Chinese Parent: “Should I speak English at home?”
Us: “Is he speaking and learning English at school?”
Chinese Parent: “Yes”
Often we receive telephone calls from anxious overseas parents with young children attending UK schools.
Parents are eager for their children to speak their native language as well as learn English. This appears to create confusion, particularly for the parents: “Do I speak English or my native language?”, “Shall we just speak one language to her?”, “We don’t understand why he gets the languages mixed up?”
Environmental Input plays an important role in acquiring a first language and second language and for its development. By input, we mean what your son or daughter may hear at home, school, or chatting with their friends. The important question is how much input is needed to become bilingual?
If a child hears 10 hours of English each day and only two hours of Chinese, then it is likely that he or she will learn English more quickly. Further, it is more probable that the child will not achieve the same level of grammatical ability in Chinese when compared to a native Chinese speaker.
So, what should you do if you wish your son or daughter to speak English and their mother tongue equally?
The answer is simple. You should make sure that your son or daughter receives equal amounts of each language so as to reach a native level of proficiency.
One way may be for your son or daughter to speak English and for you to respond in your native language. This method always seems to create puzzled expressions upon the faces of onlookers as they try to assess whether their hearing is failing them. Regardless, it is an effective way of balancing the bilingual input of each language.
But remember . . .
The key time to learn English, Chinese, Spanish or any other world language has a shelf life.
Keep an eye on the expiry date.
