BiLingual

For parents

Parents living abroad should be aware of their mission, which is teaching their children to speak their mother tongue and cultivating the national culture of their country of origin.

The most natural thing in the world is the expression of feelings to a child by his/her father and mother in a way they have known from the day they were born - in their mother tongue. This is the language that they have acquired from their parents, that they have grown up with, that they have experienced moments of joy and amazement in. This is the language they dream, wonder and pray in, make difficult decisions in, ponder and react spontaneously in, in moments of terror.

It is this language which expresses in the best and most accurate way the emotional diversity with all its shades and nuances. This is the reason why this language should be used when talking to a child.

Below are a few rules, which should be obeyed as far as the bilingual upbringing is concerned:

• the division of communication in a family in one of two ways:
  'one person - one language' or 'home language - environmental language';
• consistency;
• patience and persistence;
• expressing love to a child;
• shaping the linguistic awareness of a child;
• correct use of language by parents.