Raising kids to speak more than a single language isn’t easy! Children do not just wake up and become bilingual with magic; some efforts need to be put in place. Children are naturals when to learning language, but parents aren’t always naturals at teaching them. Among the biggest challenges that most bilingual parents face is raising bilingual children. There are many books, resources, tools and sources of advice that can help parents of bilingual children. It can all be overwhelming, however. Which is why we wanted to share with you our  top 10 rules for parents of bilingual children!

Be Proud Of Your Bilingual Child 

Any parent whose child is learning a different language should be proud! . Having a child who can read, write, speak or even understand a second language is wonderful! Be sure to let your child know that you are proud of not only their abilities, but their efforts. It will help them tremendously along the way! 

Develop Enthusiasm For The Target Language

Children will always pick up or learn according to how they see their parents react or show feelings about whatever they do. Therefore, parents with bilingual children need to develop an enthusiasm for learning languages. If you get excited about something, the likelihood of your young children getting excited is high! It gets a little trickier as children grow older, but it should still apply! 

Have A Support System

Bilingual children, besides being shown love, need support from their parents. Parents, however, also need support! Do your best to get your family on board (Here’s how!) Make friends who are bilingual, join play groups or even find an online support system! The online community is robust and it’s amazing how much support you can get

Be Consistent

When to comes to raising bilingual children, it’s important to be consistent. Using the target language and being reliable when it comes to providing the courses, books, apps or other tools that your children rely on for their language exposure is crucial. Making sure that children actually use the resources is also important! 

Be Patient

The adaptation of a bilingual child to a particular environment or culture can be challenging. Therefore, parents of such children should develop patience as they wait for these children to develop a cultural adaptation.  Remember that it takes time to learn a language. Understanding and receiving input also comes before a child will produce language! So, be patient and set small goals. 

Be Flexible

All though it’s important to be consistent, it’s also important to show some flexibility. If your child doesn’t seem to respond to a teacher, course, book or other tool, it’s ok to try something else! If the time you have allotted for the target language is not a good time for your family, try to a different time. It’s all about adapting to the needs of your children and family!

Take a Break If You Need It

Do you feel as if this whole bilingual journey is overwhelming? Are you constantly down on yourself? Are you getting angry or aggravated with your children, because they’re not trying they best? At times like these, it’s ok to just take a break! It may be for a day or a couple of weeks, but the most important thing is that the love and respect that you have cultivated with your children isn’t damaged. Sometimes, we need to just take a break for our sanity! 

Forgive Yourself

Have you been slacking off on your child’s bilingual journey? Did you decide to take a break and haven’t been able to get back to it? Do you feel like you started too late? Well, it’s time to brush all of that off and forgive yourself! Being a parent is hard and raising bilingual children is hard! Forgive yourself and realize that it’s never too late to start, restart, or re-emphasize your journey. Here are a few tips on how to re-ignite the learning! 

Remember: It’s A Marathon, Not a Sprint

Language learning is a lifetime commitment. We are always learning and evolving. Don’t expect language mastery over night and remember that the journey will have an ebb and flow. 

Raising bilingual children can be stressful! But hopefully, these 10 rules will keep you on a positive path. Enjoy your child and enjoy the learning that you will do together! More than ever, it really is about the journey and not the destination.