Motivation for Bilingual Parenting When You Need It
Raising a child to be bilingual can be challenging, especially if you’re a non-native speaker.
Even though you know how to teach your child another language and even though you have the resources, making that conscious commitment can be hard.
For me, there are days when it’s exhausting trying to think in Spanish all the time; when it’s easier to think in English.
It can be frustrating to not know all of the words you want to say and to have to look them up.
It can be defeating when your child doesn’t seem to be internalizing any of the Spanish and is only ever using English despite your best efforts.
There are going to be days when it’s hard, days that it doesn’t feel worth it, and days when you want to give up.
Have you ever had one of those days?
Don’t give up!
The benefits to being bilingual are so amazing and you’re giving your child an amazing skill. Even knowing a small amount of another language will have a huge impact on your child’s ability to socialize with new people, empathize with others and think in different ways.
If it’s important to you that your child knows another language, then it’s too important to give up on.
Never forget that you’re choosing to give your child a new power and that you’re doing an awesome job!
You can do it.
You knew you could do it when you started. The resources are out there. You have the ability to choose Spanish everyday and the time to work it into your day.
Maybe today is a day when their Spanish exposure is a Netflix show with the audio turned to Spanish. Maybe their Spanish exposure is some Spanish music in the background. Any Spanish is better than no Spanish.
Every day you can choose to make a second language happen and you can raise your child to be bilingual. It’s a commitment that takes time. It’s a journey. It’s worth it.
Here are some words of encouragement for days when you need them:
| Even a little exposure to a second language each day helps them to learn. |
| Appreciate all the small victories. You’re doing it and you’re making it work for your family! |
| Any language learning as a child will set them up for a future in which learning multiple language is easier. |
| You’re showing your child that learning a new language is worth investing in. |
| Keep trying. Tomorrow is another day; another chance to expose your child to more of the target language. |
| Recharge yourself and remind yourself of why you started, then keep going. You got this! |
| Try to be consistent and find creative ways to sneak the target language into the day- it doesn’t have to feel like work. |
| “The limits of my language are the limits of my world.” – Ludwig Wittgenstein |
| “To have another language is to possess a second soul.” – Charlemagne |
| “Learning anothe rlanguage is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things.” – Flora Lewis |
I hope you find the inspiration you need to keep going on your language learning journey. Know that your efforts are enough and that you have the strength and commitment that you need to raise your child to be bilingual. The resources are out there. The motivation is in you. The science is behind your decision.
If you’re looking for resources to help you on your bilingual parenting journey, check out some of these links:
Happy Learning!
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