Raising a Bilingual Child as a Non-Native Speaker

I was raised in the Southwestern USA, an area full of mountains, sunsets, and a beautiful desert landscape.

I spoke only English growing up, save for 2 years of Spanish classes in high school. But the public schools across the US often don’t have the best reputation for teaching foreign languages, and this was a prime example. After taking 2 years of Spanish for 5 hours a week of contact time, I couldn’t hold a basic conversation, and I had only learned the present tense. Outside of that class, I was eager to learn a new language. I was reading English translations of Heidegger and Hegel in my literature class, singing Germanic hymns in a choir, and reading German for Dummies in my free time.

I went on to college and took 3 years of German, including 2 intensive language programs, and even lived in Germany for nearly a year. Putting aside all of the other languages I dabbled in, a question quickly arose when considering my daughter’s future: Would I teach her to be bilingual?

As a non-native speaker, I doubted my abilities. I had lived in Germany and considered myself fluent, but I was out of practice, not to mention the fact that I didn’t know the vocabulary that children needed to know. I studied Kant, but I didn’t know the words for a slide or a swing set in German. Would I be able to provide her with a rich enough linguistic/cultural environment? Or what if I made mistakes, or forgot words? These fears were compounded by the fact that we live in an English-speaking community, where it would be hard to find other German speakers.

I quickly realized that perfection was not the goal – effort and exposure were. I started purchasing German children’s books for her (far too many, but how can you say a child has too many books?) and helping her watch TV and movies in German.

She’s 3 now. She’s fluent in English (the language of our community) but I speak 80% German with her. She understands it very well, considering her age and our circumstances, and can answer German questions and read German stories with me. She speaks some German, combined with English, which is typical for this age, I’m told.

By creating a language-rich environment and encouraging curiosity, I’m helping my daughter build a strong foundation in both languages – one that she will carry with her for the rest of her life.

If you’re a non-native speaker raising a child in more than one language, I would love to hear from you in the comments.