Bilingual can Boost Children's Brain Power

There are many differences between a monolingual and multilingual child. In fact, a child that speaks two or more languages can easily monitor the ambiance and environment around him or her. In fact, this is similar to driving a motor vehicle. When a driver drives a vehicle, he or she has to perform many mental calculations to gauge the road, traffic coming from the opposite side, traffic that is behind the car, gauge distractions that occur on the roadside and to prevent any untoward incidences happening by monitoring the driving speed and by controlling speed, gear changing and clutch management. A bilingual child would be able to perform a series of mental tasks those are simultaneous and quick. In fact, these children always use lesser areas or sectors of brain to perform any mental tasks. Curiously, bilingual ability of the brain may postpone the onset of age related conditions like Alzheimer's symptom.

Different advantages and benefits of being a bilingual

• Segregating words into different categories based on their meanings.
• Use information in many different ways and meanings.
• Easily playing word and scrabble games very easily.
• Easily solving crossword puzzles when children grow older and step into higher grade schools.
• Finding problems any problems very quickly.
• Think laterally and perform simultaneous mental problems.
• Easily develop personal relationship with others and connect with them without any problems.

Bilingual children always follow a particular pattern of learning which is systematic and organized. In fact, the rate at which a bilingual brain works is far superior to a child that just speaks one language. However, the biggest and most significant advantage of learning two languages is the ability of children to live anywhere in the world and confidence to lead a contended life.

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Raising a bilingual child.

Raising a bilingual child is not so easy. However, things become easier when the parents speak in two different languages. For example, a child may have parents belonging to two language groups or nationalities. The father may speak Chinese very fluently while the mother may be very vocal in French. The child that grows in such a home gets all the best opportunities to speak in both languages. However, the dominant language that the child learns to speak will be the mother's tongue. This is because of the proximity of the child with his or her mother. In fact, the mother will nurture her child for more than 8 years almost on her lap. This proximity may compel the child to learn his or her mother's language more than the father's.

Whatever the case, teaching your children two languages is still very difficult. You may never teach it intentionally and you do not teach with a definite purpose. Learning language comes automatically to children. However, teaching two languages takes some time and effort. In addition, children will learn language effortlessly when parents give them enough time and exposure to the language. There are two types of bilingualism at home:

The first one is the simultaneous learning of two different languages at home that is affected by four important issues:

1. At time, patents may speak in just one language, which is usually the language that is spoken at the home. These parents may not be able to speak in the language that the school or the community speaks.
2. Are the parents using the language that they speak with their children? Usually, parents may make decision as to which language they would be using at their home.
3. In some homes, grandparents may speak entirely a different language that might make things difficult for the parents.
4. The language spoken in the community is yet another factor that influences the language that your child will learn in the future. For example, in Canada, the major language spoken in some areas of the country is French and children usually learn it faster than other languages spoken at home. In fact, children living in such areas may even learn to speak three languages! One is definitely French, the second is English, while the third could be a different language spoken by one or two of the parents.

The second class of bilingualism is the successive bilingualism. This occurs when the child learns one language first and become proficient in it before learning the second language either at the school or in the community. This phase occurs when the child is about four years old and in many cases, the new language is acquired within the school, where the child attends the language class.

Encouraging my child’s language development

Encouraging my child’s language development?

The best way to encourage your child’s speech and language development is to talk with her frequently and naturally.1) Talk to your baby and treat her as a talker, beginning in her first year. Assume she is talking back to you when she makes sounds and babbles, and even when she is just paying attention to you. When you finish talking, give her a turn and wait for her to respond – she will! When she starts babbling, babble back with similar sounds. You will probably find that she babbles back to you. This keeps the talking going and is great fun!2) Respond to gestures and words. As your baby grows up and starts to use gestures and words, respond to his attempts to communicate. For example, if your child shakes his head, treat that behaviour as if he is saying ‘no’. If he points to a toy, respond as if your child is saying, ‘Can I have that?’ or ‘I like that’.
3) Talk about what is happening. Talk to your baby even if she doesn’t understand – she soon will. Talk about things that make sense to her, but at the same time remember to use lots of different words. As your baby becomes a toddler, continue to talk to her – tell her the things that you are doing, and talk about the things that she is doing.
4) Introduce new words. It is important for children to be continually exposed to lots of different words in lots of different contexts. This helps them learn the meaning and function of words in their world.
5) Share books with your baby and continue to as he grows. Talk about the pictures. Use a variety of books, and link what is in the book to what is happening in your child’s life. Books with interesting pictures are a great focus for talking. Your local library is a great source of new books to keep things fresh.6) Follow your child’s lead in conversations. If she initiates a conversation through talking, gesture or behavior  respond to it, making sure you stick to the topic your child started.

7) Repeat and build on what your child says. For example, if he says, ‘Apple,’ you can say, ‘You want an apple. You want a red apple. I want a red apple too. Let's have a red apple together’.
From the time your child starts telling stories, encourage her to talk about things in the past and in the future. At the end of the day, talk about plans for the next day – for example, making the weekly shopping list together or deciding what to take on a visit to grandma. Similarly, when you come home from a shared outing, talk about it.