Before my daughter was born, I wondered if it was beneficial for her to learn another language. In particular, I wondered if learning English and Spanish would be beneficial for her. After some research on the topic, I wrote a helpful post to discuss my findings.
What are the benefits of raising a bilingual child?
- Communicate with More People
- Able to Understand Your Native Language Better
- Easier to learn a second language as a child
- Easier to learn other languages
- Appreciation for other cultures
- Easier to Travel
- More Career Opportunities
- Improved Memory
- Improved Health
- Able to Have Your Kids Translate For You
As you can see, there are a lot of great benefits to raising your child bilingual. Let’s dive into each one of these topics below.
Benefits of Raising a Bilingual Child
As I said, there are several benefits to raising a bilingual child. You may not believe the benefits now, but over time the benefits will show more and more as your children get older.
Below is a great quote from Nelson Mandela on how speaking to people in their native language affects them.
“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.”
– Nelson Mandela
1. Able to Communicate With More People
The first benefit of raising a bilingual child is that if they learn more than one language, then they will have the ability to communicate with more people. For me, I am a native English speaker and am also trying to teach my daughter Spanish. If I am able to teach my daughter both English and Spanish, then she will be able to communicate with people in both languages.
Both English and Spanish are widely spread throughout the world. Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world with 572 million users. English is the third most spoken language in the world with 450 million users. By knowing both languages, my daughter could speak with over 1 billion people in the world. That is a very wide reach!
2. Able to Understand Your Native Language Better
Believe it or not, by learning a second language it helps you understand your native language better. Back to the English and Spanish example. If your native language is English, then learning Spanish will improve your understanding of English.
In particular, English and Spanish are closely related, so the more you know of both languages, the better your language development will improve.
3. Easier to Learn a Second Language as a Child
Research has shown that the younger you learn a language, the higher the likelihood of someone being fluent in that language. People are able to learn multiple languages from birth without any confusion. And the sooner you begin learning a language, the easier it will be for someone to learn the language.
So, if you want to teach your child English and Spanish, the best time to begin teaching them both languages is at birth. Children will be able to absorb both languages and have a higher chance of being fluent.
4. Easier to Learn Multiple Languages
When someone knows two languages, it allows their brain to grow and have the ability to learn languages. By learning two languages, the brain’s language acquisition muscle is strengthened. This means that the brain is better able to acquire and learn a third and fourth language.
For example, if you know English and Spanish, then it will be much easier for you to learn Italian and/or Portuguese as your third and/or fourth language. Once you know two languages, you can quickly acquire other languages going forward.
5. Appreciate Other Cultures
When your child is learning a second language, it is only natural for them to learn the culture while they learn the language. If your child is learning Spanish, then they will learn about the Hispanic culture, which could include its holidays and traditions. As they learn more about the Hispanic culture, they will grow to appreciate it.
In turn, appreciating a new culture will allow your child to be more open-minded and tolerant of other cultures and other people.
6. Easier to Travel to Other Countries
Knowing two languages gives you the ability to travel to foreign countries with greater ease. If your child knows English and Spanish, then they can travel to Spain and Latin America with ease. By knowing Spanish, they will be able to navigate the country to find what they need and communicate with the locals. They can also order food or shop at the grocery store.
The benefits of knowing the official language in the country you are traveling to are very beneficial.
7. Increased Future Career Opportunities
Raising your child to be bilingual will be highly beneficial for their future career opportunities. If your child knows English and Spanish, then they are able to work in Spain and Latin America much easier. Also, Spanish is the second most spoken language in the United States, so the need for bilingual English-Spanish speakers in the United States continues to grow.
Bilingual speakers are becoming more and more desirable for companies. The ability to communicate with a larger group of people is what companies are looking for. By being bilingual, their value should be higher and they should be compensated more for that.
8. Improved Memory
Raising a bilingual child will make them smarter. When a child knows two languages, they will have stronger listening skills. They are able to discern the differences between languages similar to a musician hearing a specific note.
Bilingual children will also have higher memory retention. New languages, sounds, and words will challenge the brain and help it grow. By having higher memory retention, it will improve their memory.
Further, bilingual children are more creative. Their brains must find ways for them to learn and understand different languages. By learning these languages, they are creative in how they remember them.
9. Improved Health
Research has shown that bilinguals have improved health. By knowing two or more languages, it can delay the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. Further, bilinguals are better able to recover from a stroke due to the extra muscle their brain contains. Last, being bilingual will lower your stress levels.
10. Able to Have Your Kids Translate For You
This is my favorite point, so I saved the best for last! If you raise your child to be bilingual, then you can have your kids translate for you.
Let’s say that your child knows English and Spanish, but you the parent only know English. Is it possible for your family to visit Spain and have your kids translate for you? Absolutely!
For fun, let’s pretend that you and your family fly to Spain and land at the airport. Once you are at the airport, your kids can navigate the airport and find you a taxi. Then, when the taxi arrives your kids can communicate with the driver where your hotel is located. Once you get to the hotel, your kids can check-in with the front desk. When you go to a restaurant, your kids can order the meal for you.
I know this is just an example, but all of that is possible when you raise your child to be bilingual.
Related Questions
Will learning a second language confuse my child? Research has shown that children are not confused by learning a second language. Children are able to begin learning two languages from birth. The sooner a child can begin learning a language, the easier it will be for them to learn it.
Will learning a second language delay my child’s speech? Research has shown that learning a second language will not delay your child’s speech. Bilingual children and monolingual children develop speech around the same time, which is 8 to 15 months. Bilingual children may have a slight delay, but it will only by two to three months at most.
Should my child be fluent in one language before learning a second language? Research has shown that a child does not need to know one language before they learn another. In fact, research suggests that children should begin learning multiple languages as soon as possible to become fluent. Children are able to learn multiple languages at once.
