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The Bilingual Edge: Why, When, and How to Teach Your Child a Second Language
It's no secret that parents want their children to have the lifelong cultural and intellectual advantages that come from being bilingual. Parents spend millions of dollars every year on classes, computer programs, and toys, all of which promise to help children learn a second language. But many of their best efforts (and investments) end in disappointment.
In The Bilingual Edge, professors and parents King and Mackey wade through the hype and provide clear insights into what actually works. No matter what your language background is—whether you never passed Spanish in high school or you speak Mandarin fluently—King and Mackey will help you:
select the language that will give your child the most benefits
find materials and programs that will assist your child in achieving fluency
identify and use your family's unique traits to maximize learning
Fancy private schools and expensive materials aren't needed. Instead, The Bilingual Edge translates the latest research into interactive strategies and quick tips that even the busiest parents can use.
In The Bilingual Edge, professors and parents King and Mackey wade through the hype and provide clear insights into what actually works. No matter what your language background is—whether you never passed Spanish in high school or you speak Mandarin fluently—King and Mackey will help you:
select the language that will give your child the most benefits
find materials and programs that will assist your child in achieving fluency
identify and use your family's unique traits to maximize learning
Fancy private schools and expensive materials aren't needed. Instead, The Bilingual Edge translates the latest research into interactive strategies and quick tips that even the busiest parents can use.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
124 people are currently reading
594 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
April 28, 2022
The Bilingual Edge probably would have gotten five stars from me in 2007 when it came out. Now, unfortunately, it is quite out-of-date. The research is old and this field has really come so far in the meantime, meaning that a lot of very important findings are missing, while what is present is no longer mainstream or cutting-edge. The cultural context is also very dated, meaning that a lot of suggestions are no longer helpful (e.g.: TiVo, buying a region-free DVD player). A lot has changed since 2007, and the book doesn't feel relevant like it would have at that time.
Similar to Eowyn Crisfield's "Bilingual Families", the book includes some questionnaires and templates family's can use. Crisfield's book is much more up-to-date and, in my opinion, its templates are better.
Putting aside all of the datedness, there is another major problem I sensed in The Bilingual Edge. The book focuses far too much on younger children, in my opinion. Almost all of the stories, including the authors' own, were about children under 10, usually under 6. The unfortunate reality is that many (if not most) bilingual journeys in the US and other monolingual societies falter as children pass these ages, and the authors seemed almost unaware of this, with almost all of their advice and attention devoted to the much easier younger ages. It made the book feel quite naive, honestly, or at times sugar-coating. I seriously wonder, having heard the authors' personal stories, if either of their children (Miranda + Graham) ended up actively bilingual now in 2022. Maybe I'm just being cynical.
Similar to Eowyn Crisfield's "Bilingual Families", the book includes some questionnaires and templates family's can use. Crisfield's book is much more up-to-date and, in my opinion, its templates are better.
Putting aside all of the datedness, there is another major problem I sensed in The Bilingual Edge. The book focuses far too much on younger children, in my opinion. Almost all of the stories, including the authors' own, were about children under 10, usually under 6. The unfortunate reality is that many (if not most) bilingual journeys in the US and other monolingual societies falter as children pass these ages, and the authors seemed almost unaware of this, with almost all of their advice and attention devoted to the much easier younger ages. It made the book feel quite naive, honestly, or at times sugar-coating. I seriously wonder, having heard the authors' personal stories, if either of their children (Miranda + Graham) ended up actively bilingual now in 2022. Maybe I'm just being cynical.
February 7, 2012
So far this is the best book I've read regarding raising a child to be bilingual. All the info on the advantages of doing this, as well as the myths associated with it, is the same in this book as the others. I skimmed through that part. However, this book answered so many more questions I had, such as if you are speaking the "target" language to your child, how to approach this when speaking in public or in playgroups; how to handle your child rebelling; the role of birth order and gender in the ability to learn second languages, and so on. I just found this book to be so practical. Mostly, it drilled home that becoming bilingual, whether for yourself or your child, is a lifelong journey.
