10 questions about multilingualism
François Grosjean assesses the ability to speak multiple languages. François is the author of “Life as a Bilingual” blog and books Bilingual: Life and Reality. François answers 10 questions in an interview with Marianna Pogosyan, who specializes in intercultural psychology, is a doctor and consultant.
In my opinion, the most interesting question and answer for parents who are considering raising a bilingual child is:
“What do you think is the biggest benefit of bilingualism?
– Instead of giving one benefit, I will give you a few: bilingual people can communicate with different people, they understand different cultures better, they can communicate with people in different countries. It is also known that knowing several languages helps in learning more. Bilingualism fosters open-mindedness, allows for several different perspectives on life, and reduces cultural ignorance. Bilingualism provides more opportunities for work and increases social mobility. A discussion of the benefits of bilingualism is available: here.”
“My language is bilingualism” an interview with Prof. Ofelia Garcia from City University New York
“In a multilingual world, being bi- or multilingual is an asset. Parents should understand that what matters is how they spend time with their children, not necessarily the language in which the interactions take place. However, taking into account that the United States, as well as other countries in the world, are not able to support the development of languages that are not dominant on their territory, parents should take on this task themselves. Otherwise, the child will not become bilingual.”
