Raising a Bilingual Child

A Step-by-Step Guide for Parents

By: Barbara Zurer Pearson

Narrated by: Barbara Zurer Pearson

Raising a Bilingual Child, A step-by-step guide for parents

This easily digestible guidebook prepares you for what to expect and what to do when you're parenting a bilingual-to-be. It also contains general background information that will take you beyond the how, to the why. The book provides you with solid scientific arguments for raising your child bilingually and outlines practical steps you can take to integrate two (or more) languages into your child's routine. It also includes many inspirational accounts from parents and childhood bilinguals. It dispels myths about bilingualism and explains how learning multiple languages at a young age can enhance your child's overall intellectual, emotional, and social development.

Barbara Zurer Pearson, Ph.D., is a bilingualism expert with more than thirty years of research experience in the fields of bilingualism and linguistics, first at the University of Miami (FL) and then at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her pioneering work on bilingual learning by infants and children and on language assessment has been published in scholarly journals and in the book Language and Literacy in Bilingual Children.

©2008, 2022 Barbara Zurer Pearson (P)2024 Barbara Zurer Pearson

Helpful read for people raising bilingual children

I was very excited to find this book. I’m currently involved in helping my granddaughter become bilingual. This book is a quick and easy read, and is full of helpful information. I appreciated the author’s use of actual case studies and scientific research, as opposed to just anecdotal information. It was very interesting to read about how children acquire language, regardless of whether or not they become bilingual. There are multiple case studies based on different family configurations, which will be helpful to many. She includes many side notes that I found very interesting and that will lead me to further study. The book is read by the author and her voice is very easy to listen to, which is not always the case. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in raising bilingual children. It doesn’t have all the answers, but it definitely lays a wonderful foundation and provides useful and relevant information.