The many cognitive, academic and social benefits of learning foreign languages ​​have encouraged parents around the world to raise bilingual children. To take advantage of this unique stage in life, parents interested in bilingualism have to make a conscious effort to help their children learn.

Here we describe five methods for raising bilingual children.

1. One parent, one language

In families where each parent has a different language, a popular technique is “One parent, one language” (also called “One person, one language” or OPOL). As the name suggests, parents who practice OPOL only speak their native language to their children, both at home and abroad. For example, a Greek mother speaks Greek and a English father speaks English. We must take into account the case in which the family lives in a country whose language is not one of their languages ​​(for example, Spain). In this case, that language becomes the majority language and logically the children will use it in a more habitual way and will dominate it more quickly. It will be helpful to stock up on resources, such as books and movies, and to interact regularly with other minority language speakers (including family members, friends or a babysitter).

2. Minority language at home

Another option is the technique “minority language at home” or ML @ H. This can work when the two parents are comfortable in one of the two languages ​​spoken by the couple or in more native languages. For example, an Greek mother raises her children in America with her American husband, who also speaks Greek. In this case, the whole family speaks Greek at home, but outside the home they speak English. This approach can avoid the feeling that many parents have that they are “excluding” others from the interaction with their family when they are away from home. It also provides a clear framework for children, the home becomes the “switch” to change language.

3. Living in another Country

In this case, a family moves to a foreign country and speaks the mother tongue of the parents at home (or languages), while the children learn and speak the language of their adopted country at school or with their friends. A great advantage of this option is that children will progress thanks to a foreign school system, which will make them know effectively what it is to study abroad before reaching college age. Once they become adults, these children – sometimes called “Children of the Third Culture” – find the idea of ​​going to study or work abroad less intimidating.

4. Linguistic Immersion Programs

If moving abroad is not an option, parents may wish to look for foreign language schools in their own country, where students are provided with a language immersion in which all classes are taught in a foreign language. Parents can use these schools to strengthen a minority language while living abroad or to instill a second language for their children while living in their own country. The possibility of studying modules abroad, in addition to the linguistic immersion provided, can expand the later options for higher studies or careers.

5. Learning a language at home and abroad

For monolingual parents who do not have the possibility of moving abroad, one way for their children to learn another language is to look for options to interact in another language. Although children are often referred to as “sponges”, it is important to remember that although it is much easier for young minds to learn foreign languages, they still need a lot of practical (and varied) hours. You can attack the problem from a number of angles; targeting children to language classes, summer schools and study trips abroad.  You can even find cartoons and kids’ shows in several languages on YouTube. Cartoons and TV shows allow bilingual children to hear different tones and accents, and even different expressions in the second language they are learning. Their vocabulary and comprehension will also be greatly enhanced by hearing different characters play out stories in the kids’ second language.

Adults, unlike children, return to school when changes in their way of life require it. A promotion, the need to have a better salary, change of work, and even update your knowledge; These are the things that make adults go back to school.

The key ingredients to succeed in adult education is skill, prior knowledge and motivation.

Skill

Skill is the ability with which each of us was born and that allows us to acquire new knowledge. The ability varies among individuals, some have abilities for some thing and others for another. Then, the learning ability is the intellectual capacity that each one of us possesses and that greatly influences our possibilities of learning something.

Prior knowledge
The skill or fitness is intimately linked to what we already know and this in turn has a great relationship with the success of any teaching-learning process.

Motivation
The motivation seems to be affected by three ingredients: courage, confidence and state of mind. The more value we assign something the more motivated we feel to learn more of that. If we value  that we are seen as knowledgeable about music then obviously we are going to try to learn as much as we can about music.  The more we value something the higher is our motivation to learn about that.

Henry Ford once said “if you think you can or if you think you can not, you’re right”.  All of us are aware of our abilities but having confidence can help us to achieve higher goals, confidence is greatly affected by your state of mind/mood.

Learning new skills in the right environment will help with your confidence levels and mood.

Plato is one of the pioneers in offering creative writing classes in Limassol, Cyprus. This creative writing course for children and teenagers invites aspiring writers, as well as any pupil with a strong interest in creative reading and writing, to acquire skills and develop strategies in order to ignite and sustain the writing impulse. It is designed to help students of all ages unbundle their thoughts, decode their experiences and organise them in a written form.

The tutor, Phd(st) in Creative Writing Winchester University UK, and TEFL UK – Mrs Maria A. Ioannou is a renowned writer and author of ‘The Gigantic Fall of an Eyelash’ and other stories* (Gavrielides Publishing, Athens, 2011). She is the holder of a MA postgraduate degree in 20th Century Literature from King’s College London, and a BA degree in English Literature (1st Class) from the University of Reading. She has also acquired the Emerging Writer Literature Award by the Ministry of Education and Culture of Cyprus.

The creative writing workshop is offered both in English and Greek to children and teenagers. It gives young readers/writers the skills necessary to turn their love of the written word into a practical experience. It introduces the key characteristics of creative writing, and students are supported with stage-by-stage guidance as they assimilate and put into practice a range of critical and creative methods.

Tutor feedback is given on the course assignments and participants are encouraged to discuss and analyze each other’s writing, and are given guidance on offering constructive and useful criticism.

Creative writing classes, additionally, play a significant role in culturing the art of essay writing in students taking language courses at school and are therefore very beneficial for students taking the Pancyprian Exams.