Alhamdulillah. We are back.
I just have too many things to be shared regarding bilingualism, I don't even know which one to write first. Too excited to share about my findings, experiences and stories, but honestly I need time to sit alone, relax my mind and arrange properly about the issues I want to share. (I wonder when I will have such time.)
Reading here and there about bilingualism somehow is overwhelming and I don't think sharing the articles directly here will be attractive and helpful enough, especially because of the abundance usage of scientific terms. Eventually I will try to translate those articles (into Malay or simpler English) and classify the contents into their own revolving topics. I guess in that way, it will be easier to be understood and applied.
Just now I saw a friend posted a status about her daughter that speaks English with her, and she received a comment asking what did she do that resulted her daughter to use English in her conversations at home. I noticed that this kind of question is actually a FAQ (frequently asked question) whenever someone posted stories or videos about their children speaking in English. If someone asks me the same question, my answer will be very simple:
Question: How do you teach your child to speak English?
Answer: The same way you teach your child Malay.
So, how do we normally teach our kids Malay?
1) Talk and talk and talk in Malay with them.
2) Read Malay books to them.
3) Watch Malay tv programmes or videos.
4) Sing Malay nursery rhymes with our kids.
5) Let our kids listen to us speaking in Malay with others.
6) Let them meet and mingle with people that speak in Malay.
Same methods applied for other languages as well. :) No rocket science, it just needs big passion and high determination, two things that all of us are able to have. They are even easier to be gained once we've became a parent. We all know how much we always want to give the best to our kids and how much we are willing to sacrifice for them.
And basically raising our kids bilingual is actually a great gift to them, looking to the benefits of having a proficiency (or at least an understanding) in more than one language. I have written an entry about this topic, and indeed there are much much more benefits besides those I have mentioned. (Here is the entry). Or you can just simply search the keywords "benefits of bilingualism" and you will be very tired (or bored?) to read ample of writings about that topic.
I keep encouraging my friends to speak in more than one languages with their kids simply because THEY CAN. Yes, you can too, if you really want it. :)
P.s.: Of course there are more ways to teach languages to our kids, the above mentioned are just the basic methods.
;D
