How Your CHILD Can Become BILINGUAL (Speak Two Languages)

There was this one time I was doing the  same thing and then my son stopped playing,  

he was on the floor, and then he just looked at  me and he asked me a question about the topic that  

I was talking about with my wife. And then I was  like "Wait. You got that? You understood?" [Music]

All right. So I'm here today with the one  and only Casse. Hey, Casse, how's it going? 

Hey, Thiago. Hey, everyone. Before we get started,  

make sure you hit that subscribe button and bell  down bellow because every week we put out podcast  

episodes like that to help you go from a lost,  insecure English learner, to becoming a confident,  

natural English speaker. So hit that subscribe  so you don't miss a single new episode. 

So, we're gonna be sharing  here some common strategies,  

right Cassé, that parents use to teach English  to their kids, or any other second language.

And... Um, I guess we can start by the main point  we wanna make in this episode. And the main point  

here is it's important that the child has exposure  to the language you're trying to teach as young as  

possible, and as frequently as possible. That's  the point we are making here. Early exposure  

as frequently as possible. (Yeah) And I would like  to illustrate that, Casse, by sharing one story  

about my son, because, um, my son now is 12 years  old, but a few years ago when he was younger,  

um, you know, my, my wife is an English  teacher as well, so we both speak English.  

And sometimes there were times when my  son would be in the living room with us,  

and sometimes I wanted to talk to my wife,  something more adult-like. (Yeah) So our strategy,  

instead of sending him to his bedroom, was to  speak English with each other. So I would talk  

to these, to my wife in English about these  more serious grown-up topics that I didn't  

want my son to, to hear about. And that strategy  worked for a while, you know. But after, I guess,  

I don't know, maybe one year, you know,  it wasn't that long. After a little while,  

there was this one time I was doing the same  thing, and then my son stopped playing. He was  

on the floor, and then he just looked at me and  he asked me a question about the topic that I was  

talking about with my wife in English. And then  I was like, wait, you got that? You understood? 

Your code was completely useless now.  Oh my gosh. That's (It was.) awesome. 

Yeah. You know, so at that moment, this strategy,  you know, wasn't effective anymore. Butthen  

I started thinking about it, like, how,  how come he, he came to a point where he,  

he started to understandwhat my wife and I was  speaking in English, you know? And then it came,  

uh, the, the realization that it was the exposure.  Yeah. I mean, uh, we were always very casual about  

this at home, but there was always exposure  to English at home, watching movies together  

or listening to things in English. My son would  watch me or sometimes hear me teaching from home  

classes in English, or these moments where I would  talk to my wife in English, you know? So simply by  

having that exposure that was constant and casual,  eventually he got to a point where he picked up,  

he started to pick up things and understand  things. And I thought he was amazing. So,  

um, this, I think, illustrates well, this idea of  exposing the child to the language frequently. And  

not only that, but there are strategies that  parents use nowadays to, um, accomplish that.  

And, uh, we're gonna be talking  about some of these strategies today.  

And, uh, one strategy is actually the strategy  that was used in your case, right, Casse? So,  

uh, could you share this first strategy and  a little bit about your experience? Because  

(Sure) I think you grew up bilingual, didn't you? I did. And I think one thing that I guess worked  

in my favor was the fact that I grew up in  a multilingual country, so I was exposed  

to many languages. And, uh, the problem with that  though is that, I mean, you mentioned the sort of  

passive absorbing of a language, which all kids  do. I mean, they're listening to conversations.  

They hear, they're noticing your tone or the way  that you say certain things without them having  

a complete comprehension of what it means. They  piece it like a puzzle. They're making sense of it  

in their own, um, mind. So I think in my case, I  grew up hearing many languages, but inside of the  

home, my parents used the strategy, which I don't  think they did deliberately at the time. I don't  

think they knew they were doing it way, but they  ended up using a strategy, which is now known as  

one parent, one language. So my dad  would always speak to us in English,  

and my mom would always speak to us in  Afrikaans. So this would be like, literally  

every instruction she would give us would be  in Afrikaans. So she would say, for example,  

um, <speaking Afrikaans> go pick up your shoes.  But she wouldn't use English. She would only  

use Afrikaans to give us the instruction. So, I  mean, I can see what she's pointing at <speaking  

Afrikaans>, I just made sense of it, like, I  need to pick up the shoes. So she would speak  

to us in Afrikaans in that way. And it worked.  It completely works. However, every output, so  

that was a lot of input. So I wasn't necessarily  having a conversation with mom in, in Afrikaans,  

but she did the same. She thought she was smart.  She was doing what you and your wife did. So she  

would, she would have these conversations with  her friends or with my dad in Afrikaans thinking,  

I don't know what she's saying, but Hello! I've  been listening to you for years. I know what  

you're saying. So just because I wasn't speaking  Afrikaans, it didn't mean I wasn't understanding.  

