What is the most important rule in raising bilingual children?
The most recommended rule of thumb is to always remain consistent with the language in which one speaks to a child. In this way the child learns to distinguish between the languages spoken at home, in his environment (when there is more than two languages), and the society at large. Providing this consistency allows the child to learn the language well. Consistency is crucial for the child as he begins to associate the parent with the individual language and his progress is measured by how consequent the parent adheres to this rule. This rule is therefore known as the” 1 and 1 Rule” or better yet “One Person, One Language Rule”. One can better illustrate this rule with the following example Example: The father speaks to the child always in German, the mother speaks always Spanish. At this point it is not crucial to the child’s language development in which language they communicate with each other but rather, that they individually remain consistent with the language they speak with th
