{"id":46306,"date":"2016-01-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-01-17T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/uncategorized\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/"},"modified":"2025-02-11T12:16:48","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T03:16:48","slug":"raise-multilingual-kids-overseas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/","title":{"rendered":"How to raise multilingual kids overseas"},"content":{"rendered":"<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An early start to language learning has been shown to enhance cognitive flexibility, thus helping children become better communicators and creative thinkers. It also offers the potential for broadening a child\u2019s horizons later in life. <\/span>\r\n\r\nAs a result, a 2009 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/education\/educationnews\/6772352\/One-in-five-parents-to-bring-children-up-bilingual-study-says.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">study<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> shows that one in five parents-to-be plan to bring up their child as bilingual, while more than nine in 10 parents believe in the importance of teaching children languages in today\u2019s globalized societies. However, parents worldwide face many difficulties when raising children as multilingual.<\/span>\r\n<h3><b>Modern-day challenges<\/b><\/h3>\r\nIn multi-language education, there are several hurdles for parents, especially interracial or immigrant families who are unfamiliar with the local language, as well as parents who are hesitant to speak to their child in their mother tongue if isn&#8217;t widely spoken locally.\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">American writer and creator of <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/bilingualmonkeys.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bilingual Monkeys<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Adam Beck, explains <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the difficulties of raising bilingual kids in Japan: \u201cIf there isn\u2019t sufficient exposure in the minority language, the child\u2019s development will rapidly fall behind the relentless progress of the majority language.\u201d Because Beck&#8217;s wife only speaks Japanese, he has to be a hands-on parent with his two kids when it comes to learning English.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Corey Heller, an American mother and founder of <\/span><a href=\"\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Multilingual Magazine <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shares a similar experience in raising three bilingual kids in Germany. \u201cThe problem with raising children in a non-native language in a country where the language is not spoken, is that things can get difficult\u2014very difficult\u2014if you aren\u2019t keeping up with the language yourself.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hence, parents play a vital role in their children\u2019s language education, whether they are living in their home country or elsewhere. <\/span>\r\n<h3><b>Tips for parents and parents-to-be<\/b><\/h3>\r\n<b>1) Maximize exposure to the minority language.<\/b>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Great communication starts at home. From day-to-day conversations to family gatherings, speaking in the minority language can greatly benefit the child. <\/span><a href=\"\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ana Mumy<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a trilingual speech language pathologist, adds that \u201cChildren need to hear both quantity and quality language input to have strong language skills. Parents are the primary individuals who can provide the language input needed in the native language.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similarly, a <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/unesdoc.unesco.org\/images\/0021\/002122\/212270e.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">study<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> conducted by UNESCO about multi-language education reiterated that, to retain their mother tongue while living overseas, children whose first language is not the medium of instruction in that country must continue having interactions with their family in their first language. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the same time, o<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ngoing formal instruction is necessary for the development of the child\u2019s reading and writing skills in the minority language. <\/span>\r\n\r\nIf immigrant parents want their children to master the local language, they need to devote time and effort to learning and practicing the language at home, too.\r\n\r\n<b>2) Be creative and make learning fun.<\/b>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The child\u2019s engagement should be a priority. They should see the learning process as a fun way to spend more quality time with their parents. Set some time every day to read books, tell stories, play games or listen to music in the second language.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/bilingualmonkeys.com\/\">Bilingual Monkeys<\/a>\u00a0suggests many imaginative ideas and tips, such as\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">captive reading<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or placing suitable text or stories around the house. Having an effective 30-minute homework routine, such as writing short letters or daily journals,\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">could also make a big difference in your child\u2019s learning progress.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<b>3) Be supportive and don\u2019t give up!<\/b>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Helping a child learn a second language can be an overwhelming task. Don\u2019t take it personally if your child starts losing interest. Instead, keep encouraging them and give concrete motives for learning. According to <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UNESCO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, parents\u2019 positive attitudes are vital in maintaining the mother tongue for cultural identity. Particularly when living overseas, speaking one\u2019s native or majority language can strengthen the family\u2019s bond.<\/span>\r\n\r\nMulti-language education is a valuable gift parents can give their children. The long-term benefits of learning a language far outweigh the challenges and can often provide children with a lifelong advantage.