As parents with children growing up on a multicultural and multilingual environment, you might be asking yourself: How many languages can my child learn without being overwhelmed and confused? Are 3 or 4 languages too much?
There is no clear answer on how many languages children can learn at a maximum.
But brain science has shown that our brain is made to learn several languages at the same time. And indeed, bilingualism and multilingualism are more common than you might think. Experts estimate that almost half of the world´s population speaks two or more languages.
The determining factor for learning more than one language is the question how much exposure your child can realistically get in all the languages.
Children only become fluent in a language if they are sufficiently exposed to it, not only in terms of quantity but most importantly also in terms of quality.
This means, just listening to a language, for example if both parents speak English with each other (but other languages with the child), will not get your child to actively speak the language. Watching movies in a language will maybe help your child to get passive understanding and catch a few words, but your child will not become a fluent speaker.
To naturally become fluent in several languages, your child needs to have plenty of different language sources as well as the opportunity to actively engage with the language in a fun and motivating way.
The key ingredient for successfully raising multilingual children are:
- A clear and feasible language strategy
- Sufficient active exposure to each language
- Rich and engaging language input
- And most importantly consistency in your approach
There is not one-fits all-solution that works for every family.
As a family you need to develop and try out your own language strategy. This involves gaining clarity on the following questions:
- Who will speak which language and when?
- How you can ensure that there is sufficient exposure in all the languages that you are aiming for?
- What is your longer-term vision as a family with regards to how many languages and to what degree your child should learn them?
- What other resources do you have, who else could support your child becoming fluent in all the languages?
- How can you strengthen your child´s language skills from early on in an engaging and playful way?
Would like to find a language learning strategy that works for your family?
Feel free to reach out for a free orientation call with me where we will figure out concrete playful learning strategies for your child.
Book a 30min Orientation Call – it is completely free.
How to best support language acquisition in everyday family life
So, how to best support your child to learn more than one language at home, if you are working and you have limited time?
As the school and community language becomes more and more important as children grow-up, it is very important that we lay a good basis from very early on to become fluent in all their languages.
Luckily you do not need to become a teacher and spend hours with your child doing worksheets. There are many ways how you can easily strengthen your child´s language skills in the limited time you have.
In the Montessori pedagogy everyday life activities and practical life skills play an important role. There are so many learning
opportunities we often do not see. Everyday routines and chores we do are a great occasion to not only strengthen fine-motor and practical life skills, but also language skills.
Here are 5 ideas how to integrate language learning into your
everyday life.
- Let your child help you in the kitchen.
Baking and cooking together is a nice way to learn new vocabulary, to chit-chat and to strengthen fine-motor and early math skills. - Let your child help you with house chores.
Sorting laundry, setting the table, gardening are all opportunities to learn
new vocabulary and talking with your child. Talk about colors, numbers,
different objects you are using, etc. - Comment and name everything you are doing and making.
Let your child participate in your life and use every opportunity to talk to your child and explain the world around him. Already very young children understand much more than we think. - When doing grocery shopping, involve your
children.
Let them write or draw the shopping list. Ask them to find different
items in the grocery shop for you. Try and focus on items (e.g. vegetables)
they maybe do not know so well yet in your language. - Play Hide and Seek with objects.
Hide a couple of objects (e.g. animals, small
toys, different colors) around your house and let your child search for them.
Keep on asking ´where is ….´ to strengthen vocabulary.
How to get started with Playful Learning
In this FREE 3-Day Video-Course I am showing you the first steps you can take to stimulate and engage your child in playful learning activities at home without tantrums and without any materials you have to buy.
Hi, Nice to meet you
Learning and growing up with multiple languages does not have to be hard work. I am Maria, a mother of 3 kids, an development and education expert and Montessori homeschooler. Having lived as a family over ten years in Africa and Asia I know exactly how challenging it can be to get access to high quality educational activities. With my step-by-step playful learning method, I am showing you how to raise little happy multilingual learners with limited time and only using local materials.
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Do you feel stuck on the language front and would like to find a language learning strategy that works for your family?
Feel free to reach out for a free orientation call with me where we will figure out concrete playful learning strategies for your child.
Book a 30min Orientation Call – it is completely free.