July 27, 2023
don't read too much into this y'all. Ironically the first book I've read in English in years.
Overall, this felt like a nice introduction to the topic. The references to technology (like suggesting listening to CDs and mentioning youtube.com) feel dated but the studies mentioned still seem relevant.
Some takeaways:
* Children learn languages through exposure to the language. Not a real surprise but this still seems hard for people to accept. It's not really different than adults, as any adult who's had moderate success in learning a second language will tell you. A big difference though is that for children under 2 or 3, that exposure needs to be in-person interaction for there to be any benefit. Babies listening to the radio in Chinese or watching TV in Spanish show no improvements with those languages.
* Bilingual children and even trilingual children are not delayed in their language milestones, even though this myth is widely believed. They begin to babble, say their first words, and start saying two-word sentences around the same time as their monolingual counterparts.
* "True" bilinguals, aka bilinguals that are equally comfortable in one language as they are in another in basically all scenarios, are exceedingly rare. The large majority favor one language over the other in general or favor a particular language based on the circumstances, such as talking about emotions in one language and work in another. This tracks with basically anyone I've ever met that grew up speaking more than one language in some capacity.
* There are a number of cognitive benefits to bilingualism, for example metalinguistic awareness (understanding that language is a system and a tool for communication), creativity, and cultural understanding. But these benefits only seem to be present for children who reach proficiency in both languages. In other words, knowing the days of the week and being able to count to 10 in Korean is not enough.
Overall, this felt like a nice introduction to the topic. The references to technology (like suggesting listening to CDs and mentioning youtube.com) feel dated but the studies mentioned still seem relevant.
Some takeaways:
* Children learn languages through exposure to the language. Not a real surprise but this still seems hard for people to accept. It's not really different than adults, as any adult who's had moderate success in learning a second language will tell you. A big difference though is that for children under 2 or 3, that exposure needs to be in-person interaction for there to be any benefit. Babies listening to the radio in Chinese or watching TV in Spanish show no improvements with those languages.
* Bilingual children and even trilingual children are not delayed in their language milestones, even though this myth is widely believed. They begin to babble, say their first words, and start saying two-word sentences around the same time as their monolingual counterparts.
* "True" bilinguals, aka bilinguals that are equally comfortable in one language as they are in another in basically all scenarios, are exceedingly rare. The large majority favor one language over the other in general or favor a particular language based on the circumstances, such as talking about emotions in one language and work in another. This tracks with basically anyone I've ever met that grew up speaking more than one language in some capacity.
* There are a number of cognitive benefits to bilingualism, for example metalinguistic awareness (understanding that language is a system and a tool for communication), creativity, and cultural understanding. But these benefits only seem to be present for children who reach proficiency in both languages. In other words, knowing the days of the week and being able to count to 10 in Korean is not enough.
August 24, 2011
If you are interested in reading this book, perhaps you are already convinced about the advantages for your child to learn a second language. The authors present interesting facts and research about bilingual and multilingualism, as well as perspectives from their own experiences raising their children. An interesting section in this book is the one about myths in learning a second language. If you are already sold on the idea of second language learning, this might not be a must read book for you. Although, if you are still thinking about it or you don't know where to start, then I would recommend reading it.
January 27, 2009
A lot of stuff in the book are common sense. Things like, spend more time with the language, interact with native speakers, etc. One interesting point: watching foreign TV won't help much.
April 22, 2008
This book annoyed me SO MUCH because it was trying really hard to be friendly to everyone, no matter what. It was all like, Don't speak a word of a second language? Your kid is already 50 years old? No problem! It's never too late!
And yes, there really were that many exclamation points. But there was a review of some actual, scientific research, which was useful, and they did have good tips and pointers. I definitely took away a good overall message from it too. Still, I ordered another book on raising bilingual kids, and I'm very much looking forward to reading that one too.
