When children are surrounded by a second language in everyday life they have the best possible chance to become bilingual. At this young age their brains are like sponges and are very flexible to learning.
There are a few common ways to teach babies 2 or more languages effectively starting at birth. One common way is to speak the non-primary language at home (meaning if you are living in America to speak the non-English language at home). The reason is that with English being the primary or most common language in America children will get a lot of exposure to it to learn every time you go to the store, school, play dates, and most other times you leave the house.
Another method, and the one my husband and I chose to do, is the “one parent – one language” method. Which simply means that one parent will speak one language with the child, while the second will speak the other. This is a great learning method for when only one parent is bilingual but the parents want the child to learn both.
Take advantage of other family members who know another language or maybe consider getting a sitter or nanny that can teach your child. What a great experience that would be for everyone.
If no one you know knows a second language, then this would be a great opportunity to learn together as a family. Children learn so quickly that soon your child will be helping you with your homework!
Fortunately there are a lot of baby and children’s books that are written in 2 languages and a lot of public libraries have resources for bilingual children. For adults and older children there are even some apps!
Whatever method you choose it is never too late to learn a second (or third) language!
