Today, more and more popular is the knowledge of foreign languages. The explanation is quite simple: a specialist who speaks and writes equally well, for example, in English or Italian, will quickly find a prestigious job in an international company. In addition, there is an opinion that the study of several languages at an early age contributes to the early development of the child's speech apparatus. There are other reasons. As a result, more and more people are striving to raise their children with bilinguals, if not polyglot. But who are they and how to master several languages perfectly?
Who are the bilinguals?
Bilinguals are people who are equally bilingual. Moreover, each of them is considered native. Such people not only speak and perceive two languages at the same level, but also think in them. It is noteworthy that, depending on the environment or place, a person automatically switches to a particular speech (and not only in the process of verbal communication, but also mentally), sometimes without even noticing it.
Bilinguals can be both translators and children from mixed, interethnic marriages or brought up in another country.
In the pre-revolutionary period, wealthy families tried to hire governesses from France or Germany to educate their offspring. Thus, many nobles from childhood studied a foreign language, becoming subsequently bilinguals.
Bilingual or bilingual?
It is worth noting immediately that along with the term "bilingual" there is a paronymic to it - "bilingual". Despite the similar sound, the meaning is different. So, bilingua - books, written monuments, created simultaneously in two languages. Often these are texts presented in parallel.
Types of Bilinguals
There are two main types of bilinguals - pure and mixed.
Pure - people who use languages in isolation: at work - one, at home - another. Or, for example, with some people they speak the same language, with others - in another. Quite often this is observed in the situation with translators or people who have moved to a permanent place of residence abroad.
The second type is mixed bilinguals. These are people who speak two languages, but do not knowingly delimit them. In a conversation, they continually move from one to another, while the transition can occur even within the framework of one sentence. A rather striking example of such bilingualism is the mixing in speech of Russian and Ukrainian languages. The so-called surzhik. If the bilingual cannot find the right word in Russian, instead it uses the Ukrainian equivalent, and vice versa.
How do they become bilinguals?
There are several ways this phenomenon can occur.
One of the main reasons is mixed marriages. Bilingual children in international families are not uncommon. So, if one parent is a native speaker of the Russian language, and the second is English, then in the course of his development the child learns both speech equally well. The reason is simple: communication takes place with each parent in his native language. In this case, linguistic perception in children develops the same way.
The second reason is the emigration of parents of the same nationality before or after the birth of the child. Passive bilinguals are people who grew up either in countries with two official languages or in migrant families. In this case, the study of a second language takes place in a school or kindergarten. The first is vaccinated by parents in the process of education.
A striking example of countries where the most common bilinguals of this type are Canada, Ukraine and Belarus.
There are also people who have specially mastered the second language. This usually happens if a person immigrated to another country, created a family with a foreigner.
In addition, almost every translator in the process of his training becomes a bilingual. Without this, a complete and high-quality translation is impossible, especially synchronous.
Most often you can find bilingual, for which English is native along with Russian, German or, say, Spanish.
Benefits
What are the advantages of this phenomenon? Of course, the main plus is the knowledge of two languages, which in the future will help to find a decent job or successfully immigrate. But this is only an indirect advantage.
According to scientists, bilinguals are more susceptible to other people and cultures of foreign countries. They have a broad outlook. This is due to the fact that each language is a reflection of the life and traditions of a particular people. It laid down specific concepts, reflected rituals, beliefs. Studying foreign, the child also gets acquainted with the culture of its carriers, studying idioms and their meaning. It has long been known that certain phrases cannot be literally translated into another language. So, it’s rather difficult to translate the name of the holidays Maslenitsa, Ivan Kupala into English, since they are absent in English culture. They can only be described.
The brain of people who speak several languages is more developed, the mind is flexible. It is known that bilingual children study better than their classmates, they are equally easily given both humanitarian and exact sciences. At a more mature age, they quickly make certain decisions, do not think in stereotypes.
Another definite plus is a more developed metalinguistic perception. Such people more often, seeing errors in speech, understand its grammar and structure. In the future, they will quickly master the third, fourth, fifth languages, applying the existing knowledge of linguistic models.
Three study periods
The degree of language proficiency depends on the age at which work began. Bilingual children become both in early infancy and in later periods. There are only three of them.
