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Trilingual by Six: The sane way to raise intelligent, talented children
For parents who want their children to become intelligent and successful, accepting the common dogma might not be the best idea. Academic preschools will gladly take your money, but most leading experts do not feel that early reading or math confers any long-term educational advantage.
Languages, on the other hand, are different. While it's not a popular or reaffirming observation, a child who isn't already multilingual by the first grade, probably never will be...particularly in the American setting.
"Trilingual by Six" explores this still controversial reality and meticulously develops a very novel plan of action for parents who want to do something about it. In the modern, increasingly global age, virtually all speaking children can grow up multilingual, and their future careers may very well depend on it. All they need is an astute parent who has managed to connect a few simple dots, who has discovered the overlooked but absolutely abundant resources right in the neighborhood.
Languages, on the other hand, are different. While it's not a popular or reaffirming observation, a child who isn't already multilingual by the first grade, probably never will be...particularly in the American setting.
"Trilingual by Six" explores this still controversial reality and meticulously develops a very novel plan of action for parents who want to do something about it. In the modern, increasingly global age, virtually all speaking children can grow up multilingual, and their future careers may very well depend on it. All they need is an astute parent who has managed to connect a few simple dots, who has discovered the overlooked but absolutely abundant resources right in the neighborhood.
- GenresParenting
252 pages, Paperback
Published April 25, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 10, 2021
I was expecting more practical tips from this book, but it seemed like the author's main point, made many, many times ad infinitum, was that children learn best before age 6 (ideally, before age 3) with native language-speakers. Then, the vast majority of the book was where to find native language-speakers (mainly immigrants), and I'm going to oversimplify here--mosques (for Arabic speakers), soccer fields (for Spanish speakers), ethnic restaurants (for nearly any language speaker). He goes into way too much detail about which particular google searches he used. He could have (and should have) written his main points in bullet point or even on a chart, and it would be much simpler and less repetitive.
The author also includes copious amounts of extraneous information on, for example, the history and current state of education--both language and general--in the US, and a number of stories that, while well-written and interesting, were *completely* irrelevant to his thesis (see long saga about a guy named Frankie).
As for practical tips, sure, it was helpful to know that I'd have to consider the larger picture, like, is the language (or are the languages) that I want my kids to learn sustainable by my environment, including possible "language babysitters" and immersion schools? But whew...what a long book for not very many unique or helpful ideas.
The author also includes copious amounts of extraneous information on, for example, the history and current state of education--both language and general--in the US, and a number of stories that, while well-written and interesting, were *completely* irrelevant to his thesis (see long saga about a guy named Frankie).
As for practical tips, sure, it was helpful to know that I'd have to consider the larger picture, like, is the language (or are the languages) that I want my kids to learn sustainable by my environment, including possible "language babysitters" and immersion schools? But whew...what a long book for not very many unique or helpful ideas.
November 20, 2016
Trilingual by Six is honest making it perfectly clear which of the advice it gives is based on solid scientific evidence, and which consists on personal opinions. It is not the author's fault for the first type of advice to be too little and scattered throughout the book: it's really all that we have up to this point in time, with a lot of research yet to properly address this area.
From the title "The sane way to raise..." I expected Dippel would share more practical suggestions for every day activities, however one feels the book is mostly dedicated to the issue of finding language nannies and immigration in the United States. This is not applicable to our family in which both parents are roughly trilingual with languages different from the community one (see?, I picked up some terminology there).
Some stories in the book really blew my mind with respect to the irrationality of people and their decisions, like the absurdity of Chinese illegal immigrants putting their lives at extreme danger and making their relatives hand over 50,000 dollars to mafias for them to end up living as makeshift cooks in the United States forced away from wife and kids and changing of state every now and then to make ends meet, when obviously all of that same effort and money would have landed them an incredibly more rewarding outcome if they had just stayed in China and avoided the fueling of mafias and corruption world wide.
I'm giving an extra star for Dippel's sincere interest and healthy curiosity to better understand West Asia, although I see him shooting himself on the foot appropriating Western media and academic nonsense on religion playing a role in conflict - you know, as opposed to the 100% worldly, selfish and colonial-related motivations behind the destabilization of many Eastern and Southern countries. China is a victim of supposedly Islamic terrorism (in reality, Turkic racial supremacism fueled with foreign aid to serve the old colonial dream of severing Xinjiang away from the Middle Kingdom), but Chinese media and academia quite purposely and systematically refrain from drawing any links between the acts of violence and the purported religion behind, in part to avoid fueling ethnic-driven tensions. The result? A Chinese society that is extremely tolerant and welcoming of Muslims. I say this as a Muslim living in China, not as a BBC or Al Jazeera reporter who couldn't care any less about Muslims or religion, claiming we are forced out of our Ramadan fasting or other similar tales that belong in the Soviet annals of cheap propaganda.
