Resources for Parents Raising Bilingual Children
Where to Find Information and Support for Bilingual Families
Jan 16, 2009
Parents often have questions and concerns about how and when to teach their children to speak multiple languages. The resources listed below offer strategies, information, support, and in some cases opportunities to connect.
Online Resources for Bilingual and Multilingual Families
The Multilingual Children’s Association is a free online community dedicated to supporting children who are growing up multilingual. The FAQ section is comprehensive, answering the questions most often asked by parents who want their children to be bilingual. An active bulletin board and a classified ads section help families link up for support and to spread the word about events.
Bilingual/Bicultural Family Network is a Seattle-based organization that reaches out to families around the world. Its magazine Multilingual Living is by paid subscription only; however, the website is chock full of free information, including an extensive list of bilingual/bicultural family blogs.
Bilingual Families Connect offers tips and advice, parent to parent. The information on research and myths about language acquisition is excellent.
Bilingual Parenting in a Foreign Language, found on Brigham Young University’s Humanities Department website, is focused exclusively on providing information to and support for families interested in teaching their children to speak a language other than that which the parents speak natively. Along with lists of resources, the site includes a registry of families all over the world interested in supporting each other in their language goals.
The iVillage Bilingual Families message board offers a forum for women raising bilingual children. Its purpose is to allow mothers to share strategies, obstacles, and experiences and to connect in order to offer and find support.
Magazines and Newsletters for Parents Raising Bilingual Children
Multilingual Living Magazine is a quarterly digital magazine offered in full-color format and printable in PDF. It covers educational, political, and social issues associated with raising multilingual children as well as information on language acquisition. $12/year
The Bilingual Family Newsletter is a quarterly online publication published by Multilingual Matters. Based in England, with a 25 year track record, the format utilizes short informative articles on language learning and bilingualism as well as family experiences. The newsletter’s readership includes mixed marriage, expatriate, and immigrant families as well as schools, students of language learning, and researchers in the field of bilingualism. $19.50/year
Books On The Topic of Raising Bilingual Children
There have been many books written for parents on the subject of teaching children to speak multiple languages. The following list is a sampling of the most current titles.
- Andersson, Staff. Growing Up With Two Languages: A Practical Guide. New York, NY: Routeledge, 2004.
- King, Kendall and Mackey, Alison. The Bilingual Edge: Why, When and How to Teach Your Child a Second Language. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers, 2007.
- Baker, Colin. A Parents’ and Teachers’ Guide to Bilingualism. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters, Ltd., 2003.
- Barron-Hauwaert, Suzanne. Language Strategies for Bilingual Families: The One-Parent-One-Language Approach. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters, 2004.
- Harding-Esch, Edith and Riley, Philip. The Bilingual Family: A Handbook For Parents. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
- Pearson, Barbara Zurer. Raising a Bilingual Child. New York, NY: Living Language/Random House, 2008.
- Steiner, Naomi, Hayes, Susan L., and Parker, Steven. 7 Steps to Raising a Bilingual Child. New York, NY: AMACOM, 2008.
- Tokuhama-Espinosa, Tracey. Raising Multilingual Children: Foreign Language Acquisition and Children. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey, an imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001.
Parents who wish to raise their children to speak multiple languages are often unsure where to start or even whether it is a good idea. The online and print resources listed in this article provide an excellent starting place, and likely will be resources bilingual families will use for a long time.
For more helpful information on how to ensure fluency in children raised in two-language families, read How to Raise a Bilingual Child.
 |
