Raising Child In Multilingual Family: 10 Language Tips To Avoid Most Common Mistakes

As the world becomes more of our oyster, we have many families who are mixed. This often includes two parents speaking their own individual languages. It can become challenging for the parents to help the kids understand each language. Many households will choose a dominating language, but this need not be the case. In fact, it could be beneficial to start early and teach your child as many languages as possible. It is important to note that you do not want to confuse your child in any way. There are some common mistakes parents make that can cause more confusion than a positive educational process. Here are those common mistakes you want to avoid.

1. Doubt

Before you even start or decide on the process, you have to get your head in the game. Doubting that this is at all possible is going to slow down the process and start it off on a bad foot. It’s not like you have to provide document translation services, but rather investing in your child.

2. Critiquing

There is nothing wrong with telling your child how to say a word correctly, but if you are constantly at it, you are going the wrong way. You want to encourage your child and turn a blind eye at times. Trust the process.

3. Inconsistent

This is not a quick process and you have to be at it constantly. You cannot be inconsistent, because you risk losing what you have worked on. Consistency is going to be the key to unlocking and solidifying success.

4. Delay starting

You do not have to wait until your child is a certain age to start the process. In fact, the earlier you start the better. It does not have to be formal, but rather a natural process at home. Find the best language translator to help you in times of doubt.

5. Using electronics

The television, IPads or the radio is not going to teach your child a new language. It might just sound like gibberish to your child. Human interaction is absolutely crucial to the process.

6. Educational toys

We live in a world where you can find an educational toy to teach anything you decide on. With that being said, it is not the same as having an actual loved one teaching you. Do not leave it up to toys to teach your child another language.

7. Mocking

It is never acceptable to mock a child, but it is going to defeat them if you do this in the process of learning a new language. They will just stop talking in the language you want them to master.

8. Quizzes

Do not put your child through any type of test or exam to access their grasp of the language. This adds way too much pressure to the process. Some parent ask kids to translate document online and that is not how you go about it. Simply have casual conversations in the language of choice.

9. Leaving it up to fate

This is not something that is going to happen automatically. You actually have to invest some time and effort into this process.

10. Giving up

Just because your child did not grasp an entire new language in one week, does not mean you should simply give up. Be patient and see it through, right till the end.