And yes, there really were that many exclamation points. But there was a review of some actual, scientific research, which was useful, and they did have good tips and pointers. I definitely took away a good overall message from it too. Still, I ordered another book on raising bilingual kids, and I'm very much looking forward to reading that one too.
April 20, 2019
I really liked this. It summed about a lot of what I learned in my MA, but with more of a focus on child language acquisition obviously. One thing they didn't touch on was identity and culture with language. I think that would have been an interesting topic to explore. But it's a great book that I will give as a baby gift from now on!
December 1, 2024
Selamlar,
Okuduğum ikidillilik ile ilgili kitaplar arasında favorim bu oldu. Konuya tam anlamıyla giriş ve örneklendirme kitabı diyebilirim 👌🏻
Sadece bazı noktalarda biraz basit kalabiliyor ve verilen örnekler içinde bulunduğumuz teknolojik yeniliklerle pek güncel değil gibi 🫠
Yine de ben kitabı bir hayli verimli buldum 💓
Okuduğum ikidillilik ile ilgili kitaplar arasında favorim bu oldu. Konuya tam anlamıyla giriş ve örneklendirme kitabı diyebilirim 👌🏻
Sadece bazı noktalarda biraz basit kalabiliyor ve verilen örnekler içinde bulunduğumuz teknolojik yeniliklerle pek güncel değil gibi 🫠
Yine de ben kitabı bir hayli verimli buldum 💓
August 25, 2021
Lots and lots of research findings are discussed in the book, the authors have great academic credentials and hands on experience raising bilingual children, and the book is well written and practical (although very much catered to American readers). It was definitely everything I needed. It won't blow your mind with some amazing technique to quickly "reach" bilingualism with your children, so if that's what you are expecting, this is not your book.
September 30, 2021
Very encouraging book based on the authors' own experiences and empirical research. Practical tips, theory, it's all here.
September 9, 2017
This book not only gives the many reasons for raising a child to have more than one language, but provides encouragement and support for many different situations and environments.
May 30, 2009
Five stars means that there are absolutely no flaws....and while that isn't true, I am not going to be nit-picky enough to flip through the pages just to find something wrong to comment about.
I loved this book. For over three years I have been researching bilingual parenting, bilingualism, how to raise a bilingual family, etc. I have way more knowledge than I need in order to act...but my perfectionistic side has kept me procrastinating a dream I've had for a very long time.
Long story short, I'm giving the book five stars because, after reading it, I am going to stop dragging my feet.I am jumping in and I'm going to teach my girls Spanish. A number of myths and stereotypes I had previously mentally recorded as fact, were debunked because the authors (two women with phds) gave solid facts and more relevant and recent research. They were extremely accurate and did not make overgeneralizations about the topics. They provide resources, ideas, guidelines, and most important for me...motivation to raise bilingual children even when circumstances are not textbook perfect. I feel like I could have only read this book, instead of the 2 dozen I've read that did not help me that much. Excellent read for anyone interested in this---and that includes any of you who do not speak a second language. You don't need to speak a second language in order for you kids to speak one! (And no, that doesn't mean you move to France and hire a French au pair. )
Excellent resource.
I loved this book. For over three years I have been researching bilingual parenting, bilingualism, how to raise a bilingual family, etc. I have way more knowledge than I need in order to act...but my perfectionistic side has kept me procrastinating a dream I've had for a very long time.
Long story short, I'm giving the book five stars because, after reading it, I am going to stop dragging my feet.I am jumping in and I'm going to teach my girls Spanish. A number of myths and stereotypes I had previously mentally recorded as fact, were debunked because the authors (two women with phds) gave solid facts and more relevant and recent research. They were extremely accurate and did not make overgeneralizations about the topics. They provide resources, ideas, guidelines, and most important for me...motivation to raise bilingual children even when circumstances are not textbook perfect. I feel like I could have only read this book, instead of the 2 dozen I've read that did not help me that much. Excellent read for anyone interested in this---and that includes any of you who do not speak a second language. You don't need to speak a second language in order for you kids to speak one! (And no, that doesn't mean you move to France and hire a French au pair. )
Excellent resource.
