Bilingual or Trilingual… Advantage or Disadvantage in the 4+?
/We are actually quadrilingual in my household! The languages we speak are Italian, Portuguese, English and Tagalog. So you may be surprised to know that we made the decision to raise our child speaking English as his main language and we introduced our other languages (mainly Italian and Tagalog) when he was around 2 years of age.
There are many reasons for this but the main reason is that I have seen both sides of the coin when it comes to teaching children early language acquisition. And ultimately, for me, it was very important that my son was able to acquire a very high level of the English language in his early years. Obviously he was exposed to these languages constantly when he would spend time with his immediate family.
As a nearly 4 and a half year old (at the point of writing this), his English language is phenomenal. He speaks so eloquently and is able to express himself to a very high level. Everyone who meets my son will comment on his English language. His comprehension is superb. He was able to read from the age of 3 and a half.
I don’t say this to boast at all. When it comes to our children we must all just stay in our own lanes. I am merely explaining to you our household situation when it comes to languages.
From the age of 2, I started teaching him Italian and his father started teaching him Tagalog. What this looked like was simply beginning to speak to him in our languages. We also travel frequently to our countries so of course that is an amazing way to expose him to our languages. I also used a programme which was pretty good (not exceptional). At the age of 4, he started having formal Italian lessons.
He is doing very well in both Italian and Tagalog but he is far from fluent in either. He will be soon. I am not in a rush.
So when parents ask me about their bilingual or trilingual children when it comes to the 4+ assessments, many of them do not like my answer.
Should we teach all languages if we are preparing for the 4+ assessments?
Here is my answer.
Touch your heart and listen to your mind. What aligns with your values and your vision for your family? That is your answer.
But know that if you are sending your child to a 4+ assessment at a top school that if they do not speak English to the level of those who will be assessed with them then it will go against them (and yes you will inform the school of the fact that your child is bilingual/trilingual etc.
So make your decision and be delighted with it.
People will judge me and even tell me that we were lazy not to teach our son all four languages. That is their opinion which I truthfully do not even care for and didn’t ask for!
