

Third, your child will be able to undo errors as they get older. When I lived in Spain as a Master's student, I picked a few grammatical errors that I continually used that I wanted to change. And I focused on those: saying "la mano", or "el mapa" were two of them. Honestly, working to improve those was very fulfilling and it gave me confidence to continue to improve my Spanish.

My spouse/partner doesn't speak the language I want to teach. How do we do this?

Short answer: Have them learn alongside the kids!

When my husband and I were dating, I was adamant about wanting to raise our children bilingually. At that time, my husband spoke minimal Spanish. He did speak Portuguese, which was helpful. As similar as those to languages are, however, there are some words that just do not match up. Take "pineapple" for example. In Spanish, it's piña. In Portuguese (Brazilian, Amazonian Portuguese), it's abacaxi...... Yeah. That's what I thought.

So, when we became pregnant with our son, the training began. We would go over words here and there. But it really got real after he was born. I remember sitting in the hospital bed hours after he was born going over words with my husband: pañal, vomitar, toalla, eructo, chupete, etc. My husband has, to a large extent, learned Spanish with our kids. He and I speak with each other mostly in English still- that's the language we developed our relationship in, so it is the most natural for us. But when we are around the kids, it's pretty much all Spanish. We both find it difficult in fact to speak to babies or toddlers in English. It just feels weird.

Don't be afraid to show your kids that you are learning along with them. As parents I think we get caught up in wanting to have everything figured out before we teach our kids. I'm just learning that isn't realistic in really any realm of parenting. So let them know you are learning too. I think they will thank you for it.

*A note on OPOL: One Parent, One Language*

Some families choose to follow the One Parent One Language model. There will be those who disagree with me, but I have found this can lead to issues. Your children will have a language they prefer. It's just what happens. With the OPOL model, the kids tend to talk more to the parent that uses the language they prefer (usually what the majority language spoken outside the house). Or they speak to both parents but only in that language. Even if a parent speaks to them in Spanish, for example, they respond in English. If you don't want to do all day with both parents in a second language, I would recommend having time chunks of the second language instead of using OPOL.