Here is an idea: if that same media and academia are dumbfounded at the near-to-home victories of Brexit and Trump, perhaps the body of "knowledge" they have been producing - even more so regarding the East - is wrong and based on flawed premises? I advice people to do what I did: spend a year of your life in a reputable Islamic madrasa of an independent Muslim country (i.e. not a satrap regime busy shaping the next wave of terrorist mercenaries who will wage wars on behalf of NATO), with a sincere and open heart, and the nonsense of the supposed role of Islam behind violence they have brainwashed you with will probably be lifted from your mind and you will be able to clearly distinguish the gray scales in the Muslim world and West Asia.
This book does encourage one to reverse-engineer it and tap into the voracious need of parents dragged into the nerve-wrecking competition for the manufacture extra-ordinary children and can help one prepare for this probable future industry in education even as it develops off the radars.
From the title "The sane way to raise..." I expected Dippel would share more practical suggestions for every day activities, however one feels the book is mostly dedicated to the issue of finding language nannies and immigration in the United States. This is not applicable to our family in which both parents are roughly trilingual with languages different from the community one (see?, I picked up some terminology there).
Some stories in the book really blew my mind with respect to the irrationality of people and their decisions, like the absurdity of Chinese illegal immigrants putting their lives at extreme danger and making their relatives hand over 50,000 dollars to mafias for them to end up living as makeshift cooks in the United States forced away from wife and kids and changing of state every now and then to make ends meet, when obviously all of that same effort and money would have landed them an incredibly more rewarding outcome if they had just stayed in China and avoided the fueling of mafias and corruption world wide.
I'm giving an extra star for Dippel's sincere interest and healthy curiosity to better understand West Asia, although I see him shooting himself on the foot appropriating Western media and academic nonsense on religion playing a role in conflict - you know, as opposed to the 100% worldly, selfish and colonial-related motivations behind the destabilization of many Eastern and Southern countries. China is a victim of supposedly Islamic terrorism (in reality, Turkic racial supremacism fueled with foreign aid to serve the old colonial dream of severing Xinjiang away from the Middle Kingdom), but Chinese media and academia quite purposely and systematically refrain from drawing any links between the acts of violence and the purported religion behind, in part to avoid fueling ethnic-driven tensions. The result? A Chinese society that is extremely tolerant and welcoming of Muslims. I say this as a Muslim living in China, not as a BBC or Al Jazeera reporter who couldn't care any less about Muslims or religion, claiming we are forced out of our Ramadan fasting or other similar tales that belong in the Soviet annals of cheap propaganda.
Here is an idea: if that same media and academia are dumbfounded at the near-to-home victories of Brexit and Trump, perhaps the body of "knowledge" they have been producing - even more so regarding the East - is wrong and based on flawed premises? I advice people to do what I did: spend a year of your life in a reputable Islamic madrasa of an independent Muslim country (i.e. not a satrap regime busy shaping the next wave of terrorist mercenaries who will wage wars on behalf of NATO), with a sincere and open heart, and the nonsense of the supposed role of Islam behind violence they have brainwashed you with will probably be lifted from your mind and you will be able to clearly distinguish the gray scales in the Muslim world and West Asia.
This book does encourage one to reverse-engineer it and tap into the voracious need of parents dragged into the nerve-wrecking competition for the manufacture extra-ordinary children and can help one prepare for this probable future industry in education even as it develops off the radars.
April 13, 2017
Some useful advice in this book; a few highlights include :
-learning languages is fun
-start bringing up your kid in three languages before they are three - up to that age it seems they have a "language acquisition device", which they start loosing at around three. You then have another window of opportunity until they are approximately 6. He says "if your children aren't multilingual by the age of 6, they probably never will be" After puberty, things become much much harder for them to learn new languages. I suppose they can still get fluency in one language but won't be properly bilingual
-conversely, before puberty kids can forget a language very quickly if they don't use it. After puberty i unlikely that someone will forget a language they've learnt in the past
-read out loud to them for 15 minutes at least, each day, in your target language
-Ensure kids are exposed to the target language several times a week (aim for 10 hours a weekt the author suggests): find language babysitters of target language, hang out with immigrants that speak it, playgroups etc. You need a plan with consistency, dedication and a lot of time, and probably some money (though there are ways around) to make this work.
-speak many words a minute (minimum of 30) and ensure grammar complexity when you speak to your children. The more you speak to them the better.
-ensure it's a two way conversation. listen to them
-the power of stories: tell your kids stories and ask them to tell you stories and tell them you are following them
-don't get them into formal teaching until they are older. Learning languages is fun and they should be learning simply by playing, doing daily interaction
-electronic devices, videos etc, can be useful but best for a later stage, not really before 3
-don't worry about literacy in early age, they can learn later, at 6-7
Other aspects of the book were probably a bit too anecdotal for me. Also some chapters of the book are clearly more relevant for US based people so less of interest for people outside, like me.
