Situation #1.5: I can speak Chinese, but since I am not a native speaker, I am afraid to use that at home with my child for fear that he is not getting the most correct form of the language.Reality: It is true that being a non-native speaker can pose some disadvantages, such as incorrect usages of certain vocabulary terms or phrases, or mispronunciation of certain words. You may also be less confident expressing fully what you want to communicate. Nonetheless, unless you have someone who is a native Chinese and who can speak to the child at the length similar to the exposure you have with your child, it may not a bad idea to start with what you can offer, and complement it with English for those gaps. To the child, it may only be a fact of life to use that specific language with you, even partially. While certain improper language may stay with him for a certain period, he may resolve that eventually if there is a larger community of that language around him. Comparatively, it can be a better advantage for your child to acquire the language with certain twists now than not at all. You and your child can study it together.

You need to be aware though that switching to another language, especially suddenly, between two people is like wiping out their past experiences together. Therefore, it will never work for a family to switch to speaking Chinese from English completely if your family has been used to speaking English solely. It may work better for you to start speaking Chinese with your child, however, but not between you and the other parent, because that relationship is likely to be much more stable by this time. It will feel quite awkward and it is known to be almost impossible to maintain.

Situation #1.4: My child’s English is not up to grade level yet. It seems that we can’t afford to deal with Chinese now.Reality: The approach of English learning for non-English speakers has been controversial systematically and politically ever since the birth of America. Bilingual and ESL (English as a Second Language) programs were established a few decades ago to help children, whose native language is not English, gain equal access to the American school curriculum. Sadly, even though many who have gone through this process have in some way learned English, many have also lost their own language. Somehow there is a belief that it is necessary and natural to do so in order to gain the dominant language. This is called the subtractive method.

In the last few decades or so, researchers have reported benefits of the additive method, that is, continuing learning academically and conceptually the native language while learning the dominant language. They have also found that the positive influences on their academic, linguistic and cognitive development maximize when literacy in both languages are developed more or less at the same rate and level. It may take longer in years for a child to be proficient in both English and Chinese, but if effective instruction of academic skills is given in Chinese, the child will be able to overlap that knowledge in English at a functional level eventually. Contrary to what one may think, this will not result in a lower level of academic performance in English. Instead, it will actually help him acquire English more proficiently. The truth is: it is a win-win situation when your child learns both languages simultaneously.