Children who grow up bilingually learn other languages more easily and quickly and have cognitive advantages. Because they are used to jumping back and forth between two languages, their brains are more flexible and perceptive.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages
Anyone who grows up bilingually constantly trains their cognitive abilities and benefits from this throughout their lives.
In the brain of a multilingual person, languages compete with each other:
If there is a speech impulse, the neural networks are activated - by all stored languages.
Example:
If a person is currently having a conversation in German, the sentences will still be retrieved in all other saved languages in the background. However, these are unconsciously suppressed again and the person only speaks the German variant. From the age of three, multilingual children develop metalinguistic awareness and know exactly when they are dealing with which language. The accusation that bilingual children mix languages and do not learn any language properly is wrong.
How nice when parents can playfully develop their child's language!
Disadvantages
Children who grow up speaking only German know more German words than children who grow up bilingual. But: If you add the vocabulary of both languages of the bilingual children, you get the same sum again. This difference diminishes over time. At the latest when they are in kindergarten, bilingual children speak just as much as everyone else.
Raising children bilingually requires a lot of discipline and work on the part of the parents.
Multilingual children will not acquire the same skills in all languages. The strengths they develop depend on who is talking to them about what and in what language.
Even children among themselves ‘fertilize’ each other with their language skills.
Our brain looks forward to multilingualism
Bilingualism and trilingualism from birth is well researched and can work well. Scientists assume that all languages that a person speaks are stored in a common memory and are all linked. The human brain is wired for learning language, not just learning a specific language.
how does the mother tongue come about?
Already in the last three months in the womb the fetus hears the melodic and rhythmic characteristics of its mother tongue.
Children imitate the first sounds after a few months.
At the age of six, children can begin to express complex thoughts.
Language acquisition can be divided into different development phases. However, every child learns at their own pace. With multilingualism, it often happens that children at times have a better command of one or the other language.
Children do not want to learn languages, they want to communicate.
When children are having fun, they learn the fastest.
Curse Or Blessing? When Children Grow Up Multilingual
Most of the world's population is multilingual or lives in a corresponding environment. In concrete terms, around 3.5 billion people worldwide communicate in more than one language every day. In Germany, too, the trend is towards bilingual child rearing. Not only in families with a migration background, but also in binational families, two languages have long been part of everyday life. More and more German parents now want to give their children a taste for foreign languages and encourage them intensively from an early age. But the question often arises: is a bilingual education really an invaluable resource? Or are children simply overwhelmed by this?
Multilingual education: Valuable for a child's future
Parents who consciously or unconsciously opt for a multilingual upbringing still have to contend with many prejudices: children would be overwhelmed with learning two or even three languages in early childhood. It is also often assumed that acquiring multiple languages means that children do not end up learning any of the languages properly. Problems at school are inevitable.
However, current studies on the subject of "multilingualism among children" show that growing up with more than one language does not have any negative consequences for children - on the contrary. Through the principle of imitation, children learn several languages just as well as one. Children who grow up bilingually learn other languages more easily and quickly and have cognitive advantages. Because they are used to jumping back and forth between two languages, their brains are more flexible and perceptive.
But many scientists have confirmed that multilingual education can only work if children develop an emotional bond with the languages. It also becomes worrying when parents develop too much ambition in the child's language acquisition and work with pressure. So that no negative learning experiences arise at first, it is important to always remember: Take the pressure off and let the child learn and experience the languages independently and have fun.
Our language is an important part of our lives. Yes, it shows us how we see and judge life.
Clear language rules facilitate double language acquisition
In order for multilingual education to work and children to benefit from it, parents should agree on clear language rules. Otherwise, a constant mixture of languages leads to the chaos in the brain that critics fear.
To prevent this, there are different options for language separation:
In binational families, it makes sense for each parent to speak to the child only in their mother tongue. It is of great advantage for communication in the family if the other parent also speaks this language and so all family members speak all languages equally.
The option of deciding on an environment language and a family language has also proven itself in practice. This solution is mainly found among migrants. However, it is important that children come into contact with the language of their surroundings at an early age, be it in the toddler group, in kindergarten or with a babysitter.
The first sentence counts - this is the motto of the language separation. Communication is always continued in the language with which a conversation was started.
For parents who are very busy at work or parents who live separately, there is the option of working days and weekends: one language is spoken during the week and the other language is spoken at the weekend.
Of course, the digital language also has a major influence on our language.
Multilingualism In Children - A Lifelong Treasure
No matter which language separation option parents choose: consistent implementation is particularly important. Otherwise, language acquisition is hindered rather than encouraged. And only with the right implementation can parents give their offspring a valuable treasure that the children will benefit from throughout their lives.
Is It Good To Grow Up Multilingual?
Anyone who grows up bilingually constantly trains their cognitive abilities and benefits from this throughout their lives. In the brain of a multilingual person, the languages are in competition with each other: when there is a language impulse, the neural networks are activated - by all stored languages.
