Product Description

It's no secret that parents want their children to have the lifelong cultural and intellectual advantages that come from being bilingual. Parents spend millions of dollars every year on classes, computer programs, and toys, all of which promise to help children learn a second language. But many of their best efforts (and investments) end in disappointment.

In The Bilingual Edge, professors and parents King and Mackey wade through the hype and provide clear insights into what actually works. No matter what your language background is—whether you never passed Spanish in high school or you speak Mandarin fluently—King and Mackey will help you:

• select the language that will give your child the most benefits
• find materials and programs that will assist your child in achieving fluency
• identify and use your family's unique traits to maximize learning

Fancy private schools and expensive materials aren't needed. Instead, The Bilingual Edge translates the latest research into interactive strategies and quick tips that even the busiest parents can use.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18316 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-01
• Released on: 2007-07-03
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

About the Author

Kendall King, Ph.D., and Alison Mackey, Ph.D. are linguistics professors at Georgetown University. Between them, they have written nearly a hundred research articles and books on bilingualism and language teaching methods. Also, they are both parents, teaching their children more than one language.

Customer Reviews

You can all learn to become bilingual
These days there is a great deal of interest in raising children with bilingual skill. "The Bilingual Edge" is a great resource for parents who want to give their children the gift of bilingualism and to prepare them for the ever more connected world of the future.

The two authors are professor of linguistics specialize in second language learning. They give the book a scientific favor and much of the materials are backed by research data. Nevertheless it is written in everyday language and is not at all academic. Moreover the authors are parents themselves. They are walking their talk by raising their kids bilingually. Despite their credentials, they face many of the same parenting and social issues like we do and they also share their struggles in the book.

Just why do we want our children to become bilingual? Contrary to conventional thinking, learning a second language does not compete with the mother tongue. People who are good in a second language are actually more likely to be good in their first language. Besides the inherent advantage of speaking more than one language, studies have also shown that there is cognitive, academic and social edge in bilingual kids. In short, it makes you children smarter. I think this is more than enough motivation for most parents to consider bilingualism.

Some families are naturally more concern about bilingualism because they have emigrated to another country or they are bilingual themselves. But the authors make it clear that raising bilingual kids are not restricted to them. Indeed it is very much attainable for monolingual parents too. They guide the readers in choosing a second language by understanding the language strength in themselves, their family members and the resources available in their community.

I find their scientific approach especially relevant when dealing with the myriad of learning products being pushed to the parents. Just consider if there is any research to back the claim they make in the advertisements? Is it the product really more effective compares with other approaches, such as simply reading and talking to your children? The authors are skeptical about the claim of some popular products like Baby Einstein. Yet their opinions are actually nuanced. For example, they suggest you to watch the video with you children so that you can guide them, thereby turning a passive activity into an active learning process!

All in all this is a short and well researched book. It should answer many questions regarding learning a second language and help prepare our children into the amazing world of language learning.

Muy Bien!
I absolutely love this book. It is an excellent resource. I recommend it to anyone who is raising a bilingual child.

Very informative
I enjoyed reading this book, It was very informative. If you plan on raising your child/children bilingual buy this