May 2, 2009
This is a comprehensive book about raising multilingual children that takes into account research and parents' experiences. It counters the myths of bilingualism (even the myth that if you didn't start from babyhood, it's too late) and thereby gives validation and inspiration to families who are in any stage or configuration of bilingualism. Instead of feeling discouraged that maybe I wasn't doing enough to promote my own baby's bilingualism, I felt gently encouraged to do more.
October 3, 2012
Clear, encouraging, debunked a lot of myths I had heard about raising your kids to be bilingual. I found it a bit slow at the start where they took time to convince the reader why bilingualism was good, because they were already preaching to the choir. That's my only gripe. I like how the chapters have summaries at the end of the important points tackled in each. Has some references and resources at the back for further reading.
October 30, 2020
This book was a slog. People probably pick up this book because they are already motivated to raise their child in a second language. I found that too much time was spent on topics that were either common sense or not relevant (e.g., describing the benefits of bilingualism).
September 29, 2018
All the things we already know...
November 30, 2020
The information was fine but if you are bilingual, trilingual or a polyglot already then it you should pretty much know everything presented here. I didn’t learn too much new information but it was nice to know that my ideas were backed up by research. Essentially to raise a kid that can speak multiple languages (or even for you to speak multiple languages) the quantity and quality of the languages spoken and used is the most important thing. So essentially if my wife and I split up Japanese and English (she is native Japanese and learning English, I am fluent Japanese and native English) into meaningful chunks of time and meaningful activities the kid can and will learn both. Whether or not it uses both is up to the kid.
Chapter 5 was interesting. The chapter about dialects was cool too. The part about code-switching was cool and reiterated what I learned in a linguistic anthropology course at university.
The rest of the book (256 pages) could have been cut down to about 50. I think the authors are amateurish and not funny and overused exclamation points. Honestly I would have liked to the actual studies more instead of pop-science. Oh well. I suggest it if you do not know anything about foreign language acquisition. If you do know about foreign language acquisition, it could still be worth reading I guess.
Fun fact: one thing I did learn is that it is suggested that kids don’t watch any TV before the age of 2. I didn’t know that but I was already planning on that. Educational TV shows don’t work.
Chapter 5 was interesting. The chapter about dialects was cool too. The part about code-switching was cool and reiterated what I learned in a linguistic anthropology course at university.
The rest of the book (256 pages) could have been cut down to about 50. I think the authors are amateurish and not funny and overused exclamation points. Honestly I would have liked to the actual studies more instead of pop-science. Oh well. I suggest it if you do not know anything about foreign language acquisition. If you do know about foreign language acquisition, it could still be worth reading I guess.
Fun fact: one thing I did learn is that it is suggested that kids don’t watch any TV before the age of 2. I didn’t know that but I was already planning on that. Educational TV shows don’t work.
July 10, 2021
Loved this book - answered several questions and backed everything up with scientific studies. The only thing keeping it from getting 5 stars was the push to have your kid learn Spanish just because there are so many Spanish resources here in the US. No, thank you.
Major takeaways... (1) there are no conclusive studies correlating a child’s late talking to growing up in a multilingual environment and (2) listening to the telly in the target language has zero effect on vocabulary. There have actually been studies. It does nothing. Except for maybe help with motivation and adding the fun factor later on. But not helpful for young kids whatsoever. So what does work? Reading. Reading. Reading. And talking to your kid in the target language. A lot. (3) Parents should not worry about teaching their second language. Any small mistakes will be corrected later on and do not outweigh the enormous benefits of being brought up in a bi- (or multi-) lingual environment.
In short, raising a bilingual child is not easy. In fact, it can be rather difficult, depending on the circumstances. But it is possible. It happens all the time. And it is most certainly worth the time and effort.