So this is how I sort of ended up learning both  languages, you know, from the time since I was a  

kid, basically. I, I could speak both languages. That's so interesting. Yeah. And, now as a grown  

up and as a mom, uh, would you say that this  is a strategy you would like to try with your  

son as well, or you are trying already? Yeah. Well, in my case, I, you know, every  

other thing, every other method of my education  was in English. My, as you said, you know, tv,  

movies, books, music, everything else was in  English. But what I want for my son is more,  

is a little different. So I would like to use  English only in the home. Like I, I don't really  

want my husband and I to speak, I, I don't want us  to speak to him in Afrikaans, for example. I would  

like for him to be absorbing from his environment.  So his teachers use Afrikaans and I love that. And  

his other grandparents use Afikaans as well. So  I would love for him to be able to pick that up.  

And he's already doing it. So, uh, for example, he  was splashing around in the water, and, uh, he's  

teacher told us at the end of the day that he used  the word "nat". Now "nat" means wet in Afrikaans.  

How does he know what "nat" is? Anyway,  it's really, it's really cute. And,  

um, I think, yeah, I, I think I would like that  for him. I want him to be able to, you know,  

have that exposure in his environment. But more  specifically, I, I think maybe, um, I would  

like for it to be a deliberate sort of effort  from the community. So these are his teachers.  

I, I deliberately want them to use Afrikaans  and my mom as well, but at home, he should feel  

comfortable to use English or Afrikaans. So I  want him to know that we can use it here, but  

I, I, I would prefer for him to be really  focused on English for a while at least. Yeah. 

Yeah. Yeah. It's similar to my daughter, because  now I have a daughter, she's one and a half.  

And, um, you know, in her first year, I didn't  wanna focus on English yet because, you know, I  

really wanted her first language to be Portuguese,  Brazilian Portuguese. Cause, you know, I think it  

makes sense for her, you know, mother language to  be Portuguese. I mean, we live in Brazil. I mean,  

you know, so, um, I, I, I want English to be  her second language. Now that she's already,  

uh, she understands pretty much everything in  Portuguese now. And she's speaking already,  

phrases in Portuguese. Now I am starting to  deliberately, you know, just like your mom used to  

do with you, uh, maybe speak some English with her  here and there and giving some instructions like,  

Oh, give dad a kiss. Come on, kiss. Mm, kiss.  Give dada a kiss. She already calls me Dada. Yeah.  

Since, uh, forever. Because, you know, in Brazil  it's not very common, yeah, to, for kids to call  

their fathers dada. This is more of an English  word. Yeah. Usually in Brazil it's "papai",  

right? Papa, Papai, you know. But, yeah, I'm try,  I'm trying to be the, the parent in the house that  

speaks the second language with the child. Yeah.  Similar to how your mom spoke Afrikaans with you.  

Um, I have to say that I'm not so deliberate  with it yet. I've been more casual about it, but,  

um, I'm testing it out, yeah, to see. But the  exposure is important here. Right? And by the way,  

a great way for you to gain exposure to English  in this case is by using the RealLife English  

app. Because with the app, you can actually  listen to this week's podcast episode with a  

full transcript, a full interactive transcript.  So not only can you listen to us, but also read  

along everything that we are saying. So  download the app. It's free to try and,  

if you're watching us here on YouTube, the link is  in the description. And if you're listening to us  

on another platform, just go to Apple App Store or  Google Play Store, search for RealLife English and  

download the app from there. Alright. Casse, um,  still talking about strategies. You mentioned one  

that was used with you, which was one parent,  (one language) one language. Right? But there  

are two others that I found out and I thought they  were interesting. One of them is called the MLAH,  

which stands for Minority Language At Home.  So apparently minority language at home,  

majority language outside of the  home. Have you heard of this strategy? 

