globalization has become something of a dirty word in recent years, the concept we love to hate and blame for things such as the current economic crisis. But whether we like it or not, whether we believe in its power to connect people or destroy economies, globalization is here to stay. In fact, our children are going to live in an even more globalized and interconnected world than us. They will travel more, they may well go abroad to study or further their careers, they may marry abroad and raise bilingual children. And even if they never leave the country, the world is catching up with them here. It is estimated that within the next 30 years at least 12 British towns will have no single ethnic group in a majority.  
 
So how can we prepare our children for this diverse, challenging and exciting world? Well, giving them the gift of languages is a good place to start. Although English is the dominant business language throughout the world, it is likely to diminish in importance as the stars of emerging economies like China, Russia and Brazil continue to rise. Besides, adding another language to your monolingual child’s repertoire is just leveling the playing field. Outside Europe and the US, multilingualism is the norm rather than the exception – more than 50% of the world’s children grow up with two or more languages.  
How can we give our children the best linguistic start to life? Here are some of the best tips that parents, educators, linguists and children themselves have shared with me.

1. If you speak it, speak it from the start.

If you have a native language and speak it reasonably well, be sure to speak it from birth (and even during pregnancy) with your child. It doesn’t have to be perfect from the outset – you will find that the more you use it (even at that basic vocabulary level that small children require), the more fluent you will become.  
 

2. If you don’t speak it, don’t panic. 

You may not be fluent in the language you would like your child to speak, you may have forgotten it or you may never have spoken it in the first place. That doesn’t mean you have to renounce your dream of multilingualism. You may need to work a bit harder and get your support systems in place: holidays in those countries (especially if you have family and cousins or playmates there), language classes, bilingual books, story and song CDs, DVDs, befriending other children who do speak that language, Internet games, grandparents or other relatives to babysit, au pairs etc.    

3. Don’t turn it into a class thing…

Some parents will be looking at the suggestions above and thinking: ‘What a very middle-class way of looking at things! What chance do I have?’ But throughout most of the world the middle classes are the ones who are monolingual (i.e. speak only the official language of the country). So they will have to pay for their offspring to acquire some of those language skills which other parts of the population take for granted and have near at hand. If you do have access to any foreign languages at all in the family or neighborhood, don’t let it go to waste, even if it is an obscure dialect that you feel will never come in useful. It will still open up the mind and learning capacity of the child, and make it far easier for them to learn additional languages later on.

 If you really don’t have access to any languages at all among your acquaintances, there are books, CDs, DVDs that you can borrow from the library, and games and other resources for language-learning (for adults and children) on the Internet. What better motivation for your child than to see that you are willing to learn a language alongside them – it can only benefit both of you!
 

4. There is no one right way to do it.

There is a lot of advice available (and discussion forums) both online and off; almost everyone seems to have an opinion as to which is the best way to raise a multilingual child. The truth is, each child is different, each family is different, and what works well for some may be unrealistic and unpleasant for others. Be prepared to try more than one method to find out works best for your particular situation.   
 

5. Use the science, don’t be limited by it.

This is very much linked to the above: a number of scientific studies have been done to prove or disprove language acquisition theories. By all means, keep up to date on the research if you are interested, but learn to trust your own instincts. Don’t believe something is impossible just because the odds are against you statistically speaking. Science says that bilingual children will start speaking later: my trilingual son was speaking earlier than his counterparts. Second example: general consensus seems to be that ‘one parent/one language’ is the simplest, least confusing approach for children. But I have known families where one parent successfully spoke two languages with their children (perhaps on alternate days of the week or for longer periods of time like three months).  
 

6. Motivation is more important than aptitude.

Are some children naturally more gifted for languages than others? Without a doubt! Are there any children out there who cannot learn another language? Certainly not! Any child who can acquire their own mother tongue will have the ability to learn another language, if they are exposed to it early enough (preferably within the first five years of life, although specialists disagree and there are estimates varying between first 9 months to first 8 years). After that period, natural talent will play a more significant part. Bear in mind, also, that there are so many different ways to ‘sneak in’ language teaching and motivate even those children who do find it all a bit of a struggle. I regularly find children remember entire songs in an unfamiliar language, while a friend of mine was stunned to discover her son had picked up quite a bit of Japanese simply from watching cartoons.  
 

7. Consistency is hard

Once they start school, there will come a point in any multilingual child’s life when they will revert to the ‘dominant language’ (the language they are taught in at school). It is very discouraging for parents to speak in their mother tongue and have the children reply in English. Many parents then make the mistake to give up trying and revert to English themselves. Laziness, convenience, the need to make sure that you are perfectly understood… there are plenty of excuses. Be prepared for this moment, be prepared to cast aside the excuses and make sure you persevere.  
 

8. Confusion is normal and helpful  Your child may use more than one language in their sentences.  Gently repeat everything in the language you want them to speak... and don’t worry.  Even when they make mistakes, even though they may sound confused, at some point it will all click.  Besides, switching between languages makes your child more open to other cultures and even different behaviors, learning styles etc.  Excellent groundwork for future leaders and managers!

 

9. It’s never too late: Yes, the earlier the better, but if you are immersed, motivated and put in sufficient effort, you can become really fluent.                                

 

10. Enjoy the journey

Don’t get too uptight about the whole process. If you relax, enjoy it and make it fun, your child will enjoy it too and be more likely to use their additional languages. Ultimately, even if your child does not become perfectly bilingual, they will still have at least one other language as a passive language which can be re-activated and perfected at any point later in life. They will still have the neurological, cultural and social advantages that a different language and a different mindset can give them. You have given them the best possible linguistic start in life, now let them explore, connect and discover!