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We often hear that children are like sponges and that they can easily learn any language when they are young. This is true, provided that they are thoroughly exposed to the language – they cannot absorb what they are not given. |
- Why do children become bilingual at an early age? Because they must communicate with various people in their family circle who speak different languages.
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To develop strong bilingualism in both languages, the critical threshold would be to speak each at least 30% of the time, according to Fred Genesee (
Grandir en deux langues
– in Enfants Québec magazine, April 2011 – available in French only). -
In situations where one of the two languages is a minority language, it’s recommended to increase the number of situations where the child is exposed to that language. See the following topics:
The Importance of Oral Expression in Language Development
,
Myths About Early Bilingualism
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The Role of the Francophone Parent in a Bilingual Family
,
The Role of the Non-francophone Parent in a Bilingual Family
and
Promoting French (the 4 Rs)
. - Specialists agree that the ability to learn a second language decreases around the ages of 6 or 7.
- Research indicates that the rate of language acquisition is relatively similar between monolingual and bilingual children. However, don’t forget that a bilingual child is learning two language systems at the same time, with two sets of sounds (e.g., the 36 sounds of French, or the 44 sounds of English), two sets of vocabulary and two grammar systems. This requires a lot of analysis which may give the impression that the bilingual child is slower. If one language is more dominant than the other, this may simply just reflect a greater exposure to that language.
- Bilingualism incorporates proven cognitive advantages. Compared to monolingual children, bilingual children are able to concentrate with greater ease and are less distracted. They develop divergent thinking that produces original and less conventional solutions. The studies that have established this start with the assumption that having two systems of mental representation ** increases flexibility and originality of thought**. By “mental representation systems”, we mean that a bilingual person has two words for a single object or a single thought, which in turn means that they have a broader semantic repertoire (Abdelilah-Bauer, Le défi des enfants bilingues).