I have, I, I actually think that it makes  sense if, for example, you're living in an,  

I dunno, like in your case, I think it might, it  might be a good idea because, uh, your daughter  

would learn English at home and then be exposed  to Portuguese in, in the world. Um, and I,  

I'm doing it the opposite. I reversed this. So I  would basically be using English only at home, and  

he can be exposed to the minority language outside  of the home. So I, I do find the strategy quite  

interesting because I think it would, uh, it would  really work for kids who are living in a country  

where English is not the, the first language or  the, the, the dominant language, I would say. 

Yeah, I can see why that can be effective. I just  one downside of that structure for me is that I  

think it takes more effort on the whole family  because in with this (True) strategy, the whole  

family inside the house has to speak English in  this case or (Yeah) the second language, right?  

I mean, it is not just one parent. Yeah. Because  your strategy was one parent, one language. But in  

this case, the mom, the dad, the siblings should  be using only the second language at home. That  

can definitely work. But you have to analyze in  your family if that is feasible. Yeah. If it is  

practical for you to apply. Yeah. But definitely  a nice strategy to try it as well. Yeah? 

Yeah. I think, like, I think one thing that I,  I, I find especially on the point that you're  

making about it being, you know, really  stressful for everyone involved, is that  

I think we have to be consistent with these  strategies. I, I'm not saying we have to be  

strict policemen, you know, if you don't do  it, you know, you are gonna be in trouble or  

something like that. I think that it just helps  us to achieve results faster or to be more,  

um, you know, it just helps to be deliberate  when we do these things. And I think with,  

with being deliberate, you know, the results are  that your kid is probably gonna learn the language  

a lot faster. You're gonna see results sooner.  And I think there's something very interesting,  

because I know the downside, or one con of,  uh, that people often mentioned about raising  

bilingual kids or, you know, exposing them to  multiple languages early on, is that they end up,  

um, either not speaking very well, they don't  speak the language very well, they're confused,  

or they end up starting to speak quite late later  on, like at four or age four or something like  

that. Um, I'm not laughing at those kids because  I think being completely bilingual is worth it.  

If you're only starting to speak at four, totally  fine. But, um, I, I think every case is different.  

So I think this is something to think about for  parents, right? Like, what works for you, um, you  

know, what works for your kid as well. So, yeah. That's true. And I a hundred percent agree with  

you with the consistency. So pick the strategy  that works best for your family and be consistent  

with it. Yeah, I really agree with that.  So, so far we have discussed one parent,  

one language. Minority language at home,  everybody speaks it. Yeah? And then there's  

a third strategy also, which is called Time  and Place. That means that you designate, uh,  

specific activities that the family does, and  during those activities, the second language is  

spoken only. So let's say for example, whenever  we have dinner together as a family, uh, we only  

speak English together or the second language, or  whenever we go to the park. Yeah. Every Sunday.  

Our conversation is all in English. So this is  another strategy, Time and Place. Any thoughts on  

this one, Casse? It seems more flexible. Yes? Yeah, I, I think this in my mind, I mean,  

you can tell me what you think, but I, I feel like  this might work better for an older kid. I feel  

like when your child is like three, they don't  really care. They, they'll do what they want.  

They're little rebels at that age. Like, nah,  I'm not doing it. I'll just keep (They are) So  

I think this is one that you might consider, you  know, for an older kid or a toddler who is, um,  

you know, a little bit more interested and keen  to, to try the strategy. But I think younger kids  

might benefit more from the other two strategies.  Um, I mean, like I said before, they're sponges.  

