Does the One Person One Method (OPOL) Method Work? | Raising Bilingual Children
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ก.ค. 2024
- If you're deciding which bilingual parenting method to use to raise your child to be bilingual or multilingual, you've probably heard of the one parent one language (OPOL) method. In this video, I review the method and how it has worked for our family, including a discussion on the pros and cons. #bilingualchild #bilingualkids #bilingualchildren
Mentioned in this video:
2 Year Update
• Raising a Bilingual Ch...
Am I Proficient Enough to Raise a Bilingual Child?
• Am I Proficient Enough...
Study - "Parental Language Input Patterns and Children’s Bilingual Use":
De Houwer, A. (2007). Parental language input patterns and children's bilingual use. Applied Psycholinguistics, 28(3), 411-424.
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I don't have kids yet, but I'm planning to apply the OPOL method in the near future 😅 My husband and I speak Spanish and my second language is English. I have a friend who has applied it with his daughter and it is amazing to see the results even though he is the only one speaking English to her.
That's so great! I wish more people would talk about their success stories and the ones they hear about. I think a lot of people out there are intimidated from ever starting to raise their children to be bilingual because they just haven't heard of it working for anyone. It's great that you have first-hand knowledge of the results and that you're already planning on what to do when the time comes for you 😃. Thanks for watching!
Thank you for sharing your experience. My husband and I are both portuguese native speakers living in a monolingual country. But I have been fluent in english since age 12, and I wanted my child to be fluent as well.
I had heard that you should not use OPOL if you are not a native speaker of the minority language so finding you was a huge encouragement for me to try using it anyway. I don't have people to talk to in English in "real life", but 90% of my internet use and media consumption is in English. I oftentimes prefer to take notes in English as well, an old habit I picked up when I was younger so that people would not pry on my private ideas.
I figured this would help my son be a functional bilingual - when he is born I will talk to him in english only, if we watch a movie or do any other activity together it will be in english and when he sees me watching a video or listening to a podcast alone it will also be english, simply because that's what I'm naturally drawn to most of the time.
I'm also open to putting him in bilingual school if I can afford it, so he can hopefully create bonds with other people who will also speak English to him.
Hello Taina, I'm basically going to be applying OPOL to my son as soon as possible after birth due to this exact same reason, did you manage to start already? how's it going?
French isn’t my native language but I speak it pretty well. I am trying OPOL with my daughter but it’s hard to get the exposure for her as the sole input. And being her father I don’t have the same amount of time with her that my wife does. The study you mention is really disconcerting for me but I guess I just shouldn’t expect her to become fluent and just be happy with whatever she picks up.
Thanks for watching! I know what you mean. The study concerned me as well, but the information isn't meant to discourage you! You can also use that information to be proactive! Have you considered taking a close look at how many hours/day you spend with her? She can still be a productive French speaker, but it just takes some planning. As you mention, hearing French spoken every day, even if it's under the 20% threshold I mention in my latest video (the one on The Bilingual Edge), will still go a long way and will surely set up a strong base for the future if you are able to spend more time with your daughter or find some outside support. Manage your expectations, but also seek as much one-on-one time with your daughter as possible (aiming for that 20-30% minimum) and maybe in the future you will be able to find other paths of support. Keep it up and good luck!
@@LiveYourLanguage I’m starting to track it now. I hadn’t heard of this exposure threshold until your video, so I’m just now keeping tabs. My days off of work I have a lot of one on one time with her. I’ve also noticed that when we are alone she will engage and reply to me in French but if my wife or other English speakers are around she will answer in English only, even though I know she understands what I’m saying. I really value one on one time with her, but linguistically it’s really beneficial as you pointed out. Thanks for your reply.
@@WilhelmR19 There is a very important factor that is different between the families in this study and you. That is that you are seeking to inform yourself and are actively finding new strategies and tools! It is completely possible to be successful in your situation, it just requires more preparation and effort. Don't let these things discourage you, rather, let them strengthen your resolve!! :)
How do you speak with your husband in front of your child?
Thank you for sharing your experience! My husband and I are in the process of adopting from Colombia. I speak Spanish but my husband doesn’t really speak it, so we will probably do the OPOL approach. I hadn’t thought much about my husband missing out on cute moments. Hopefully that reality will encourage him to learn more Spanish 😉
Thank you for watching my video! Yes, it's an unfortunate consequence that no one really mentions. However, I can say that those early cute moments were very soon replaced by bilingual or English language cute moments! I suggest that if it really does bother your husband, liberally translate to support those interactions, at least in the beginning, so that he doesn't feel too left out (and stays on board 🙂). Also, remember that in the very early days, babies' vocabularies are very small! If your husband starts now, he could understand a lot more than he thinks in that first year or two (or beyond!). Good luck!
@@LiveYourLanguage Thanks so much for your encouragement and advice...great points!
