Dear all parents out there,
If you speak more than one language that is not English, which is the societal norm here in America, please teach the other language(s) to your children. Your child(ren) will be able to connect with people from different backgrounds than them, gain better experience in their future careers, and the cool factor of being able to speak another language! It's important that you start teaching your child another language besides their native tongue when they're young, at least before age 6, because that is when the critical period of their language acquisition begins. YES. I did just say a fancy phrase, which I got from my Linguistics professor who teaches my class stuff like this. Anyway, it's better if the child learns another language at a young age than when they're older, because it will be harder.
I was taught Spanish when I was in 1st-4th grade in elementary school. Spanish was taught along with the grammar and punctuation of English, which I learned in school as well. I believe English stayed the dominant language with me, because it was mostly spoken at home for me. So I remember learning numbers and phrases of different categories in Spanish at my school, but I think it didn't stick as I acquired language, because it was not a language that was repeated at home. My parents both speak English to each other and to me. However, my parents are Nigerian and come from different tribes within Nigeria. My mom still speaks Edo---from the tribe she comes from---and my dad still speaks Ijaw, from the tribe he comes from. To the western world, there "native" languages would be considered indigenous languages---not the major ones we're told about (i.e. English, Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic).
I could talk for days and give examples about how colonization has played a major part in certain indigenous languages being wiped out and no longer around to be spoken or written. But that's for another article possibly.
Going back to my parents as an example, I personally wish they had spoken their native languages to me as a child, while I was taught English in school. I would say I have a good relationship with my parents right now, but if I spoke their language with them it would have created a different and special type of bond. As a first-generation American child, this is important to me.
The message I'm sending to parents who speak another language is this: please teach your child another language if you speak multiple languages. You won't regret it. If English was not your first language and you spoke another native tongue, teaching you're child can create a special bond between the both of you. They will be able to communicate with other people on a broader scale.
Signed, Tama Moni
