Answer
In this counseling answer:
•Often when children are raised in a multilingual atmosphere, they may be slow to learn at first, but they eventually do catch up and excel.
•Take your time with them and don’t put undue pressure on them.
•Create a positive learning environment for them focusing on the positives. Reward them when they learn something new or make progress in their learning.
•Make it as fun as possible so that they enjoy learning and desire to continue to learn.
Wa ‘Alaikum Salaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,
Ma sha’ Allah, it is a great skill to be able to speak multiple languages, especially at a young age. This will prove to be very useful for them in life.
It is understandable why it might cause you concern that they might find things difficult learning so many languages. You don’t want them to face any challenges or struggles.
Often when children are raised in an atmosphere like this, they may be slow to learn at first, but this generally does not cause any concern. They eventually do catch up and excel. This might be difficult for you at first if you feel like your children are behind other children of their age, but with patience, you will see the benefits. Ultimately, when they are adults, they will be in an excellent position having mastered at least three languages. Having learned these languages from such a young age will make it even easier for them in the future to learn new languages – more so than a child who has only been raised with a single language.
As Muslims, this will be especially useful when it comes to learning the Qur’an. You will likely find that they will pick up the Arabic language and memorize the Qur’an very quickly as they become accustomed to learning new languages.
Multilingual Children
Understand as well that children learn very fast. As adults, we often underestimate our children’s abilities. In fact, you will likely even find that they are even better than you as an adult at learning a new language quickly!
Whilst I can’t advise on the technicalities of the best way to actually teach them languages, I can give advice on how to potentially make the process easier and less stressful for you.
Firstly, be patient with them. They may appear to behind at first, but they will catch up and often take over! If you become impatient with them, they may come to dislike learning new languages and withdraw from it altogether.
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They might have bad associations with learning new languages which will not be conducive to them learning effectively.
Take your time with them and don’t put undue pressure on them.
Create a positive learning environment for them focusing on the positives. Reward them when they learn something new or make progress in their learning.
Make it as fun as possible so that they enjoy learning and desire to continue to learn.
Perhaps if they have workbooks that they are working from, have stickers that you can use to reward a complete piece of work.
Give them an element of control by letting them control which topic they want to cover. For example, do they want to learn colors or animals today?
Integrate it into daily life, encourage them to use the language around the home so they become familiar with using different languages in real life situations.
Take a break so they don’t become overwhelmed – both during a session where you might be teaching them as well as taking a full day or two off learning at all. At the same time, also make sure that they are regularly practising.
May Allah (swt) make it easy for you and your children. May He give you the patience to effectively teach them this very useful and beneficial skill of languages.
Salam,
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Disclaimer: The conceptualization and recommendations stated in this response are very general and purely based on the limited information provided in the question. In no event shall AboutIslam, its counselors or employees be held liable for any damages that may arise from your decision in the use of our services.
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