If you are keen on your child becoming bilingual, there are many other routes than within the family. Some children pick up a second language by attending a nursery school, play group or with a childminder, babysitter or au-pair. If a child has a continuity of second language experience outside the home, the child can become bilingual. There are many successful case histories of children speaking one language at home, and through regular attendance at nursery school, quickly becoming fluent in a second language. If that experience is consolidated in formal schooling, a highly competent bilingual may result.
Children can also be successful in acquiring a conversational second language in the street. Playing with friends over successive years in the evening, during holidays and at weekends, provides the opportunity to acquire a second language painlessly and effortlessly.
The dangerous conclusion would be that the first language should be learned in the home and the second language can be acquired outside the home. This is a false and dangerous position because parents' attitudes, encouragement and interest are vital in a child's second language development. Gentle inquiries about the child's second language development may indicate to the child that the parent is positively interested. Praising the child when they hear the child speaking the second language may do wonders for the child's language ego. Visiting the nursery school or childminder and showing interest in the language development of the child in that context may both encourage the teacher or carer. It will also signal to the child the parents' interest and awareness.
There is a danger in allowing interest to become concern, and enthusiasm to boil over into anxiety. A smile, a ‘well done', a pat on the back and kindly praise do wonders for a child's motivation. If the parent thinks that second language development is important, the child will soon regard it as important as well. If the parent thinks that second language learning is of high status, the child will grow in status by identifying with the parents' wishes.
Second language support may also be provided by parents in the form of cassettes, videos, books, posters and comics. One limitation of bilingualism learned in the street is that the level of language development is specific to that environment. The relatively simple conversational skills required to communicate in the street and playground need to blossom further. The language level of the classroom and office is more advanced.
The child ideally needs to grow from listening and speaking a second language to literacy in that language. The full flowering of the second language comes with reading and writing in a second language. Parents can encourage literacy in the second language in two ways. First, parents can provide stimulating material in the second language (e.g. books and magazines). Second, they can listen to the child read in the second language even if they are ‘encouragers' rather than ‘correctors'. Research has shown that even if a parent doesn't understand what a child is reading, the child engaging in reading practice (plus the visible encouragement and interest of the parent) facilitates development in reading in a second language.
While parents in such a situation may not be able to give language help, the language of support and encouragement is definitely needed.