They really, they, they take in everything you're  saying. So if you're having dinner, I can imagine  

it might be really nice for you to say, you know,  this is an a lasagna. They're like, oh, cool  

lasagna. What's that? Um, maybe, I don't know.  I think it's, that's Italian, but I mean, like,  

um, I, I'm just using an opportunity, or pasta and  um, you know, they might know it by a different  

name. And, and so anyway, the point that I'm  making is that it's a fun, you should be, again,  

deliberate, so you, you're making that effort  while you're eating. You cannot just expect,  

um, the kids should jump in while you're having  a conversation over dinner about politics. So  

you should make the conversation, include  them in the conversation, you know, mention,  

you know, teach them new vocabulary, phrases. Yeah. Yeah. That, that's interesting what you  

say. I mean, maybe the Time and Place strategy  could work with older kids. Yeah. You designate  

sometimes, but you know, if the child is so  young, I mean, they are sponges like you said,  

right? They absorb everything. So either  Minority Language At Home or you know,  

One parent, One language, yeah, those seem to be,  uh, better strategies. Right. One thing that I do  

nowadays with my son, cause he's 12 now, yeah,  he's older. So, um, nowadays, uh, I kind of,  

I don't know if I'm being a bad parent for doing  this, but, you know, I kind of forbid him nowadays  

to watch dubbed movies. Literally, I forbid him.  Yeah. He's forbidden to watch dubbed movies. He  

has to watch them in English. Yeah. And, uh, now  he has finally, you know, at, at the beginning,  

uh, he would complain a lot about this because he  wanted to watch it in Portuguese and everything.  

Right. So nowadays I allow him to watch  animations dubbed cuz you know, I think,  

you know, that's okay. It's an animation, fine,  watch it dubbed. But if you're watching any  

other movie that is a movie, yeah, watch it in  English. And he's already doing that. What he  

does today is he watches the movie with the audio  in English and the subtitles in Portuguese, fine,  

at least he's listening to English. I'm happy  with that. But then when he watches something  

with my wife and I, the three of us together,  sometimes we do that, then it is full on English,  

like audio in English and subtitles in English.  And nowadays he has already adapted to this habit.  

And, you know, uh, now, you know, it's been  working well and he understands a lot of things,  

you know? Uh, so cuz you know, I think it's  important. I started watching movies in  

English with my parents when I was seven, seven or  eight. Even though my parents didn't know English,  

they had this habit of watching things in  English because they like to consume the  

movies in the original language. So maybe, um,  since I was younger, yeah, there was this little  

seed already like, oh, you know, I'm listening  to English here in the movies. That's great.  

Even though, you know, I wasn't studying it. And it's fun. It's like, it's something that  

he enjoys. (Yeah) So he's not, you know, like you  said, it's not like he's just sitting there taking  

notes, you know, every phrase that he's, but I, I  think this is a, a brilliant, um, way to include  

the learning process, you know, into daily life.  I, I think with, with little kids, if your kids  

are younger, like my son for example, he loves  games and he loves music. And there are so many,  

um, like songs, kids songs that are translated  into different languages. And so, for example, he,  

he can understand the songs, he can understand the  music in other languages as well. And the apps,  

he always changes the apps cause he loves  listening to French for some reason. So you'll  

hear him say Bonjour, cuz he, he's playing  this game where every time you move the,  

um, anyway, the characters, anyway,  the point is that they're, they're,  

the language learning process can be so much  fun for, for little kids, especially because,  

um, the nursery rhymes, they learn it in another  language, um, which is what he's doing at school  

and then again at home. And we make it part  of his daily routine. So yes, he, he's exposed  

to English all the time at home, but we don't  stop him from, you know, if he's curious about,  

um, you know, listening to French, for example.  He has an obsession with that game. But,  

um, anyway, yeah, it's, it's something that I  would definitely say works with younger kids. 

Yeah. I mean, cuz at the end of the  day, children naturally pick up habits  

and culture from their parents.  Yeah. (Absolutely.) So they, they  

observe. Yeah. (Yeah.) So whatever the parents  do, the children tend to emulate. So if you,  

as the parent already has the habit of using  English every day, chances are your child  

will pick up the habit from you as well. Yeah.  (Exactly) So it will be more effortless, right? 

Yeah. Pronunciation too. I think, like, let's  not, you know, one thing, vocabulary - yes,  

but pronunciation, I think like, my son uses  American English, I feel better than me.  

Um, in South Africa we say, you know, the classic  Water, it's Water or, yeah, Better. He says,  

Better. He says Water. And he, I just like,  I feel like, (Look at that.) how little one,  

how did you learn that? It's because he listens  to (Right) all of these songs and programs  

in, in, in American English. So it's that. There you go. Yeah. It's the exposure,  

the constant exposure. Yeah. (Exactly.) And  dear listeners, um, a great way for you to,  

again, to live your English every day, consume  English every day, is by using the RealLife app.

