Bilingual Education

[Niko]

Raising Bilingual Children

I have always been fascinated how some children grow up bilingual. I have Italian parents, yet was born and raised in multicultural Australia. Unfortunately though, I didn't grow up with a bilingual education.

So what is a Bilingual Education? My own interpretation would be:

Naturally learning 2 languages simultaneously.

As a kid, I did have the opportunity to go to Italian school every Saturday for 3 hours. I did this with my sister for 6 years. However, I would think this is far from being a bilingual education.

The proof of the pudding would lie with my current Italian skills - pathetically incompetent. It was an embarrasment last year when I travelled to Italy on my Italian passport, and not being able to speaking like an Italian.

There are children who naturally grow up bilingual speaking 2 languages with ease. How did this happen? The answers lies with Bilingual Education.

So how do parents achieve a bilingual education for their chldren? The answer is too simple to be true.

Speak a different language inside the home as to what is spoken in the community.

Both my parents are Italian. Both can also speak Italian. As I grew up in Sydney, they should have only spoken Italian in the home. Whenever I left the home to go to school, play with friends etc., then that's when I should have spoken English. If we would have moved to Italy to live, then the opposite would apply. Speak English inside the home and Italian outside.

That is the simplicity of bilingual education.

Anthony Ricco
(Student Counselor - Sydney, Australia)