Ever since I gave birth to M., there was no doubt in my mind my child would hear only one language from me, my mother tongue. And while this enormous task is still underway, I know now I made the right decision.

While the competition I fight against in the form of English being the predominant language in her environment is harsh, I don’t necessarily see this as a bad thing. It will make her or break her, as they say. Evaluating which language to use, she sees the world in ways not many do. She adds a linguistic dimension to everything she does.

It bothers me when I see parents who reside in foreign countries give up a language they natively speak and proceed to deprive their kids of a chance to not only speak a language but also get to know their parents’ culture. No excuse is valid enough in my mind, and the one I hear most often boils down to laziness.

As I see her struggle between two languages, I do sometimes feel I am imposing too much on her. But then again, I speak two languages fluently, and I don’t see how that has been anything but beneficial to me (warning! knowing a second language does not benefit your mental stability :) ).

Anyway, here’s an interesting article about bilingualism possibly delaying onset of dementia.