The first is infant bilingualism, the age limits of which are from 0 to 5 years. It is believed that it is at this age that it is best to start learning a second language. At this time, neural connections form faster, which affects the quality of assimilation of a new linguistic model. At the same time, the second language should be instilled already in the period when the child got acquainted with the basics of the first. At this time, speech organs, fine motor skills, attention and memory are physiologically developed. Approximate age - 1.5-2 years. In this case, the child will speak both languages without accent.
Children's bilingualism - from 5 to 12 years. At this time, the child is already consciously learning the language, replenishing its passive and active vocabulary. Studying the second linguistic model at a given age also provides clear speech and lack of emphasis. Although at this time the child is already clearly aware of which language is his first, mother tongue.
The third stage is teenage, from 12 to 17 years. In this situation, the school often influences the study of a second language. They begin to raise bilinguals in high school, in special classes with the study of a foreign language. It is worth noting that its formation is associated with a number of problems. First of all, with a continued emphasis. Secondly, the child has to specially tune into the study of someone else’s speech.
Bilingualism Strategies
There are three main strategies in the study of bilingualism.
1. One parent - one language. With this strategy, the family immediately speak two languages. So, for example, the mother communicates with her son / daughter exclusively in Russian, the father - in Italian. Moreover, the child understands both languages equally well. It is worth noting that with this strategy, as the bilingual grows older, problems can arise. The most common is when the child realizes that the parents understand his speech, regardless of what language he speaks. At the same time, he chooses a language convenient for himself and begins to communicate mainly in it.
2. Time and place. With this strategy, parents set aside a specific time or place in which the child will communicate with others exclusively in a foreign language. For example, on Saturdays, the family communicates in English or German, attends a language club where communication takes place exclusively in a foreign language.
This option is convenient to use for raising a child whose native language is Russian. In this case, bilingua can be raised, even if both parents are Russian-speaking.
3. Home language. So, in one language the child communicates exclusively at home, in the second - in the kindergarten, school, on the street. It is often used when parents immigrated to another country with the baby and themselves are quite mediocre in their knowledge of a foreign one.
Class duration
How much does it take to learn a foreign language to become a bilingual? There is no exact answer to this question. It is believed that when mastering someone else’s speech at a conscious age, it is necessary to devote at least 25 hours a week to classes, that is, about 4 hours a day. In this case, one should perform not only exercises for the development of speech and understanding, but also writing and reading. In general, the duration of classes should be calculated on the basis of the chosen learning strategy, as well as the goals and time during which it is planned to learn this or that knowledge.
Useful Tips
So, how to raise bilingual? We offer eight recommendations to help you organize classes with your child.
- Choose one strategy that is most convenient for you and follow it steadily.
- Try to place your child in the cultural environment of the language you are learning. To do this, introduce him to the traditions of the chosen people.
- Speak as much as possible to your child in a foreign language.
- At first, do not focus the child on the mistakes. Correct it, but do not go into details. To get started, work on your vocabulary, and then learn the rules.
- Try to send your child to language camps, game groups, attend language clubs with him.
- Use for training audio and video materials, books. Bilinguals in English can read both adapted and original literature.
- Do not forget to praise the child for his successes, to encourage him.
- Be sure to explain why you are learning a foreign language, what exactly it will give in the future. Get your child interested in learning and you will succeed.
Possible difficulties
What difficulties may arise during the study of a language? We list the main ones:
- Limited vocabulary of both languages due to different areas of consumption. So, if a child uses a foreign language exclusively at school, then his vocabulary may not include many tokens intended to indicate everyday concepts, and vice versa.
- Inability to read and write in one of the languages. Often occurs when the parents approach the teaching of a bilingual child incorrectly. The language, which is given greater attention, becomes the main one.
- The average nature of the pronunciation. Both one and the second language may have an emphasis.
- Wrong accent in certain words. Especially if the languages have the same tokens with different stresses.
- The strategy of mixing languages in the event that the interlocutor understands both. In general, this problem is eliminated itself in the process of growing up a child.
conclusions
Bilinguals are people who are equally bilingual. They become so even in infancy due to the linguistic environment, with enhanced teaching of foreign speech. Of course, you can become a bilingual at a later age, but this will be fraught with a number of problems.