Advice to Parents
Deciding to bring up your children bilingually is an important decision. A decision which will affect the rest of their lives and your lives as parents.
If you and your partner speak Welsh, it's quite likely that you will speak Welsh with each other as a family. Your baby will therefore grow up to be totally bilingually.
If only one of you can speak Welsh, it is vitally important that you start to use your Welsh with your baby from the beginning.
Twf Top Tips
How to introduce Welsh into the home?
- Make a decision to introduce Welsh to your baby before he or she is born.
- Use Welsh with your baby from day one. If you can speak Welsh, why not use it?
- Play Welsh CDs in the home and in the car. Visit www.fflach.co.uk to see their choice of CDs.
- Watch Cyw on S4C and Welsh DVDs. (S4C digidol: [Wales] Sky –104, Freeview – 004, Virgin TV 194. [UK] Sky 135).
- Read Welsh books with your baby. You can borrow them from your local library for free.
At birthdays and Christmas ask members of your family to buy Welsh DVDs for your children. You can see the resources available by visiting www.sainwales.com and www.camaubach.com.
Choose Welsh-medium child care for your children.
Visit the local Ti a Fi group. You can find information about your local Ti a Fi group by visiting www.mym.co.uk.
As a Welsh speaker, help other families to introduce Welsh to their children.
- Go for it! Give your baby 2 languages from day 1.