Raising Bilingual Children

I was raised in a home that speaks two languages –English and Filipino, the latter as my native tongue. But I learned the English alphabet sooner than I did Filipino. My father was my first teacher. We worked on a small blackboard with engraved letters on the edge and dusty white chalk as he patiently taught me the phonetics of English. Obviously, this was long before the age of Google’s Kindle and Apple iPad. I learned how to read fairytales before I turned five years old. And since then, my love for reading books has never ceased. 

Learning English as a second language greatly paid off. It opened a vast door of opportunities and it’s a real-life experience I share with my students.

Here are some benefits that a child can gain from learning a second language at an early age:

• It is known to have a positive effect on intellectual growth and enhances a child's mental development.
• It exercises the students’ mental flexibility, better sensitivity and recognition to language, and also develop better ear for listening.
• It improves a child’s ability to communicate with people which builds self-confidence.
• It gives a student a head start in language requirements for college.
• Learning English increases job opportunities in many careers where fluency is a real asset.