Major takeaways... (1) there are no conclusive studies correlating a child’s late talking to growing up in a multilingual environment and (2) listening to the telly in the target language has zero effect on vocabulary. There have actually been studies. It does nothing. Except for maybe help with motivation and adding the fun factor later on. But not helpful for young kids whatsoever. So what does work? Reading. Reading. Reading. And talking to your kid in the target language. A lot. (3) Parents should not worry about teaching their second language. Any small mistakes will be corrected later on and do not outweigh the enormous benefits of being brought up in a bi- (or multi-) lingual environment.
In short, raising a bilingual child is not easy. In fact, it can be rather difficult, depending on the circumstances. But it is possible. It happens all the time. And it is most certainly worth the time and effort.
May 17, 2018
The bilingual edge
I was really excited for this book but as a bilingual mom of 2 I have to say it had very little - if any - new information. Most of it seemed like extensive explanations of common sense concepts and quickly got repetitive. i started skipping and skimming over paragraphs that were not relevant to my own family situation or got long and boring. You could probably reduce the reading to the “quick facts” and summaries at the end of each section and still get most of the information.
Another thing that bothered me was the authors repeatedly saying that this or that “fact” about learning a second language is a myth and not true, but then later on showing that it is (at least mostly) true. (Like claiming that, despite common believe, a second language can still be learned flawlessly or native-like by older children, but then later acknowledging that this is very rare and usually only the case with rather talented kids)
I was really excited for this book but as a bilingual mom of 2 I have to say it had very little - if any - new information. Most of it seemed like extensive explanations of common sense concepts and quickly got repetitive. i started skipping and skimming over paragraphs that were not relevant to my own family situation or got long and boring. You could probably reduce the reading to the “quick facts” and summaries at the end of each section and still get most of the information.
Another thing that bothered me was the authors repeatedly saying that this or that “fact” about learning a second language is a myth and not true, but then later on showing that it is (at least mostly) true. (Like claiming that, despite common believe, a second language can still be learned flawlessly or native-like by older children, but then later acknowledging that this is very rare and usually only the case with rather talented kids)
June 6, 2022
I loved the perspective of these two linguistics professors, their science based advice and experience as mothers teaching their toddlers a second language as non native speakers of said language.
I have changed my attitude of immersing my kids in Spanish and have lightened up a bunch on requiring them to respond to me in Spanish. I realized while reading and pondering this book that language learning is a lifelong process and I would like to find sustainable ways to incorporate our second language in our family and avoid burn out.
Definitely great advice and myth debunking of "harms" or cons to raising bilingual or multi lingual children. Truly you can't go wrong! Doesn't have to be perfect to reap the benefits of brain development, creativity, cultural awareness and opportunity by introducing and fostering second language learning.
I have changed my attitude of immersing my kids in Spanish and have lightened up a bunch on requiring them to respond to me in Spanish. I realized while reading and pondering this book that language learning is a lifelong process and I would like to find sustainable ways to incorporate our second language in our family and avoid burn out.
Definitely great advice and myth debunking of "harms" or cons to raising bilingual or multi lingual children. Truly you can't go wrong! Doesn't have to be perfect to reap the benefits of brain development, creativity, cultural awareness and opportunity by introducing and fostering second language learning.
February 14, 2020
In preparation for raising our daughter bilingual in a mixed language household, I grabbed this from the library. And as a linguist and a language teacher, I was glad to see some of the old, outdated info be thoroughly debunked. (WHY are we still citing the 1967 critical period hypothesis in terms of second language learning?!) This had a lot of useful tips, including best practices by age group (infants vs. school age children, for example) and while it did reinforce that it's best to initially use the OPOL method, which we'd been planning on doing with our native languages anyway, it was nice to see that we could mix it up a bit at home and not be dooming our child forever.
