We are living in the globalizing world. More and more people are exposed to bilingualism, trilingualism or multilingualism. Raising trilingual children becomes common because of the way of multilingual living for many families around the world.

Potential bilingual, trilingual or multilingual speakers

• Natives under a state in which they do not share the predominant language.
• People with a strong interest in a foreign language.
• People who find it necessary to acquire a second language for practical purposes such as business, information gathering or entertainment.
• Immigrants and their descendants.
• Residents in border areas between two countries with different languages, where each language is seen as of equal prestige: efforts may be made by both language communities to acquire the second language.
• Children whose parents each speak a different language, in multilingual communities. In monolingual communities, when parents maintain a one-parent/one-language household, their children may become trilingual or multilingual. On the other hand, in monolingual communities, where parents have different first language, trilingualism or multilingualism in the child may be achieved when both parents maintain a one-language (not the community language) household.
• Children in language-rich communities where neither language is seen as more prestigious than the other and where interaction between people occurs in different languages on a frequent basis.
• Children who have one or more parents who have learned a second language, either formally or by living in the country. The parent chooses to speak only this second language to the child.
• People who marry into families where their first language is not commonly spoken.

Raising Trilingual Children

Parents considering raising trilingual or multilingual children face many questions. What does the research say concerning trilingual children or multilingual children? Is one method better than another? Is learning more than two languages simultaneously too difficult or “confusing”? Is there any risk that a trilingual child even can not master his or her primary language? Is it ever too late or too early to begin to introducing a child a new language?

For some families, raising trilingual or multilingual children could be a choice. For others, raising trilingual children is just the way of multilingual living.

Research studies on trilingual children

I have done some research on raising trilingual children or multilingual children. However, my initial research revealed that children raised in trilingual or multilingual families have not been studied in numbers great enough to predict how certain conditions will or will not affect language acquisition. But despite what may seem to be an obvious assumption, I have found no research to back up the idea that “Learning more than two languages simultaneously too difficult or “confusing”". Researchers still do not know how to predict later outcome with monolingual toddlers, much less bilingual, trilingual or multilingual youngsters.

Some research has been done on the subject and indicate that bilingual and biliterate children outperform their monolingual peers on standardized tests. Bilingual children also seem to possess better conceptual abilities because they are exposed to a greater number of concepts in different languages.

Methods of raising trilingual children or multilingual children

There are many different methods of raising trilingual children or multilingual children. A very popular method is known as “One Parent, One Language” (OPOL) in which one parent speaks exclusively to the child in one minority language, while the other uses only the other minority language, the majority language is used in formal education at school. The family should make a conscious decision to be a trilingual family or multilingual family, as I strongly believe consistency is the key to successfully raising trilingual children or multilingual. However you choose to communicate with your child, I believe it is important that the interaction be pleasant and natural for everyone involved.

Be prepared to face difficulties and problems. The majority language is almost always dominant and it takes some courage to insist on speaking a foreign language, and especially if the child does not seem to need this language in his/her daily life. If you decide to raise a trilingual or multilingual child, start as early as possible, right at birth is highly recommended, and to have faith in your own instincts and gut feelings. Don’t jump to conclusions when problems arise. Many professionals, doctors, and therapists have good advice to offer but some may not have been deeply involved in the area of trilingualism or multilingualism. However, if speech disorders or chromosomal disorders are diagnosed, you should listen to the advice of doctors or professionals. Keep in mind that you as a parent is the only person in the world who know your child best. Each child is unique and the range of outcomes varies.

There are a number of activities parents can do and methods parents can apply to raise trilingual children. For example, speaking to your child exclusively in the minority language or set aside a certain time of day to do so, singing songs and nursery rhymes, watching videos, reading books aloud, and purchasing educational CD-ROMs for your child’s use. In addition, when possible, visits to the country where the minority language is spoken are helpful.

Cultural and language challenges are all part of the experiences of most trilingual or multilingual families. Keep a positive attitude, be consistent, and remember that your own competence as a parent is very important and a great asset for developing language. If you are a parent interested in raising trilingual children or multilingual children, keep learning and researching on the subject of raising trilingual children or multilingual children, and adjust along the way. I believe that our multilingual effort is worthwhile.