Revisiting one of my favourite topics – love for books, and why reading is so beneficial to a child’s language (and general) development!

1 – Reading time is bonding time
Sitting down to read to your son or daughter gives you the opportunity to bond with them in a very special way. In a bilingual family this is an excellent opportunity for each parent to have some one-to-one time in their own languages.

2 – Memories for life
Reading a book together creates memories for life. My eldest daughter loved the “Three Billy Goats Gruff” story and I must have told it to her hundreds of times. We still remember the different voices of the goats and how very scary the troll under the bridge was. I am now looking forward to reading the same story with even more gusto to my future grandchildren!

3 – Routine
Books are a great way to introduce routines into family life: bedtime reading being an excellent example of this. The story signals the time to go to sleep. Why not introduce regular reading at other times as well? You could start a ‘Sunday Story Time’ routine, where you read books in the different family languages. Or, you could make reading a book part of your holiday traditions or take a book with you to the park and read outside (weather permitting – I live in England!)

4 – Reading calms the mind
Reading at bedtime is the typical way to calm down, but it is an excellent way of relaxing in other situations as well. Books are the perfect counterweight to the ever-increasing amount of electronic devices children are surrounded by. With this I am not condemning ebooks – they to have their place (especially for avid readers going in holiday!), but I do think that a break from devices can only be good for all of us. Also, as one child quite rightly pointed out, books do not come with commercials!

5 – Real books are so much more than just text
Paper books can become life companions. I am not sure a child would hug an ebook reader, but I have often seen children embrace real books and excitedly look forward to the story. A paper book you can enjoy in so many ways. Think of the noise of opening a real book for the first time and the sound of turning its pages. Imagine the smell of a new book or perhaps your mother’s cooking book. Knock on a book’s cover to ask it to let you in and feel the smoothness (or roughness) of its pages … then immerse yourself in its world. (Sorry, didn’t mean to go waxing lyrical, but this is what happens with books!)

6 – Learning about your children’s interests
You will initially be the one to choose which book you are reading for your child, but soon enough your little ones will have their own favourites. By their choices, you get an insight into what lies close to their heart. You can then build on this and find more books and other resources in all languages your child is learning.

7 – Bringing out emotions
It is not always easy for children to express their emotions. A book that allows them to speak their mind through a character in the book can be the way to tackle emotionally difficult situations. By asking your child to describe how a character might think about a certain situation, you will learn a lot about how your child feels.

8 – Approaching difficult topics
Closely related to the above, a book can be the ideal way to start a discussion on a topic which you, your child or both of you find hard to speak about. There are excellent children’s books which tackle difficult issues such as bullying, racial discrimination, drugs and abusive behaviour, and are the perfect introductions to further conversations.

9 – Expands the vocabulary
It is a given that reading is an excellent way of teaching your children new words in the languages they are learning. If you happen to be the minority language parent or maybe even the only person talking your language to your child, it is not always easy to find a natural way of using certain words in everyday discussions. Reading about a topic is a good way of introducing new vocabulary. In a book, words get a wider context, which helps to memorise them, as do pictures that go with the text.

10 – Improves communication skills
With a more extensive vocabulary, your children can express themselves better in different situations. For bilingual children, this makes reading particularly important for the exposure to the minority language, as they might not come in contact with so many different speakers of the language in their day-to-day lives.

11 – Spurs the imagination
Fictional characters, adventures and places inspire children’s imagination, making them more creative in their own language use as well as writing. I am sure several imaginary friends have had traits of characters from books!

12 – Opens your mind
Reading about different people, places and ways of living also helps children (and adults for that matter) be more open-minded about new concepts and ideas. The goal for most multilingual families is to raise happy, tolerant, global citizens – being open-minded is at the heart of such a quest.

13 – Develops empathy
By reading about others’ experiences, children learn how to put themselves into other people’s shoes. Their understanding of what someone is feeling improves every time they get emotionally involved in book characters’ lives. This helps them be more empathetic in real life.

14 – Reduces anxiety
Children often worry when they are about to experience something new, which is understandable. There are the big occasions in life such as the first day of school, a new sister or a brother or a move to a different country or a different house down the road, or simply the first night away without mum or dad. Reading about how other children have coped in these situations allows your child to feel more relaxed and prepared for the situation.

15 – Books are good company
Children who have learnt to love books will always have company. When they learn to read themselves, books are the friends that are always there for them, ready to keep them entertained. A child that enjoys reading rarely uses the words “I’m bored!” Books are also very convenient: easy to take with you anywhere, hard to break and do not need batteries or charging!

