There are many different forms of multilingual families out there. When we mention a multilingual family, there comes up a bunch of questions: is it good for a child to learn several languages at the same time? Do I need to teach my child my mother tongue when living abroad? Should I focus on teaching my child a language that is more useful for her future instead of my mother tongue?
There is no wrong question and wrong answer. It all comes to personal beliefs and needs.
I however decided to teach my child my mother tongue, and I’ve already seen positive results. I discuss my decision and the methods I used here.
But first, a bit of a context of my multilingualism:
My name is Elvira. I grew up in a bilingual family and environment, so I’ve always considered both languages to be my mother tongues. I not only practiced them at home, but I also used them outside—in preschool, school, and other places—since most families in my area were mixed, with Latvian and Russian-speaking parents. This model is the most common bilingual family form in my home country Latvia.
My family, however, represents a different model of multilingualism. My partner and I each have different mother tongues (though I am fluent in Polish, which is my partner’s language), and we live in Finland, where our 2-year-old daughter attends preschool. She is growing up in an environment that is not native to us as parents and is learning two different languages only from us and occasionally from other family members and friends who don’t live nearby.
I will return to this model later, but now let’s look into the multilingual family models:
The first type of multilingual family
is a bilingual family in a bilingual environment, where both languages, A and B, are spoken. This is common in regions where both parents are natives but have different mother tongues. For example, in my background, Latvian and Russian were spoken in Latvia, particularly in the eastern part of the country and major cities where Russian is widely used. This situation is also common for Finns and Finnish Swedes, French Canadians, swiss Germans, etc.
This is an ideal model for a child, as it allows them to develop both languages at a similar level simultaneously. In most cases, you’re not only fluent in the language, but you also embrace the cultural background that comes with it.
In this model, a bilingual child is less likely to neglect one of the languages and feels comfortable switching between both while still being understood.
The second model is
a monolingual family in an environment of the second language: language A and the environment of the language B. This is another common model of a multilingual family, where one language is spoken at home, and the child grows up learning a different language, becoming bilingual in the process. For example, a Polish-speaking family living in Great Britain.
I believe that in this model, a child has a better chance of learning their parents’ native language if the parents prioritize it, because there is a clear distinction for the child regarding where each language is used.
The third model is
a bilingual family where one parent is a native speaker of the local language. Here, one parent’s language is Language A, while Language B is spoken by the other parent and the surrounding environment. For example, a German father in Finland with a Finnish mother.
In this model, the responsibility for teaching the child the language spoken by the non-native parent falls entirely on that parent.
The fourth model is
the most complex version of the previous ones: each parent speaks their own mother tongue, while the surrounding environment uses a third language. So, you have Languages A and B at home and Language C in the environment. This model reflects the reality of my family.
I speak Latvian to my daughter, while her father speaks Polish to her in a Finnish environment. We use Polish as common language to communicate with each other.
This multilingual family model can become even more complex if the parents use a different language, like English, as their shared language.
This type of multilingual combination requires the most effort from parents who want to teach their child their native languages.
That puts, for example, me in the most challenging position, where my native language is neither our family’s shared language nor there is an natural exposal to the language in the environment. In addition, when the language is as ‘’small’’ as my native Latvian, the available supporting resources might not be too many to choose from. It requires a lot of dedication and know-how to effectively implement and maintain language skills in a child.
Here’s what I’ve done so far to ensure my toddler learns my mother tongue!
What is a translanguaging?
The phenomenon of translanguaging occurs in such complex multilingual family models.
Translanguaging describes the way bilinguals and multilinguals use their linguistic resources to make sense of and interact with the world around them.
If you’re multilingual, you’ve probably noticed how often your brain tends to switch between languages when you’re speaking with someone who also shares more than one language with you.
Let’s say a colleague of mine and I normally speak English with each other, but we work together in the Finnish environment. So we’d say: “It’s the end of the month! Have you prepared tiliote for kirjanpitäjä?” [Have you prepared a bank statement for a bookkeeper?]
Speaking of bilingualism,
as an adult, I’ve learned that even if you grow up speaking two languages fluently, one of them is still stronger. Do you know what determines which one it will be?
The language of the school you attend. This determines which of the two languages will end up with a broader vocabulary. The number of hours spent listening and interacting in a school environment with teachers and peers will often surpass the time spent communicating with a parent who speaks a different language. This highlights the need for immigrant parents to put in extra effort to maintain their mother tongue with their child.
In my case, I have to admit that my Russian language skills aren’t comparable to those of someone who grew up in Russia.
To sum up, there are certainly many more diverse forms of multilingual family models, but I’ll stick to referring to the most common ones.
No matter what your multilingual family model is, you can definitely teach your little one your mother tongue with the hope that it will stick and bring value to the entire family.
And If your family is multilingual, please leave me a comment about what are the languages and if you teach your child your mother tongue!
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