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Doubletalk

Raising a Bilingual Family

By Tara Swords

When a family lives in an area where bilingualism isn't common, getting exposure to a second language can be a big challenge. But Olmedo says there are ways; it simply depends on how motivated the parents are.

"Are there [other] children who are native speakers of that alternate language? If not, there might be other institutions. Does your church have a group [of speakers of that language]? Maybe you can get your child involved," Olmedo says. "There are also materials on video on audio for children."

And if your repeated efforts to get your child to communicate with you in a language other than English are met with resistance, don't stop trying. He is still learning with every word you speak.

"Children will learn the language that they're exposed to in their environment," Olmedo says. "If they're hearing multiple languages, they will learn to understand and speak those languages, but it depends on the exposure continuing. [If you stop], they will lose it."

Now that Tristan has accepted the Spanish language, Conley feels her son will reap great benefits from it.

"He will be more open to the idea of learning a third language when he gets older by observing and experiencing how important and easy is to communicate with people from other countries," she says. "And if in the future he decides not to go to college (I would have a fit, of course), he will have this important skill for the rest of his life."