Sustainable Solutions to Common Language Difficulties in Bilingual Families

Abstract

This article shares helpful, research-backed ways that parents can support minority languages in their children's lives. Many parents around the world face language struggles, including losing heritage languages to the community language or trying to support a foreign language to increase future opportunities. For example, parents in Mexico may want to encourage their children to speak Nahuatl with older family members, but the children prefer Spanish due to its widespread use and status in the community. This same family may encourage their children to study English in order to increase future employment and travel opportunities. However, asking children to become bi- or even trilingual can feel like a time-intensive, stressful, and expensive task. It doesn't have to be a negative experience, though! This article provides tips and strategies, both theoretical and practical, for encouraging minority language study and use in the household, touching on aspects of bilingualism such as literacy, inter-sibling language use, technology, and cost-cutting measures. Families from all over the globe and of any size can utilize this information to encourage bilingualism or multilingualism in their families.