Doubletalk

Raising a Bilingual Family

By Tara Swords

Vivian Conley grew up in Mexico. Naturally, she and her family spoke Spanish. So when Vivian and her American husband had a son 4 years ago, she knew she would teach her child to speak her native language, even though they lived in the U.S.

"All my family is down in Mexico and they don't speak English at all," Vivian says. "We are extremely close and we go to visit once a year. That's the main reason I want him to know the language."

From the moment of son Tristan's birth, Vivian spoke to him exclusively in Spanish. Her husband, who understands some Spanish, spoke English to Tristan. And so began their bilingual family.

In that respect, the Conley family is like millions of others in the U.S. More than six million children ages 5 to 17 speak a language other than English at home, according to the 1990 Census report. And between 1980 and 1990, the number of American school-aged children who spoke a language other English at home rose by more than 40 percent, reports the National Association for Bilingual Education.

That might sound exceptional. In a way, it is, but not because the numbers of multilingual people are growing. It's exceptional because those numbers are probably much higher in most other countries.

"All you have to do is look throughout the world. In almost every [other] country, children are exposed to more than one language," says Irma Olmedo, assistant professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "Multilingualism is more the norm."

While multilingualism may not be the norm in the United States, the changing face of America is affecting the speaking voice of America. The Census Bureau predicts that by 2025, the Hispanic and Asian populations combined will have gained 44 million people. Those two groups together will make up 24 percent of the population, compared to 14 percent in 1996.