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An early start to language learning has been shown to enhance cognitive flexibility, thus helping children become better communicators and creative thinkers. It also offers the potential for broadening a child\u2019s horizons later in life. As a result, a 2009 study shows that one in five parents-to-be plan to bring up their child as bilingual, [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51863,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[350],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-language-and-culture"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to raise multilingual kids overseas - Gengo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to raise multilingual kids overseas - Gengo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An early start to language learning has been shown to enhance cognitive flexibility, thus helping children become better communicators and creative thinkers. It also offers the potential for broadening a child\u2019s horizons later in life. As a result, a 2009 study shows that one in five parents-to-be plan to bring up their child as bilingual, [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gengo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mygengo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-01-17T15:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-11T03:16:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/raising-bilingual-kids_02.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"610\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"282\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gengo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gengoit\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gengoit\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gengo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gengo\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d96784908df475d494d8773178c6aa3b\"},\"headline\":\"How to raise multilingual kids overseas\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-17T15:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-11T03:16:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/\"},\"wordCount\":652,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/raising-bilingual-kids_02.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Language &amp; culture\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/\",\"name\":\"How to raise multilingual kids overseas - Gengo\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/raising-bilingual-kids_02.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-17T15:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-11T03:16:48+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/raising-bilingual-kids_02.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/raising-bilingual-kids_02.png\",\"width\":610,\"height\":282},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to raise multilingual kids overseas\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/\",\"name\":\"Gengo\",\"description\":\"Translation Service\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Gengo\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/gengo_favicon.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/gengo_favicon.png\",\"width\":260,\"height\":260,\"caption\":\"Gengo\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mygengo\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/gengoit\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/gengoit\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/gengo\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/gengo\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d96784908df475d494d8773178c6aa3b\",\"name\":\"Gengo\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/541190c15e678636d95d0109cf71870a60e0f326ddde63e3be01c0e45fa9c367?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/541190c15e678636d95d0109cf71870a60e0f326ddde63e3be01c0e45fa9c367?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gengo\"},\"description\":\"People-powered translation at scale. Gengo provides fast, affordable and quality translations by native speakers located worldwide.\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to raise multilingual kids overseas - Gengo","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to raise multilingual kids overseas - Gengo","og_description":"An early start to language learning has been shown to enhance cognitive flexibility, thus helping children become better communicators and creative thinkers. It also offers the potential for broadening a child\u2019s horizons later in life. As a result, a 2009 study shows that one in five parents-to-be plan to bring up their child as bilingual, [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/","og_site_name":"Gengo","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mygengo","article_published_time":"2016-01-17T15:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-02-11T03:16:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":610,"height":282,"url":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/raising-bilingual-kids_02.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Gengo","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@gengoit","twitter_site":"@gengoit","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gengo","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/"},"author":{"name":"Gengo","@id":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d96784908df475d494d8773178c6aa3b"},"headline":"How to raise multilingual kids overseas","datePublished":"2016-01-17T15:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-11T03:16:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/"},"wordCount":652,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/raising-bilingual-kids_02.png","articleSection":["Language &amp; culture"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/","url":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/","name":"How to raise multilingual kids overseas - Gengo","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/raising-bilingual-kids_02.png","datePublished":"2016-01-17T15:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-11T03:16:48+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/raising-bilingual-kids_02.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/raising-bilingual-kids_02.png","width":610,"height":282},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/language-and-culture\/raise-multilingual-kids-overseas\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to raise multilingual kids overseas"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/","name":"Gengo","description":"Translation Service","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/#organization","name":"Gengo","url":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/gengo_favicon.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/gengo_favicon.png","width":260,"height":260,"caption":"Gengo"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mygengo","https:\/\/x.com\/gengoit","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/gengoit\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/gengo\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/gengo"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d96784908df475d494d8773178c6aa3b","name":"Gengo","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/541190c15e678636d95d0109cf71870a60e0f326ddde63e3be01c0e45fa9c367?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/541190c15e678636d95d0109cf71870a60e0f326ddde63e3be01c0e45fa9c367?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gengo"},"description":"People-powered translation at scale. Gengo provides fast, affordable and quality translations by native speakers located worldwide."}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}