Helping your child develop
additive bilingualism

From: ExTeam Manual, Fédération des parents francophones de C.-B., 2007

_Here are some ways you can help your child develop balanced additive bilingualism
when one of your family languages is French and you live in English-speaking British Columbia:

Set a goal:

Commit:

Be consistent:

Correct:

Build:

Reinforce:

Be consistent:

Speak well:

Branch out:

Support:

Make it fun:

Do you want your child just to understand French, or to speak, read and write it too? Would
you like your child fo be able to teach French fo his or her own children, to pass the
language onto the next generation? If so, your goal is to help your child build a solid
foundation in French before he or she leaves home.

If you're the French-speaking parent, always speak French to your child. Your commitment
will make all the difference. If you're the non-French-speaking parent, always support
your spouse in this commitment. After all, you're a team!

Encourage your child to speak French with you or your French-speaking spouse
always, no matter where you are or who else is listening. Bilingualism is something
to be proud of and not hidden away!

When you hear mistakes in either language, repeat your child's words in the
correct form—teach by example.

Encourage your child to ask questions, and answer them. Concepts learned in one language
can be transferred info another language, but you should make sure your child learns as many
new concepts in French as he or she does in your family’s other language. Remember, you're
striving for balance—but also remember that it’s impossible to have foo much French in your
child's life when he or she is growing up in an English-speaking society.

Surround your child with French music, books, stories, games and computer software.
Play French-language games as a family. Create a collection of French rhymes, riddles and
sayings that your child will enjoy using over and over again, because youngsters love repetition!

Establish routines where you use only French, like when you're driving somewhere or eating
certain meals or in certain rooms. _

You and other adults are role models for your child’s language behaviour.

Talk about all sorts of things with your child (in French if you're the French-speaking parent)
and speak your language well. Use the proper words in whole, short sentences.

Don't mix your languages unless you want to mix up your child!

Show your child that other people speak French too. He or she needs to hear the language
from the many different speakers you'll find in your local Francophone community and
elsewhere. Make sure your extended Francophone family uses only French with your child.
Hearing others, especially adults, speak French will help your child build a broader and
more solid language base.

Focus on your child’s progress in his or her French-language development;
you're helping him or her build a foundation for a lifetime of language use.

Make sure your child has as much fun in French as he or she does in the other family language!