I was raised in Dutch by my parents but always went to school in French. You could say I have been bilingual since birth. I have always been grateful my parents made that decision. Quite soon I discovered the perks of speaking several languages. I remember travelling to Morocco when I was about four years old and feeling proud because I could still speak to people on a different continent.
When I was about seven years old I started learning English by speaking with friends of my parents and my stepfather. Which was exciting for me because it meant I could speak with even more people!
And now, I am here in Finland learning Finnish...
I encourage everybody to make sure their children are bilingual because it enables speaking to people from all over the world. Speaking several languages also means getting to know several different cultures. If this isn't enough to convince you, let's look at it from a scientific point of view. Bilingualism is said to help in matters of social interaction and cognitive abilities. According to several studies, the brain of a bilingual child is more developed than the one of a monolingual child. Plus, bilingual people, supposedly, develop dementia four and a half years later than others.
I know learning a language isn't easy but I promise you it will be worth it! I recommend learning a language by listening and speaking the language as much as possible. Travelling to a region/country where that language is spoken, probably helps the most. (And here I am encouraging exchange programs...)
To conclude, I would like to thank once again my parents for giving me the opportunity to speak several languages!
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