16 – Reading is the key to other learning
A fondness for books is an invaluable help when your child goes to school. Anyone who has a love for reading has an innate thirst of knowledge, which is beneficial for learning other subjects such as science, maths, history, geography and other languages.

17 – Better writing skills
The more you read the better you will be at writing. This is something that is important especially for a child’s minority language, which usually is not trained as much as the language used at school. Seeing words in a written form is vital for learning to write.

18 – Improved concentration
Children who love reading can concentrate on their tasks better than those children who are less ardent readers. Never be upset with your children if they cannot hear you when they are immersed in a book – it (usually) means that their ability to concentrate is top notch!

19 – Brain training exercise
Reading is a complex task that activates several areas of the brain and as such has a positive impact on them. Research has shown that reading an interesting book can cause heightened connectivity in the brain.

20 – Enhanced logical reasoning
When children read books, they learn to understand abstract scenarios as well as cause and effect situations. Both of these skills help them in logical reasoning, which comes handy in many aspects of their day-to-day lives and even more so at school and later on in working life.

21 – Wider cultural understanding
Culture and language go hand in hand. Reading is particularly beneficial for understanding the minority language culture, as there might not be as many opportunities to experience the culture first hand.

22 – Love for reading will be passed on
Children who have learnt to treasure books will, in time, pass this passion on to their own children. A benefit that moves on from one generation to another – how good is that!

23 – Last but not least: reading is FUN
Books are a fun way to explore the world, to learn new and exciting things, to let your imagination loose or just to enjoy a well-written story or poem. When you have fun, you are motivated to do more. The more you read, the better your language skills get!

Bringing up your children to speak more than one language has many benefits – this has been proven both through research and personal experiences of bilinguals themselves. If you have read my posts before, you know that I often emphasize the benefits to the extended family bonds. When children have a common language with their grandparents and other relatives, they can create their own independent relationships across generations and geographical distances. However, the ability communicate across borders can have a positive impact far beyond the extended family: it gives your child one of the central building stones for becoming a global citizen.

Global citizens are people who are open to the rich diversity of our world community, while still taking pride in their own culture and heritage. My firm belief is that by raising global citizens we can create a brighter, more peaceful future for all of us.

Being exposed to the existence of other languages increases the perception that the world is populated by people who not only speak differently from oneself but whose cultures and philosophies are other than one’s own.
– Maya Angelou

A bilingual child learns early on that one thing can have many names. This is one of the factors contributing to the findings that bilingual people are generally more open-minded and flexible in their thinking. Open-mindedness is one of the main traits of a global citizen: one who accepts and embraces our differences as something to treasure.

The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.
– Ludwig Wittgenstein

Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry but by demonstrating that all people cry, laugh, eat, worry and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try to understand each other, we may even become friends.
– Maya Angelou

Travelling is a lot easier when you know the language of the country you are in – the more languages you know, the more countries there are where you are able to mingle with the locals and learn from them. Your communication skills do not restrict you to the tourist hot spots, but allows you to have a more genuine experience of the country. The chances are high that your children will travel more than you – giving them the language skills to enhance their life adventures is precious.

Words are the voice of the heart
– Confucius

When the heart speaks, the mind finds it indecent to object.
– Milan Kundera

What can be better than speaking from the heart? – speaking from the heart in more than one language, of course! Jokes aside, being able to express yourself in different languages opens many doors in your personal life. It also offers you opportunities to contribute to the increased understanding between others by being the bridge between different countries, colours, cultures and creeds.

We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race.
– Kofi Annan

Today’s post about bilingual children and grandparents was partly inspired by some of the great ideas my fellow bloggers had around the topic “How technology can help you bring up a bilingual child”, which was the May edition of the Raising Multilingual Children Blogging Carnival.

When my daughters were small I remember often wishing that we would have lived closer to their grandparents so that my girls could have spent more time with them and at the same time to get more exposure to their minority languages – this was in the time before Skype, Google hangouts, FaceTime and video phone calls.

Children often have a very special bond with their grandmothers and -fathers. The grandparents are like parents but without as many rules and with plenty of time and a lot more patience.

“If I had known how wonderful it would be to have grandchildren, I’d have had them first.” – Lois Wyse

Grandparents are also in the centre of the extended family, teaching their grandchildren about their heritage and family history. It is important for children to be around the older generation – it teaches them to be respectful and gives them a greater understanding of the world and how it is changing.

