Welcome! ¡Bienvenidos! Were you raised in a bilingual household? Are you raising your children in a bilingual environment?

As of today, 1 in 5 Americans speaks a language other than English and more than half of them speak Spanish. If you were raised in South Florida, diversity just comes with the territory. We are lucky to live around so many different cultures. Food and music from all around the world just waiting for us to try out and learn more about.

In this blog, we’re going to go into some of the benefits of raising children in a bilingual household.

1. Growing up in a bilingual household has been proven to advance their social interactions as well as their mastery of language.

2. When a child begins to listen to a second or third language before the age of 3, they are more likely to become accustomed to the sounds and differentiate between all of them.

3. It is a myth that bilingual children do not progress at the same speed as a child learning a single language. Bilingual/multilingual children reach speech development milestones at the same rate as everyone else causing no language delay.

4. Another benefit of bilingual children is the development of better memory. According to some studies on both children and adults, learning a second language will improve a person’s memory. You can exercise your own memory while teaching your child a second language.

As parents, we want to speak clearly so our children pick up the different sounds and pronunciations while developing their speech. As bilingual parents we want to speak in the language we are strongest at, so the child can pick up the correct way of saying new words.

Here’s a big one that doesn’t always get talked about: a bilingual child will have more job opportunities down the line in the melting pot the world is becoming. Companies look for bilingual candidates in order to expand their reach in foreign markets and having a bilingual person on the payroll is a benefit - such as in the case of nurses who are able to communicate with more patients. A second or third language will always give your child an edge in a competitive job market.

As you can see, there really is no downside to teaching your child a second language. Even if you as a parent only know one language, but would like to teach your children a second one, feel free to do so. A bilingual child tends to be more empathetic to those around them, because they understand them. A second language is a beautiful tool we can use to comprehend the world around us, to grow as individuals, and to learn from different cultures and experiences.

Got questions about how to best approach teaching your child a second language? Leave them in the comments below or contact us directly and we’ll be happy to help you navigate this world.

South Florida Speech Solutions is always here to help you and your child along on your speech journey! Schedule a free screening with us by emailing us at info@southflspeech.com or contact us to schedule an appointment. For your convenience, we are seeing patients in-person and online via our teletherapy service.

Until next time South Florida, thank you for visiting our website. Be sure to sign up to our newsletter and/or contact us with your speech related questions.