PROMISE Preschool: Parent FAQs (English)

How can I prepare my child for kindergarten?

It is best if you help your child to learn nursery rhymes, songs, and use different words to name and describe things. It is very important that you read to your child in your home language. When you read to your child, it is far more important to talk about the story and ask your child questions about the pictures than it is to just read the words of the story. Another very important task for your child at this point in his/her life is to develop a rich imagination. Encourage your child to make up stories, to make up endings to stories, and to play games that involve imagination.

In addition to enjoying books together, you can provide your child with rich experiences that help create a knowledge base upon which to build future learning just by doing everyday kinds of tasks. For example, visits to the grocery store can provide the opportunity to talk about the names and colors of what you see; walking through the neighborhood allows you to have a conversation about the sights and sounds around you; working around the house together, cooking or working on a carpentry or other task enables you to talk about planning for what you need to do, the objects you might need to do the tasks (cooking and carpentry provide great opportunities for children to learn about measurement and math). All of these everyday experiences help your child build vocabulary and knowledge; the important goal is to talk with your child as much as possible.

Should I speak my home language with my child or speak what I can in English and try to help my child learn as much English as possible?

Research shows that it is best for parents to speak their home language to their child because the home language will be used as the building block to help the child learn English. The more you teach your child his/her home language, the stronger their English will be. Research also shows us that children who have not learned how to fully speak their home language may have difficulty shifting to English if it is done too quickly, and this can have a negative effect on their ability to speak and read in English.

Another reason to keep speaking with your child in your home language is that your child will begin to lose your home language if you do not teach it to him or her. Though it may be hard to believe, most children who begin to learn English as preschoolers can quickly lose their home language and thus their ability to speak to you and their grandparents and other family members.

So, it is important to keep speaking the home language at home so your child will continue to develop and maintain your home language to promote family communication.

Will my child be confused by learning two languages at the same time?

Research shows that young children are not confused by learning two languages. They develop their two languages in much the same way and at about the same ages as monolingual children do. Young bilinguals may have fewer words in each language at a given point in time, but across both languages, bilinguals often have a larger total vocabulary than monolingual children.

When young children mix their two languages, is this evidence that they are confused?

Research shows this is a myth. Though young bilingual children often produce sentences consisting of words from both languages, there is no evidence that two languages confuse young bilinguals. Studying the students’ language mixes shows that children use mixing in a purposeful way and that mixed utterances do not result in ungrammatical forms across the two languages.

Will learning two languages cause speech or language problems?

No. Children all over the world learn more than one language without developing speech or language problems. Bilingual children develop language skills just as other children do.

So what should I do if my child mixes their two languages; correct it or not say anything about it?

Since it is not a problem when children mix the two languages, there is no need to correct it. If it is clear that the child is searching for a particular vocabulary word or way of saying something, then the parent could provide the sentence or word for the child. Corrections are rarely necessary just because a child mixes the languages. Nevertheless, corrections are best made by modeling the correct use of language through interesting conversations with adults, or “expert” users of the language.

Should we speak or learn English or to get our child to speak English?

Educators and psychologists used to advise immigrant parents to speak English to their children and to discourage bilingualism. We have a lot of research showing the important influence of bilingualism on children’s thinking and further language development. So, it makes sense for parents to speak the home language at home and try to assure that their children can grow up bilingually. It is best for parents to talk to their child in the language they are most fluent and comfortable in. Young children need the family’s effort to continue with the home language. Parent should be encouraged to read to their child in the home language, or both languages if they can read in both.

Music CDs in the home or both languages can help too. Singing is a great way to reinforce the home language, introduce a second language, and it can be lots of fun! Videotapes and DVDs are available in many languages. These programs often teach children about numbers, letters, colors, and basic vocabulary.

Should I worry if my child is difficult to understand when he speaks in either language?

The problem can be mild or severe. In any case, a comprehensive evaluation by a speech-language pathologist (SLP) certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) is the first step to improving language and speech problems. The person conducting the assessment should be bilingual to be able to determine the areas of difficulty for the child.