Growing Up with Two Languages: A Practical Guide

by Una Cunningham-Andersson

This best-selling, easy-to-read guide provides sensible advice and practical help for families whose children are growing up with two languages, and for professionals working with them. It is packed with case studies and examples of how over fifty families around the world are coping with bilingualism. Every family's situation is different, but there is a good deal that parents can do to make life with two languages easier for their children. The trials and rewards of life with two languages and cultures are discussed in detail, followed by clear guidance on supporting the child's linguistic and cultural development. Features of this new updated edition Written by parents bringing up four bilingual children of their own, Growing Up with Two Languages will help all those who feel uncertain about how to help children benefit fully from their bilingual situation. It will also be useful for students on bilingualism, language acquisition and education courses.

Genres: Parenting, Language, Nonfiction, Linguistics

176 pages, Hardcover

First published August 19, 1999

Reviews

[fhsjkdhvkf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find it’s a very good, practical guide, based on what other families are doing. My only issue is that sometimes, the author mentions issues that I’m wondering about, such as parents feeling that strangers or other people are annoyed by them speaking a different language to their child, but she doesn’t really suggests solutions to those issues, or ways to deal with it. But except for that, it’s an interesting book that covers many things.

[Katia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty basic book, I definitely wasn’t the target audience haha but good nevertheless. Some interesting info and insight into growing up with two languages - helped me identify and relate to certain experiences , definitely easier to do so when described by someone else :)

[Nicole Rimensberger · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent resource for families who want to bring up their children to be bilingual. It provides insights into language acquisition and development as well as an overview of different bilingual scenarios and practical advice about understanding and developing a family language system.

This book really resonated with me; reflecting my challenges and fears regarding my decision to only speak German to Lily. As her language develops and she speaks more and more English I've come to realise that I'm engaged in a "language battle" of sorts. Language input equals language output, and the reality is that she lives in an English environment and besides me, hears very little German.

It was definitely somewhat reassuring to read about common experiences and challenges. As much as I would have liked it to have had a "magic bullet" solution, it set out the tips and tricks of other parents in a very realistic way.

[SenazNasansia Muliawan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The authors of this book raising their children in two languages. No wonder this book full of information for parents who are interested in raising their child in 2 languages.
There's a lot of example in this book about the problem that will accour during conducting the 2 languages to the children. Not only providing the example of the problem and question that parent a like will facing. This book also give us some solution of it.
Overall, it's a good book to read for those of you who are willing to raise your children using 2 languages.

[Nux · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting examples and theories, also discusses things I might otherwise not notice about or thought about... like the cultural nuances of the languages and how the society or big families might not always see multilingual family concepts are positive things, even possibly as threats of the bigger family communication schemes. Including tips on how to handle certain situations or suggestions... sometimes not very practical ones, but might be worth considering about. An interesting topic so far, might go and look for some more books like this.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

My wife (Danish) and I (American) are expecting our first child, so I picked up this book to learn a little about raising kids in a bilingual environment. In addition to all of the new things we must learn as first-time parents, we have this added language and culture element to consider. We probably should dive into the book a little more, but are currently occupied with the traditional pregnancy books.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read for parents considering raising a child with multiple languages. I had read a lot on bilingualism and we selected the "one parent, one language" approach. What i found unique about this book, and deeply appreciated, was raising the importance of teaching the culture to match the language. Otherwise, you can raise a teenager with perfect pronunciation and grammar, but is completely lost in all the cultural allusions that one would normally explain to foreigners.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually didn't mean to buy this because it got rather mediocre reviews on amazon. But I accidentally bought it on my kindle, so I decided to keep it. I was pleasantly surprised.

For someone who knows nothing about multilingualism, this book would be helpful and informative. I already know about multilingualism, so it was a bit of a review for me, but still an enjoyable refresher course.

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book gives really great accounts of people who have actually tried raising their kids bilingually- from all walks of life. All the families have chosen to do things differently, explain what they did and why, and how it worked out. It's really very informative and one of the best books about raising children bilingually I've seen.

[Alison Hardtmann · Rating 2 out of 5]

When my daughter was born I purchased a few books on this subject. My husband is German American, I am American and we were living in Germany at the time. Of the books read, this was the least practical, and is probably more interesting to people studying bilingualism than to parents.

[Jessica J. · Rating 1 out of 5]

esperaba aprender algo y no solo leer opiniones y viviencias de otras personas

[Yvonne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting read but gets a bit repetitive at times.