The Bilingual Family: A Handbook for Parents [Paperback]

Edith Harding-Esch (Author), Philip Riley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 14, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0521004640 | ISBN-13: 978-0521004640 | Edition: 2

First published in 1986, The Bilingual Family has provided thousands of parents with the information and advice they need to make informed decisions about what language policy to adopt with their children. This second edition contains updated references and new entries to the alphabetical reference guide.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'... the material is well-organised and easy to read and the common-sense advice from parents who have been through it all themselves - makes this book recommended reading for bilingual families everywhere.' The Japan Times --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description

An up-to-date, accessible guide for parents of bilingual children.

Product Details

• Paperback: 206 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 2 edition (April 14, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521004640
• ISBN-13: 978-0521004640
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #267,367 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

121 of 123 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you only want to read one book, this will cover the bases, November 27, 2001

By 

T. Adshead - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bilingual Family (Paperback)

I'm a native English speaker, married to a Russian, and we want to bring our daughter up bilingually. I found this book very useful - it is easy to read, easy to understand, and a good survey of the main issues, while raising some of the deeper issues of language acquisition. I would recommend it to anyone in my position. Like all the best books on child raising, it acknowledges that each child is unique, and so restricts itself to general guidelines on how to approach each situation. One minor quibble is that it does not deal with the problems of teaching two alphabets, but this is not a common problem, and we will just deal with this when it arises. The thing that I really like about this book is that both authors are bringing up their children bilingually, and use their children as case studies. They have many other case studies, which makes it clear how many different situations can arise, and what has worked in each case. They are also smart enough to include the case of parents with different native languages who choose to bring up their child with a single language.

They emphasise the importance of establishing consistency in the approach to language - whatever you decide is the best way, you should stick to it, and let the child work with this situation. This could be the standard one parent/one language approach, modified as appropriate when there are non bilinguals present, or it could be one language for the home, the other language outside. The book has other approaches that have worked in other situations, including trilingual situations.

The other thing that I learned from this book is that it is crucial to expose your child to situations where they use the language. If they need to speak a language, then they will. There were many stories of children who refused to speak one language, until they were confronted with a grandparent/cousin/friend who could only speak that language, and then the fluency came fast.

Another interesting point was that you should not be worried if your child mixes the languages - they will sort things out in time. It may not be a misunderstanding about meaning, it may just be that different words have different associations, and these get distinguished eventually. The authors also caution against correcting your child's language too much, which seems like good advice to me. Language is more a tool, than a skill; you are using it to communicate, rather than score points for correct usage.
I read this book in a day - it's readable, with lots of real-life examples. It also has some side-tracks into the deeper issues of linguistic theory, which raises some interesting issues, and there is a list of books suggested for further reading.

58 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Raising kids bilingually? Esto es para ti!, April 11, 2000

By 

Dr. James C. Hunt - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bilingual Family (Paperback)

This is a fantastic book for parents who want to or need to raise their children in a multilingual environment. The approach is scientific, though the prose is not at all technical (it uses clinical studies, but you do not need a PhD in linguistics to understand the very real comforting and practical advice. We are a bilingual couple (English/Spanish) living in Japan. It was wonderful to read about the experiences of others in similar situations. The only (very mild) criticism I have is too much space spent debunking old ideas about bilingualism which seem out-of-date today. However, I understand that these ideas were entrenched in certain segments of society and need addressing for many people (meaning we, as parents, need the information to be able to handle skeptics as we encounter them). Case studies cover just about every contingency, and although the book is obviously based on European languages, the results can easily be seen to apply regardless of which languages are in question. It may take a little longer for certain language skills to develop between Japanese and English than between English and French, but the main point made is precisely that language aquisition is all relative. And kids will eventually sort it out. If you're worried or wondering about raising your kids with more than one language, buy this book. I'm glad I did.

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A useful book for middle-clas bi- and multilingual families., July 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Bilingual Family (Paperback)

This is a useful book for middle-class families that are trying to raise their children bilingual. It's subjects are mostly (but not all) educated middle class families that are bi- and mulitilingual "by choice" (i.e. living in a foreign country because of the parents' job, parents with different native languages, etc.) and speak European languages. It provides basic conceptual framework for bilinguality and goes through all possible cases of bilingual families. These examples are very helpful - not only one of them is likely to fit your particular situation, but you get a feel for how different language arrangements can work out. The book is very optimistic and encouraging in tone. It is very useful introductory reading on the subject. It is probably not going to be very useful for families in forced emigration, families with foreign adopted children, or monolingual families that wish their child to learn a foreing language. It does not have any detailed instructions, as its main purpose is to show that bilinguality is doable and comes in many different flavors. I was very reassured by this book in my desire to raise my children bilingual and bicultural.