Family Language Policy

A Family Language Policy is a detailed plan describing the languages and language strategies used in a family. This plan often includes the ideology towards (bilingual) parenting and the goals that a family has set considering their bilingualism.

Before I tell you more, there are two important things to discuss.
First of all, you can start making your family language policy at any time or period of your child’s life. Ideally you start planning before he/she is born, or soon after. This way you can start raising your bilingual children confidently and you know what to expect (a bit). But other times are great for planning as well, as it’s never too late! No matter what your current situation is, it can always help to take a moment and think about what you want, and how to achieve it.

Second of all, it is important to note that whenever I talk about languages, this also includes dialects. No matter the “status” of a language or dialect, they all are of equal value and play an important part in your and your child’s life.

So how can you start planning for your own bilingual family? I will tell you the four basic steps needed to make a family language policy that suits your particular situation. If you prefer more indepth and personalised tips, contact me about your situation and wishes.

Step 1: Languages and Goals

Think about what you want for your child(ren), what would be your ideal language situation for when they grow up? What are the languages that you wish your child to learn? When you have decided on the different languages, you set goals for each individual language. You might want your child to be able to go to school in a certain language, or move abroad. For this they would have to understand and speak the language, but will also need to learn how to read and write. You might be okay if the child can only understand it (receptive bilingualism), or you want your child to know at least the basics of all of the languages.

It is important to discuss your preferred languages and their goals with your partner. You might think he or she will have similar ideas but often they differ when you get down to the details. It is important to have shared ideals and goals for your family. Knowing what you want and why, will help you gain confidence as a parent and help you stick with the plan.

Step 2: The Language Resources

Take inventory of all your ‘resources’. Which languages do you speak as a parent, and what languages does your partner speak? Of each language, note the level and/or fluency. Are there other important people involved in the upbringing for your child that can help raise your child bilingually? This can be grandparents, nannies, the neighbors, friends, daycare, school etc. What are the languages of those people, and what level or fluency do they have?

Step 3: Choosing a Strategy

Try to match your goals to your resources. Who can provide the needed input for each language, and is that enough to reach your goal? If you also want your child to read and write in the languages, is that learned in school? If not, are you capable of teaching it yourself or do you need additional resources?

In this step, you choose the language strategy that suits your situation. You can use the one-parent-one-language approach, speak the minority language at home, find specific times and locations to use each language etc. You can also create a new strategy to perfectly meet your needs. You can find the information about the strategies here.

Step 4: Review and Repeat

Review your policy as you go. This is a very important step, especially if your situation changes quite often. Maybe you move to a different country or your child starts going to school and suddenly find yourself with a different language environment. Maybe the strategy you use doesn’t help to achieve your goals anymore. Other possibilities are that you improved your own language skills and want to change the language you are using with the child. And maybe everything is still great, and you don’t need to change anything.

Try to look at your family language policy every few years or whenever your family situation changes. Are the goals you had still up to date or have they changed? Are they still realistic in the current situation? What are the resources that I have to my disposal? Is the chosen strategy still the best one for us?

After you have followed these 4 steps, you have completed your very own family language policy! For some families, this will be done in no-time while others might need to think and discuss every step in detail. Take all the time you need and remember: knowing what you want and why you want it, brings you one step closer to achieving it.

Would you like help creating a Family Language Policy? You can contact me for the possibilities of a single consultation including your own FLP, or a longer period of coaching.