Bringing up a Bilingual Child

I could not put this book down - it so informative and inspiring in the same time! This is not the first book about bilingualism I have read, but there are so many new tactics and ideas I picked up from it. Like the story of a little pet kitten, that could "understand" only Swedish. so in order to speak to her little pet author's daughter started to use the language that she refused to use before.Multilingual parenting advice in the book is introduced by seven Cs: Communication, Confidence, Commitment, Consistency, Creativity, Culture, and Celebration. This layout makes it super easy to remember these important domains of raising a bilingual child. I should admit I was lacking creativity and celebration part in raising my 4 bilingual children.The author did an excellent job of covering such a variety of situation that families can face when raising bilingual children: different family situation, school issues, language delays, developmental issues, lack of support and so on.Also, I found that there are a lot of books that concentrate on early bilingual upbringing, but not too many will talk about teenagers. The author covers this age group equally with younger age group.Even if you get only one great idea from this book, it will greatly improve your multilingual parenting. (And I have a feeling that you will get a lot of great ideas from it:)Here is an example of the ideas I talk about:"Remember to always phrase your feedback in a positive way....Don't say "Great that you did not say that in the wrong language!" but instead pick up the fact that she did speak your language "Wonderful that you knew how to say that!" Positive feedback should always point towards the goal not to mention mistakes."

It is not bad, some solid information if you are new to bilingualism. What I didn't like was that the useful info was maybe 20 pages and the rest was to make the book thicker. Maybe some people would disagree but I only scammed some chapters. Also he does mention parents who want to pass their second language onto their kids he does not pay much attention to this field. In some chapters he even ignores it.

There are so many articles and books out today on bilingualism that it’s often hard for non-experts to sift through and find what is true, and then, what is useful. I have come to rely on Rosenback’s opinion personally when it comes to anything related to bilingualism. She is not only wise in academic terms but in personal experience as well. She successfully raised her own children to be fluent bilinguals and through her website and Facebook group continues to help many other families to do the same. I love that this book is based on solid research but isn’t bogged down in it, making it an easy read for busy parents who already know the benefits of bilingualism and just want to focus on the how-to. It lays out the different strategies and helps you create your own family language plan – and gives tips for how to adapt that plan when circumstances change. Moreover, it offers encouragement and helps build confidence for families, particularly when faced with naysayers or their own self-doubts, that they can successfully raise bilingual children.*I received a complimentary copy for review purposes; however, all opinions are my own.*

This is an excellent resource for parents who are raising children in more than one language. It is a practical guide and it is a must-read for not only the parents but language teachers.

It gave me strategies and confidence that what I want to achive with my child is in fact possible

It's a great book for anyone trying to bring up a bilingual child. It's very practical, with exercises and ways to help parents teach children the minority language. There is some background information on multilingualism, e.g. the myths surrounding bilingual children, but the main aim of the book is to show how to increase the child's exposure to a certain language and how to make it more fun. I must say I read it with pleasure and it gave me some great ideas how to increase my child's confidence in speaking my home language.

I have read a few books on raising multilingual kids, in 3 languages, and this is the one that was most helpful, in the sense that it gives very practical tips on how to start and follow the journey as a multilingual family. I highly recommend for people who don't know where to start the journey or who got "lost in translation"

Not the best book on the subject of bilingualism. Annoying how the author refers to ‘your daughter’ most of the book - just say your child.

Rita Rosenback hat in ihrem Buch die wichtigsten und neusten Erkenntnisse im Bereich der Zweisprachigen Kindererziehung in sehr anschaulicher Art und Weise dargestellt. Es ist auch für nicht Englisch-Muttersprachler einfach zu lesen und sehr übersichtlich und benutzerfreundlich strukturiert. Mit den "7 C's" bezeichnet Rita Rosenback die Grundpfeiler für eine erfolgreiche zweisprachige Erziehung: Communication /Kommunikation, Confidence / Zuversicht, Commitment /Einsatz (Hingabe), Consistency / Beharrlichkeit, Creativity / Einfallsreichtum, Culture /Kultur und Celebration / Zelebration.In kurzen, übersichtlichen Kapiteln, erläutert die Autorin die Vorteile und Nachteile der Zweisprachigkeit, und bespricht die gängigen Vorurteile, denen Eltern oft begegnen, die ihre Kinder mehrsprachig erziehen wollen, auf eine Weise, die Eltern (und Verwandte, Bekannte, Lehrer) in ihrem Vorhaben bestärkt (s. z.B. Kapitel 4. "When your confidence is put to the test").Dabei sind die von der Forschung empfohlenen Strategien klar erläutert (OPOL: one parent one language, mL@H: minority language at home usw.) und es wird das Erstellen eines Sprachen-Plans nahe gelegt (wofür die Autorin Beispiele im Anhang mitliefert).Im Kapitel über den Einsatz, den Familien leisten müssen, legt sie sehr klar dar, was das alles beinhaltet, und wer und was alles noch berücksichtigt werden muss: Geschwister, Wegziehen ins Ausland (oder in ein weiteres Ausland), das Ableben eines Familienmitglieds, Trennung, Patchworkfamilien.Da das Leben immer Überraschungen mit sich birgt, ist natürlich auch Einfallsreichtum gefragt (Kapitel 7), wobei Eltern sich durchaus auch durch ihre Kinder leiten und sich von anderen inspirieren lassen können.Das innige Zusammenspiel zwischen Kultur und Sprache wird ebenfalls behandelt (Kapitel 8) sowie die positive Einstellung und die Zelebration, die während der ganzen Zeit nicht fehlen darf.Am Ende des Buches findet man eine Liste der meistgestellten Fragen (S.171-175) mit Hinweis auf die Seite, wo sie im Buch beantwortet werden.Alles in allem ist Rita Rosenbacks Buch ein "must read" für Eltern, die mehr über zweisprachige Kindererziehung und auch den aktuellen Stand der Forschung auf leicht zugängliche Art und Weise erfahren wollen.Um einen Eindruck von Rita Rosenbacks Professionalität zu erlangen, kann ich nur ihre Webseite empfehlen - auf der man übrigens Fragen über das Thema stellen kann! - [...]

Es un libro de divulgación, no pretende ser un tratado académico, pero es claro, fácil de leer y la mayoría de las cosas que dice son sensatas. Recomendable para familias que comienzansu camino hacia el plurilingüismo