I don't have kiddos quite yet but my fiance and I are planning on doing this. He is bilingual in both Dutch and English, Dutch being his first language. I only speak English (though I know a few Dutch phrases due to trying to pick up some of it so I can somewhat communicate with my in-laws. Definitely not confident in it at all however. I did take two years of German in high school so that does help since the grammar is very similar and a lot of the words are the same or similar as well).
I am kind of concerned about it, but I plan on trying to find storybooks in Dutch and my fiance has some computer games he played as a child that are in both Dutch and English so that'll help too. I also want to try to set up a time (or a few times) during the week where we call his parents (who really only speak Dutch, other than a few phrases in English) so they talk to their grandkids, as we will be living in America and they live in the Netherlands. I'm also gonna encourage my kids, if possible, to watch cartoons or play video games in Dutch so that they get that exposure a bit more, especially when their dad is around. That's actually how my fiance learned a lot of his English, despite being raised in a Dutch speaking country and he speaks it fluently (apart from occasionally not knowing a word in English or mispronouncing a word, but that's few and far between, and very cute. :3)
I think we'll have him speak only Dutch to the children, except when I'm directly involved (since I don't understand it) and I'm only English and his parents (and any of his other family who wishes to call) will only be Dutch. I'll likely have him explain that to his family so that they know not to try and speak English to the kids, even before they start speaking.
I'm kind of excited about this though. It'll be so cool to see how our kids progress in their different languages. I know they will probably be weaker in Dutch just because it's not common at all in America, but I hope they'll be able to hold onto it their whole lives and be thankful that we made the effort to give them this skill.
Wow, that is going to be so wonderful if they could learn both Dutch and English! You can totally do it! It sounds like you already have a great plan in place as well. It's so important that your attitude, as the parent with limited Dutch skills, is so positive! (That's honestly one of the biggest obstacles families in your situation encounter.) Besides, if you start now, you'll definitely be able to help them yourself at least through the first year or two. I'm excited for you! And of course, thanks for watching my video!
I do question the validity of this method after having experience working with children and bilingual parents. I had a negative experience with it at a French school in California were I was reprimanded many times for choosing to speak in French and not my "native" language. Let's just say...I left after the summer.
What I've noticed is that children associate the language with a person instead of the language having it's own identity. This is why students I've worked with still prefered english at school...because the francophone parent wasn't there. I really saw a notable difference between the children of parents who "code" mixed and those who strictly did opol. In the end, I believe opal is not a strong option for combating the immense sphere of English.
I read recently about a hilarious study where 2-year-old and 3-year-old children were recorded speaking in their two bilingual languages various words. The parents were able to understand the words, but when played out of context to strangers, the strangers couldn't even tell which language they were, even though the strangers also were bilingual in those languages! I thought of that when you mentioned your husband asking for a translation. I don't think people realize sometimes how much of children's speech at this age is just not understandable. When there is another language, it can feel like it is because of the other language, when actually, it's just normal. Hopefully it makes your husband feel better to know he's not the only one that can't understand!
I’m so glad I found your channel! I’m a Hungarian national (with a good level of English) and me and my husband are contemplating to raise our soon-to-be-born babygirl with me speaking to her in English and my husband in Hungarian. I have two questions, please.
1. Do you find it difficult to create an emotional bond, talk about feelings in your secondary language with your son (this is one of my concerns)
2. Is there a recommended age after which I could go back to speaking to her in Hungarian (sometime after successful English language acquisition, maybe when she starts school).
Thank you so much for your reply in advance.
Thank you so much for watching! I'm glad you found something of value here :). First, congratulations! I'm so glad that you're considering this for your baby girl.
To answer our first question, its a little difficult for me to answer because I only know of my relationship with my son in French (he's my first child and I started speaking French from the beginning). Of course, I feel very close to him now, but could I have been closer had I chosen to speak English with him? It's hard to say. I don't feel that our relationship has been negatively affected by the language at all. In fact, when I rarely let some English slip in by accident, it feels bizarre and unnatural. Learning to discuss feelings was difficult at first, but I treated it as every other topic--potty training, chewing his food well, bath time, table manners, etc.--and looked up the items I needed to discuss and explain feelings. It may not sound the way a native speaker would speak about things, but the important this is that we understand each other.
Concerning your second question, I think it's a smart choice to start with English and keep an open mind. It will definitely be more difficult to start in the majority language and switch back to the minority language. Establishing the minority language as "your language" is much much easier when it's done young. I would be careful about switching back to Hungarian once school starts because that is when she will need more English language input to balance what she hears at school. If you want to switch back to Hungarian later on, you will really need to make sure there is someone else around with whom she can speak English otherwise the language could be lost or she may become a passive bilingual. It's good that you're thinking carefully about this now because it's a difficult decision. I'd recommend starting with English and being flexible (perhaps you could only switch to Hungarian when reading a book for a limited time during the day, for example). I hope this helps!
@@LiveYourLanguage thank you so much for the helpful answers! I really appreciate it and thanks for posting these useful videos! Have a great day.
