Myths and Facts about bilingualism: Putting your mind at Ease

Growing up I always knew that one day when I had kids, I would teach them English, Spanish and French, the 3 languages that I speak. I always thought to myself it would be an easy task since speaking 3 languages was a normal part of my childhood. However, when I became a first-time parent and my daughter started developing her speech, I noticed she mixed words in all languages, looked at me with big, confused eyes and I took her longer to identify an object (something her monolingual peer may have identified quicker).

All these worries started emerging in me and I thought to myself: “Can I really do this? How am I going to do it? How did my Parents do it? Am I going to confuse my child?”.

So, I started doing some research on bilingualism in children and found interesting facts and myths that put my mind at ease.

If you’re worried like I was, check out this YouTube video posted by the University of Colorado’s CU Boulder School of Education called “Bilingualism Matters: Myths and Facts about Early Bilingual Development”.

It’s a wonderful 10-minute video that debunked so many common misconceptions like bilingualism confuses kids or bilingualism creates speech delays. Bottom line is her little brain is sorting through all the information, so of course she needs time to figure things out!

Most importantly, I keep reminding myself that I learned 3 languages simultaneously and I turned out fine (I think? hahah). Therefore, my child can too even if it means that language development could take a little extra time. I know the benefits outweigh the (temporary) costs. ⚖😊