“You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.” – Proverb

To be able to explain something to your granny, you have to share a common language with her – to me, children being able to communicate with their grandparents is one of the key reasons why I am such a strong advocate of passing on the family languages. A common language bridges across generational and cultural borders.

For many multilingual families it is a fact of life that at least one set of grandparents live far away and can be visited in person maybe once a year at the best of times. Modern technology has however made it so much easier to stay in touch, and it helps to create and maintain a close relationship between children and their grandparents.

“It’s one of nature’s way that we often feel closer to distant generations than to the generation immediately preceding us.” – Igor Stravinsky

Connecting over the internet can help in many ways. Grandparents can entertain the other kids by reading them a story while the new baby is being bathed and put to bed – virtual baby-sitting (as described by Galina)! Or they can be there for teenagers when they come home from school, as in Annika’s case. It is good for kids to have time on their own with the grandparents, as there are those things children might be reluctant to speak to their parents about, but are happy to share with grandma or grandpa on the other side of the world.

“Being grandparents sufficiently removes us from the responsibilities so that we can be friends.” –Allan Frome

Especially if you are a the minority language parent, these calls are so important as your children will get a more varied exposure to your language. If you haven’t made such calls a part of your family life, I suggest you start by scheduling them in at a suitable time. By initially setting up an agreed schedule these calls are more likely to become an eagerly anticipated routine.

With all the blessings technology has brought with it for families that live apart from the extended family, let’s not forget good old letters! Snail-mail still exists, and letter-writing is a great way to exercise writing skills for children. Not to mention the joy of receiving a letter!

“A child needs a grandparent, anybody’s grandparent, to grow a little more securely into an unfamiliar world.” – Charles and Ann Morse

And if there are no grandparents for the children to stay in touch with? How to arrange for a similar rewarding relationship with someone from another generation? Maybe there is another relative who would like to step in, or a family friend. Check if your community arranges “Adopt a Grandparent” type of initiatives – if not, why not suggest they do?

do you worry about what will happen with the minority language? Whether it will still be the means of communication between you and your child, or whether the majority language will take over? If you are a bit concerned, you are not alone, but there are steps you can take to prepare yourself and your child!

There are many reasons why the school start can have a major impact on how your child uses his or her languages. First of all, the time spent in a purely majority language environment increases significantly. Your child will get used to only speaking the majority language for a big part of the day, so it is no surprise if the use of it continues when your child comes home from school. Something fun, exciting, upsetting or worrying often happens during a school day and it is so much easier for your child to tell you about in in the language it happened. Allow your child to “let the steam off” in which ever language – you can pick up the topic again later in the evening in your language. My daughter has told me that it was sometimes frustrating for her when I asked her to stick to Swedish when she just really, really wanted to tell me something about school (sorry about that!)

With school comes more friends and most or at least many of them may only speak the majority language and your child will want to be just like everybody else, Speaking a different language may not fit in with this thought. With more friends often also comes peer pressure and an expectation to be part of the group and again, the minority language might be at the losing end. For you as a parent it is important to continue to stay consistent in the language use and show your pride in your own language.

Going to school introduces your child to a whole new world which also means a lot of words that you may not have been using in your day-to-day lives in the minority language. This is another reason why it might be difficult for your child describe something at school, so prepare yourself and your child by making sure you know the school-specific vocabulary in the minority language. Do you know the words for all the school subjects, for ‘lockers’ and ‘morning assembly’ in your language?

Then there is the question about homework, which will all be in the majority language – if you need to give your child a hand, which language should you use? There is no simple answer for this, as it does not make sense to try to use the minority language in all situations, for example with spelling or if a specific counting system is used in maths. However, when you feel it is appropriate, ask your child to explain the task in the minority language. In addition to bringing in the language, this will also make your child rethink the issue at hand. When you have to translate something into another language you process the topic in more detail than when you only talk about it. It may well be that your child notices a solution to the task just by having to translate it into your language!

Due to all of the above, it may well happen that your child avoids speaking your language altogether – read this post on how to react in this situation.

What could you do to prevent the minority language from losing ground? If possible, increase the exposure to it – as this may not always be a realistic solution, do your best to intensify the exposure (read this post for ideas). As always, do keep it fun – here is another article with lots of links to great ideas for fun ways to practice a language.

May the peace and power be with you.