On a final note, I liked the rather positive view the author has on immigrants - good to see that at a time where it has become such a dirty word for many.
-learning languages is fun
-start bringing up your kid in three languages before they are three - up to that age it seems they have a "language acquisition device", which they start loosing at around three. You then have another window of opportunity until they are approximately 6. He says "if your children aren't multilingual by the age of 6, they probably never will be" After puberty, things become much much harder for them to learn new languages. I suppose they can still get fluency in one language but won't be properly bilingual
-conversely, before puberty kids can forget a language very quickly if they don't use it. After puberty i unlikely that someone will forget a language they've learnt in the past
-read out loud to them for 15 minutes at least, each day, in your target language
-Ensure kids are exposed to the target language several times a week (aim for 10 hours a weekt the author suggests): find language babysitters of target language, hang out with immigrants that speak it, playgroups etc. You need a plan with consistency, dedication and a lot of time, and probably some money (though there are ways around) to make this work.
-speak many words a minute (minimum of 30) and ensure grammar complexity when you speak to your children. The more you speak to them the better.
-ensure it's a two way conversation. listen to them
-the power of stories: tell your kids stories and ask them to tell you stories and tell them you are following them
-don't get them into formal teaching until they are older. Learning languages is fun and they should be learning simply by playing, doing daily interaction
-electronic devices, videos etc, can be useful but best for a later stage, not really before 3
-don't worry about literacy in early age, they can learn later, at 6-7
Other aspects of the book were probably a bit too anecdotal for me. Also some chapters of the book are clearly more relevant for US based people so less of interest for people outside, like me.
On a final note, I liked the rather positive view the author has on immigrants - good to see that at a time where it has become such a dirty word for many.
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November 20, 2022New title:
Language Babysitters: A How-to Guide
The title and description of this book are completely misleading. Only around 5 chapters of this entire book were actually interesting or somewhat useful in relation to the title.
Waste of paper.
Language Babysitters: A How-to Guide
The title and description of this book are completely misleading. Only around 5 chapters of this entire book were actually interesting or somewhat useful in relation to the title.
Waste of paper.
April 28, 2025
Books like this rarely attract accidental readers, and people interested in this genre seek advice on raising multilingual children. However, raising trilingual children is a highly specific demand, and I couldn’t find many books on the topic. Unfortunately, after reading this one, I’m still as clueless as before.
I don’t mean to criticise the book; I believe I’m simply not the right audience for it.
What I’m looking for is advice on introducing three languages simultaneously and methods for doing so. I understand that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach, as each child is unique. However, I’d like to learn about games and specific techniques that could be helpful.
Instead, I’ve been given a list of ideas on how to find a babysitter (preferably an immigrant), which are more practical if you live in the USA, which isn’t my case. More pages are dedicated to immigration than to linguistics, and while the topic is intriguing and important, I would prefer more insights on the process of introducing multiple languages. There were some promising ideas at the beginning about how children’s brains work, and I was hopeful about methods for dividing time between languages. However, the book then took a turn and focused on how to find a perfect babysitter.
To summarise, the book provides detailed recommendations on how to find a babysitter who speaks the desired language. It offers some guidance on choosing the second and third languages. It also discusses how to incorporate learning into a busy schedule as your child grows older.
In our case, all three languages are spoken by family or friends, and they’re not choices we can make. Only a few ideas on how to incorporate more languages into everyday life were somewhat helpful. Perhaps I’m expecting a miracle approach that doesn’t exist. And as sad as it is, every parent is on their own in this journey and needs to figure out purely themselves what works best for their situation and their children.
I don’t mean to criticise the book; I believe I’m simply not the right audience for it.
What I’m looking for is advice on introducing three languages simultaneously and methods for doing so. I understand that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach, as each child is unique. However, I’d like to learn about games and specific techniques that could be helpful.
Instead, I’ve been given a list of ideas on how to find a babysitter (preferably an immigrant), which are more practical if you live in the USA, which isn’t my case. More pages are dedicated to immigration than to linguistics, and while the topic is intriguing and important, I would prefer more insights on the process of introducing multiple languages. There were some promising ideas at the beginning about how children’s brains work, and I was hopeful about methods for dividing time between languages. However, the book then took a turn and focused on how to find a perfect babysitter.
To summarise, the book provides detailed recommendations on how to find a babysitter who speaks the desired language. It offers some guidance on choosing the second and third languages. It also discusses how to incorporate learning into a busy schedule as your child grows older.
In our case, all three languages are spoken by family or friends, and they’re not choices we can make. Only a few ideas on how to incorporate more languages into everyday life were somewhat helpful. Perhaps I’m expecting a miracle approach that doesn’t exist. And as sad as it is, every parent is on their own in this journey and needs to figure out purely themselves what works best for their situation and their children.
October 30, 2021
the author recycles the theme everytime. He seems to insist on the same topic over and over. the search engine part was a total waste of pages.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews