Have you been there? You speak the minority language to your child day in, day out and then…your little one answers in the majority language. This is a pretty common and at times frustrating phenomenon that many parents who are raising bilingual children struggle with…  

Why children don’t respond in the minority language  

The reasons why children use the majority language can be very different. There could be… 

…not enough quality exposure

Raising children with multiple languages simply takes time. So as parents we have to make time to make it work. Research has argued that at least 20-30% of a child’s waking hours should be spent with input, exposure, and interaction in the minority language in order for a child to develop speaking abilities in the minority language (Pearson, 2008). However, that interaction should ideally be quality interaction such as reading a book or playing games (as opposed to watching TV). Simply having a conversation about a random topic can also go a long way!

… a lack of consistency 

It’s important to have clear routines and structures in place. For example, it’s important to have clear structures in terms of how you use the different languages in your family. Some families use the one-parent-one-language approach (OPOL), others use the minority language at home (mL@H). For example, in our household, we have adopted the one-parent-one-language (OPOL) method. From birth, I have been speaking to Ella in German (our minority language) and my husband has been speaking to her in English (our majority language). Whatever system you adopt, try to keep it consistent and natural! Don’t decide to teach your child, but make it part of their natural way of life!

…no real need to speak the minority language

There has to be a need for children to speak a language or they will take the easy way out. This is a particular challenge for parents who are bilingual themselves because children know their parents understand both languages. So as a bilingual parent you have to be alert all the time. Personally, this is one of my biggest challenges!

Ella knows that I speak English. So why bother to speak German when mommy understands English, right? As a parent who speaks both English and German, I have to create the need for her to use German and encourage her to use the minority language. Creating a need can mean more concerted efforts such as interactions with other native speakers (e.g., German playgroups, FaceTiming with grandparents, traveling to Germany), but it also includes our daily communication at home. Ella knows exactly that I understand English because I speak English with my husband at home so sometimes I have to be a bit strategic to get her to speak German. 

Strategies to make them use the minority language 

I have been using a few strategies to encourage Ella to speak more German. Here are strategies that have been working for us so far:

Repeating in the minority language

I have been using a lot of repetition to encourage her to say things in German. Every time she speaks to me in English, I repeat what she says in German. For instance, if she says “Papa is tired.” I respond with “Ja, Papa, ist müde.” So she hears it in German. I noticed that she oftentimes repeats my sentence in German again, sometimes as a question “Papa ist müde?” as if she wanted to confirm that she says it correctly.

Pretending to not understand

The second strategy I use is to pretend that I don’t understand if she asks me something in English. She can climb onto her high chair herself, but she still needs someone to push the chair closer to the table so she can reach her food. If she says “Mama, push!,” I usually ask back “Bitte, was hast du gesagt?” or “Wie?.” In other words, I only comply with the request if she has asked me in German. If she asks in German then, I immediately help her and push her chair in. Her reaching her goal is a success which reinforces the use of the minority language…much better than only praising her for using German! By now, I sometimes only have to look at her and she realizes that she should be asking in German. 

Raising awareness for German and English as different languages

When children communicate, they focus on meaning, on getting their point across—not necessarily on the language they use. So a strategy that we have been using more and more recently as Ella gets older (she is now 2.6 years) is to raise her awareness for the two languages. For example, if she says something in English, I encourage her to say it in German such as by saying “How does mama say it?” or “Mama says Abendbrot, Papa says …?” 

Despite her relatively young age, we noticed that she is more often switching between languages now. For example, at the dinner table she says something to my husband in English and then switches to German when addressing me and vice versa. So we have been noticing a gradual progression and more conscious use of the two languages. However, it’s a consistent work-in-progress with lots of repetitions and consistent encouragement to get her to actively use the minority language.

Do you use other strategies? Please share in comments! Many thanks for reading!

Resources:

Pearson,  B. Z. (2008). Raising a bilingual child. New York: Living Language.