So Casse still talking about bilingual kids,  kids that speak more than one language. That  

reminds me of a, a nice movie actually that I  saw a long time ago. I think it's from 2004,  

if my memory doesn't fail me now,  called Spanglish with Adam Sandler.  

Have you seen that movie? I have, it's beautiful. 

So Paz Vega plays a Mexican immigrant who goes  to the US with her daughter for a better life,  

and she gets this job working for an  American family in their house. And,  

um, Adam Sandler lives there and, uh, they  start having some sort of, uh, I think it  

starts as a working relationship that evolves  to friendship or even something else, right,  

Casse? I don't know if they actually get to have  a romantic relationship in that movie, do they? 

I, I, I might be mistaken, but I think that  they don't, I think there's just a really deep  

connection there. Like, I think there's, yeah,  and I think it's beautiful because of that. It's  

really wholesome, I would say.  I think that'd be beautiful. 

That's a nice word. Wholesome.  What's that? Wholesome. 

It's more like, sort of morally good. Like it's,  it's not, uh, corrupt in any way. It's not,  

you know, there's nothing, no bad, there's  nothing bad about their relation, relationship. 

But I'm bringing this movie up because I remember  that there is this funny clip where, um, I think  

the mom, she gets mad at Adam Sandler's character  because he gives, uh, her daughter money. I, I I,  

I think he, uh, he, he bets something with the  kids, you know? And then, uh, you know, uh,  

her daughter wins the bet or something like that.  And then, you know, the mother gets mad at that,  

you know, because he gave her money. But then,  uh, this thing is funny because she doesn't speak  

English. The mom, she speaks only Spanish. So she  needs her daughter to translate for her what she  

wants to say. And it's really cool to see like,  you know, the translation, the life translation.  

So, uh, we have the clip here, T and, could you  please play for us the first part and then we  

can talk about that a little bit? <Speaking Spanish> I'm sorry.  

Did you give this money to my daughter? Okay. I,  I made a deal with the kids, all the kids. Oh no.  

<Speaking Spanish> Oh no, please <Speaking  Spanish> <Translating fast into English>. 

And then, you know, it becomes really  hard to understand because, you know,  

it's like cross-talking there.  (Yeah.) But in terms of language,  

we have some nice things here to point  out. First of all, the question "Did  

you give this money to my daughter?" Did you give this one to my daughter? 

Um, how would you explain the connected  speech in this question, Casse? 

So basically we have what's known as  elision here. So the D sound, the D in Did,  

and the Y in You basically form /j/ sound. So  what you hear is basically Dih-jew:Did you,  

did you give this money to my daughter? Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's amazing because,  

you know, uh, the girl, her daughter,  she speaks fluently, right? I mean,  

both English and Spanish, right?  She has great pronunciation and,  

uh, and then Adam Sandler's character  replies. "I made a deal with the kids." 

I made a deal with the kids. So what does it mean when  

you make a deal with someone, Casse? If you make a deal with someone, you're agreeing  

to certain terms. So if this happens, I will  give you this. So this would be considered a  

deal. It's an agreement. We can use that word as  well, like making an agreement to do something. 

And we also have some nice connected  speech here, right? Because the A  

gets reduced to a schwa sound: uh, uh, and also  we connect Made with uh, and then it sounds like  

Mei-duhMei-duh. And then we say, Made a deal, Made  a deal with, I made a deal with the kids. That's  

how he says it. And then, uh, this argument  continues in the clip, and we have another  

short clip to watch, uh, T if you could roll it  for us and then we can dissect maybe a couple  

more, um, meanings and connective speech here. <Speaking Spanish> $50 is a lot of money. I,  

I, I know, I know. I <Speaking Spanish>.  Oh shit. <¡Ai, Mierda!> I'm sorry. Come on.  

I get what you're upset about.  <Speaking Spanish>. Excuse me. 

