How to Raise Bilingual Kids: Boost Their Skills with These Must-Read Books
Raising bilingual children—or even trilingual or young polyglots—is a lifelong gift. It opens doors to enhanced social skills, greater empathy, and a broader worldview while also offering significant cognitive benefits.
However, nurturing bilingualism can be a challenging task. Parents often juggle switching between their native language, English, and sometimes even another shared language at home. This constant language-switching can feel exhausting after a long day.
The Secret to Nurturing Language Skills
Mastering a new language involves four key skills: listening, reading, speaking, and writing. For bilingual children, listening and reading are often the first skills to develop, with speaking and writing coming later.
The first eight years of a child’s life are crucial for language learning. During this period, their brain’s plasticity is at its peak, making it the easiest and most effective time to encourage bilingual development.
Why Books Are Better Than Screens
While the internet offers an abundance of resources, we don’t want our children glued to YouTube or other screens all day—even if the content is educational. Books, on the other hand, are an incredible tool for language learning. Whether your child reads independently or you read to them, books can significantly accelerate their listening, reading, and comprehension skills.
A Collection of Bilingual Books
To help your child boost their language abilities, we’ve curated a list of fiction books available in Australia in Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish, German, and Mandarin. These books are perfect for fostering reading and listening skills while transforming their brains—literally.
Give your little ones the gift of multilingualism. It’s a journey that will enrich their lives forever!
Bilingual Children Gift Ideas
1
Learn Portuguese (Brazilian)
Adriana Benfica and Cibelle Reis created this super cool picture book that intertwines activities with the story. It tells the story of Benji, the son of a Brazilian mother and a father born in the U.S.
In this charming story, Benji invites readers to explore words, phrases, and curiosities about the Portuguese language, showing how learning can be magical and fun.
2
Bluey in German
It’s hard to find books in another language, particularly with their local characters like Bluey. Luckily for us, Australia is a diverse country and the publishing houses are making different languages available. Reading is one of the best ways to teach a child a new language, particularly if that the parent’s one and they are still young.
3
Bluey in German
Another beloved Bluey story to fill up the houses of German descendants in Oz!
3
Bluey in Two Languages
This is another rare opportunity to have a bilingual book with both languages simultaneously.
3
The Tale of Nian: Bilingual Version
This is another rare opportunity to have a bilingual book with both languages simultaneously.
Bookish Gifts to Language Learners
1
Vocabulary Notebook
Kids will love this Vocabulary Notebook! Ask them to select special words from the books they read and categorise them in the tabs.
2
Italian – English Bilingual Flashcards
Flashcards are generally designed for the little ones but if you’re learning a new language, they are a great way to do so. Whatever is your age!
2
Bluey – Avec les copains – Livre de coloriages: Livre de coloriages
Retrouve Bluey et ses amis dans ce livre de coloriages trop génial !
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