@@azthiszemdenmtudom don't worry, your daughter will speak Hungarian perfectly since she is learning it from her father and community! So try speaking English with her and see how it feels. If after a few years you think that English is not working for you and your daughter, you can change your family language strategy.
Excelent vídeo, congretlations. I don't have kids yet, but I think rasing bilingual kids. My concern in This moment is I'm not fluent in English yet and I make mistakes all The time.
Thank you for watching! I'm so glad you're thinking about this so early. It shows you are intentional, which is great! I'm sure you will continue to improve your skills and any English skills you have now will be useful to support your kids' bilingualism if you have the opportunity to enlist some outside help in the form of schools, nannies, etc. By thinking about it so early, you can also have the time to think about your strategy and building your tribe to help you reach this bilingual aim. Good luck!
We live in England and try to do opol to my 5 months son. I speak Russian to him and my husband speaks romanian. I speak to my husband English only so hopefully baby will learn it passively. This is what I was worried, if once we start speaking English to him, it will be easier for him to speak English only. My ex colleague is from Poland and her daughter would reply to her in English only. What about dinner time? Would you consider eventually speaking English so everyone could participate in conversation or not?
hi, I just wanna start raising bilingual kids but my oldest child is already 5yo, is it too late? and how to do that? because it would be confusing for her if I suddenly changed my language when speaking to her.
I don't have kids, but i have a cousin who speaks Spanish. She and her family moved to Argentina, and she was very young, so she leaned Spanish and she speaks like a native Spanish speaker almost not having a foreign accent at all. However, recently they moved back to Brazil, i was hopping on somehow help her to not loose the Spanish she speaks. She is 10 year old.
Do you think just talking to her in Spanish from now on is gonna help her maintaining the language or Do you think i don't need to do nothing and she's never gonna forget the language?
Thanks for watching! I would say speaking Spanish with her is a minimum of what it will take to help her upkeep the language. It depends on how often she will see you or speak with you. If you live with her or see her every day and speak Spanish with her, there will be a greater chance of her maintaining Spanish as a productive language. It's really difficult to maintain a productive use of the language if the child isn't getting 20-30% of her input in that language. There also needs to be a *need* to use that language. At her age, if she knows that you also speak Portuguese for example, she may not make the extra effort. However, any Spanish input is helpful in order for her not to lose that language. She already has a very solid base and is very fortunate! It would be a shame to lose the language. That said, even being a receptive bilingual is of course worth it because she will be able to understand everything and can always start speaking again later on in the future. So the short answer is, yes, she can keep the language, but it will take some work and any help you can offer her will help!
Children are really good at learning languages, but also they are very good at forgetting! Like Stephanie mentioned, she will need help to upkeep Spanish. If she does not use her Spanish it will disappear very quickly.
My son is 5 years old. I haven't spoke english to him because I am not a native speaker and I do not live on an english speaking country... can I start or is it too late?
What happes if you have people visiting at home and your kid is around? You talk just to him in french and to the people in other language ??
Thanks for watching and YES! That's exactly what I do. In fact, I have a video about that here: th-cam.com/video/mkskFASehsY/w-d-xo.html
I know it isn't easy, but I think the cost of switching to the majority language with your child is greater in my opinion because you risk it becoming a habit and once that is in place, its very hard to switch back to one language. Good luck!
Hi! My baby is 3.5 months and I just started OPOL , do you think this is too late/early?
Thank you for watching and absolutely not! What I mean is it's definitely not too late - there is so much language development yet to be had by little ones at this age! First language acquisition is often viewed as languages learned before age 2 at the earliest, which means there is plenty of time if this is your goal. I also mean it's not too early because infants are attuning their ears to the sound systems of the languages they hear spoken already at this age, so now is a great time to start! Good luck and don't give up!
It's perfect!!!
I am Turkish. I want to apply this technique to my child. I want to teach both Arabic and Turkish. There are not enough resources in Turkish. Do you have a chance to add Turkish subtitles to your video?
Thank you so much for watching! I don't know any Turkish so it would be very difficult to add subtitles. If you provide the subtitles, however, I would be happy to include them in this video for others. 😀
Do you mean that there are not enough resources for your child in your community and in your family to raise him or her to speak Turkish (I'm not sure where you are located --Turkey or somewhere else) or do you mean that the resources you are looking for concerning the OPOL method and bilingual parenting are difficult to find in Turkish?
Excellent video now i got a idea but i need a girl first.
Haha! Glad I've inspired you! When you find her, send her here and I'll try to convince her too!
@@LiveYourLanguage i mean i don't have noone i need someone
@@LiveYourLanguage Do you use some Montessori method with your kid?
I love the Montessori method and principles! I am always looking for ways to encourage a spirit of inquiry and independence. However, I am definitely not an expert, but more of a fan, so I wouldn't say I officially follow the method. I do believe Montessori can be integrated easily into any bilingual or immersion education program or lifestyle.
OPOL does not work for everyone. The older kids get the more they will choose a favorite language.