It (I love.. ) was funny when, what,  what do... I think, you gotta say  

the same thing. What, what (Yeah.) is it? I, I, I think it's like the mom's reaction to when  

she uses like, the swear word. I think it's like,  like how, what are you saying? How, how could you  

even say that? Yeah. It's like, it's funny. Yeah. Yeah. It was funny how even that the  

girl translate it, right? Even the swear word. Yeah. And then you see her face after like,  

Ooh. Yeah. And that's the thing with  kids, it's like you, with your, you know,  

um, with having your code language with your  wife, I think they're, they're picking up,  

they know what it means. They might not, you  know, maybe they, you don't want them to know,  

or you don't want them to use that word,  but they're picking up everything. Yeah. 

We have some nice phrases here, Casse. The first  one, uh, the girl says A lot of money, right? 

$50 is a lot of money. But there is some nice connected speech  

that she, she uses. Could you break it downfor us? So the A in A lot is pronounced as a  

schwa: uh. And then we have the T in Lot, which  is pronounced as a Flap T sound. So we pronounce  

it as a Duh. And this then joins with the O in Of,  which is also pronounced as a schwa sound. So we  

have uh-loh-duh, uh-loh-duh, a lot of money. Again, just pointing out the amazing English  

the girl has, yeah, a lot of, a lot of money. She  speaks just like a American, right? Then, uh, Adam  

Sandler's character, he says this phrase, I get  what you're upset about. So just to break down  

the pronunciation here, he says, I get, I get.  So the T there is a Stop T, he doesn't say I get,  

but I get, I get. And then What - another stop  T there. Now what? But what, what? So very often  

this You're gets reduced to a Yir, which is  how we hear it here. So what yir? So he says,  

I get what yir. I get what you're upset. And then  again, the T here for upset kind of disappears.  

And then actually it doesn't disappear because,  you know, we have a vowel right after for the  

about. So the T becomes a Flap T sound. So upset.  You see, Upset about, upset about. And I believe  

that he says about in the clip, but it becomes  optional. Some people, they say the T here at the  

end of the sentence. Sometimes you might not hear  it, you might hear just about, but either about  

or about. Those are common ones, but that's how he  says it. I get what you're upset about. Like that.  

What does it mean, Casse, when you say, I get what  you are upset about, what does that mean? I get. 

Yeah. So when you get something, it means  that you understand that thing. So he's  

saying he understands what she's upset about. So now it's time for the Big Challenge of the day.  

All right guys, so the Big Challenge for you to  answer today is in your opinion, what is the best  

age to start learning a second language and why?  Share your thoughts in the comment section below.  

If you're watching us on YouTube or simply drop  us a line at [email protected]. We are  

looking forward to hearing your responses. And  we also have a very nice comment that one of  

our viewers here on YouTube left in the video 333  in the episode about values that Ethan and I had.  

And, um, he says something really nice here,  Casse, could you read his comment for us? 

Sure. Gil says, "Thank you so much guys. I am  from Brazil. After I discovered your channel,  

I've been learning a lot. I really like the  content about connected speech. It's very helpful.  

Yesterday I had my first meeting in English with  a Canadian company, and I will work with them in a  

video project. Thank you again." Oh, amazing.  Thank you so much, Gil. That is fantastic. 

Awesome. Yeah. Thank you so much for leaving the  comment and I keep following us here on YouTube.  

Okay. Now as a final word, I would say that it's  a fine line because yes, it is important for you  

to be consistent with the strategy you choose  to teach English to your child, but also you  

don't wanna be so rigid and strict with it, right,  Casse? Do you have any final words to compliment? 

So, from my side, I would say that you have to  be deliberate. You have to know that, you know,  

it's a lot of work now. You know, you have to plan  everything and, and keep going consistently. But  

it is rewarding. And the reward might not come  today, but it will happen in the future. Your  

child will be speaking two, three languages and  you would be so proud. And you also benefit from  

that. Like, it's, it's beneficial for us as  well when we're helping our kids, you know,  

on their journey to bilingualism. So keep going.  Yeah, definitely be (Awesome.) consistent. 

Amazing. And remember, early exposure is  essential. (Absolutely.) Very nice. Guys, thank  

you so much for watching or listening to today's  podcast and stay tuned for next week's one, which  

is gonna come out really soon. All right. Thank  you so much, Casse, for joining me today. It was  

great (Thank you) to have this conversation with  you and hope to talk to you again in another one. 

Yeah. I hope so too. All right, so 1, 2, 3, (Aww) Aww yeah! (yeah.)