December 18, 2020
I have wanted to teach my kids Spanish ever since I started studying it. I felt very intimidated before reading this book and worried I would make mistakes. Well guess what, I will and that’s okay!! This book encouraged me and gave me a lot of practical tips and resources. It will give you a good place to start, no matter your background. It’s also FULL of research and studies that they cite so I think they know what they’re talking about-both as far as what works and what doesn’t. The authors encourage you to find your purpose for raising a bilingual child and also include many benefits to bilingualism that you may not even have been thinking of. Highly recommend 👍
January 25, 2024
Interesting book with a lot of materials to help parents find their way to teaching a new language. It's backed up by many researches and lots of real life stories from different families. This book will not give you a simple A-B-C tutorial to follow to raise your child bilingual but will help you find answers to some of your questions, fears, doubts. The edutainment chapter is a little bit out of date right now with all the new possibilities that we now have and the growing market. I wish there has been a little more details or a specific chapter for parents who want to raise their child in their non-native language.
January 16, 2025
teaching a child two languages is one of most interesting lingustic experiments but you need to find a child first. a legal opportunity to treat baby brain as a little computer and try to maximise its output like you're working with cpu could be very fun and rewarding
the book cointains a lot of useful information and examples from different families of various backgrounds, but some chapters repeat the same core info over and over, but i suppose it's necessary for some readers. the key takeaways are:
- you need quality and quantity of language exposure
- learning a language is a lifelong process
- no obstacle is unsolvable
the book cointains a lot of useful information and examples from different families of various backgrounds, but some chapters repeat the same core info over and over, but i suppose it's necessary for some readers. the key takeaways are:
- you need quality and quantity of language exposure
- learning a language is a lifelong process
- no obstacle is unsolvable
July 18, 2018
I'm preparing to be a first time parent, and this book was exactly what I was looking for. I have heard so many different opinions about best practices for teaching a child a second language and was looking for a way to wade through the myths and find truth backed by research. This book broke down the most commonly held myths about learning a second language for children and really helped me to start to learn what to expect and how to prepare. I found the tone to be very practical and encouraging.
May 28, 2023
Would have been four stars, but for me personally, there was very little new information in here, and I don't feel like I'm that much of an expert. Will be very useful for the people who are completely at the beginning of their bilingual journey...like, 'what other language shall we teach our child' beginning.
Nevertheless, there were some great tips and things to think about in here. Will probably use it more as our kid gets older.
For more in depth looks at research on bilingualism, I recommend Kletsheads! The English version, or the Dutch one if you're Dutch 😁
Nevertheless, there were some great tips and things to think about in here. Will probably use it more as our kid gets older.
For more in depth looks at research on bilingualism, I recommend Kletsheads! The English version, or the Dutch one if you're Dutch 😁
November 20, 2023
I read this slowly over the course of a year plus in micro bits at morning homeroom reading in my school. It’s easy to jump in and out of but I didn’t learn much. It’s definitely geared to people living in the states trying to teach a language where exposure is minimum. I’m living in Japan trying to teach English to my daughters.
The authors’ intentions are good and there are many nuggets of true statements probably best meant for parents who are worried or concerned about raising bilingual children and are just getting started with little knowledge.
Not bad, not great.
The authors’ intentions are good and there are many nuggets of true statements probably best meant for parents who are worried or concerned about raising bilingual children and are just getting started with little knowledge.
Not bad, not great.
February 1, 2026
A fine introduction into the potential world of raising your child bilingual, but unfortunately already outdated. Most of the websites and databases in the book no longer exist or aren't kept current (including their own website where they say they have lots of resources). I also don't think that it fairly addresses concerns that people have about multiple language introduction, choosing to focus on the benefits instead of ever proving strong arguments or data that respond to concerns.
November 3, 2019
This book does an excellent job of explaining the research around bilingualism and helping parents think through what they want for their child. Because of my background in bilingual education a lot of the research was review for me but it was still helpful to think about language learning at different ages and what that might look like for us.
December 24, 2022
This was a very quick easy read intro to bilingualism. A lot of it seems designed for people who don't know what second language to choose or aren't convinced it's a good idea. Thus it ended up feeling very cheerleader-y like it's okay you can do it! It's just a phase! Bilingualism is great! And in doing so there wasn't as much detail on the practicalities of when and how.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews