I recently had a discussion with someone about the idea of raising your children bilingually. Two different positions were taken. My position was that raising bilingual children is very useful, but only if one of the parents is French-speaking/bilingual. So that the children certainly do not learn mistakes while they are young and that they can also be pointed out to them by someone who has fully mastered the language. The other point of view was that a fully Dutch-speaking couple, who derive their French knowledge from using French on vacation and from their own school period, can also teach French to their children so that they will later be better at understanding and speaking French. . My reaction was that it is best to come into contact with French at a young age through someone who has a complete command of the language (for example, a French teacher). As our discussion turned into an ever-growing difference of opinion, we ask for your advice. Could you give us some more information, based on some scientific evidence?
Thanks in advance.
Best regards,
Anouk Van Gils
Answer
It is always responsible and useful to teach children several languages, even if you do not master them yourself. There are now enough technological resources (TV, Internet, publications,…) to help the child learn to speak and write the language well.
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André Lefevre
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