Have you heard about passive bilingualism? If you’re a beginner to intermediate language learner, or someone who might have been exposed to Spanish but is not fluent, this is for you!
Being a passive bilingual is not a bad thing; in fact, it’s an opportunity for you to transform what you have learned so far, reinforce your linguistic skills, and reach fluency.
If you identify with this term, keep reading and learn tips and strategies that will help you activate your bilingualism and be a fluent Spanish speaker.
So, let’s get started!
What’s Passive Bilingualism, and How Do Achieve It?
The term passive bilingualism means that a person can understand a second language without being able to speak it.
For example, if you’re an English speaker with limited Spanish comprehension, you can still decipher what people are saying, but you can’t carry out a conversation with them.
This may happen because you have learned your native language simultaneously with the second one, but you only have a basic understanding of it.
This doesn’t mean you can’t continue learning and reach a better understanding over time. However, it’s crucial to identify the causes of why you reached passive bilingualism. Passive or receptive bilinguals have little or no idea about what is happening to them.
One of the reasons may be the lack of need to use the second language. As adults, we usually learn a language for business, travel, or even romantic reasons.
But with children, it’s different since they communicate in the language used at home. If your kids are learning Spanish at home, but you communicate more in English, your native language, then your kids will choose that for convenience and ease.
The lack of vocabulary and contact with people who speak Spanish is also why we become passive speakers.
Maybe you don’t live in a diverse community, so it becomes challenging to meet someone who speaks Spanish with whom our children can exchange conversations.
Discipline and consistency are essential in helping your children achieve fluency in Spanish and avoid becoming passive bilingual. If you don’t do weekly activities or practice constantly, you may forget it completely.
Finally, one of the reasons why many abandon learning Spanish is because they do not identify with the language or the culture.
Your children’s friends may criticize them for learning it, nip in the bud everything that has to do with that language, and shelve what they have learned out of shame or social pressure.
Read also: Speaking Spanish vs. Just Reading and Writing it (Benefits & Outcomes)
What Does It Mean to Have Passive Language Skills?
In the types of bilingualism, we find passive bilingualism.
This occurs when a person hasn’t had enough exposure to Spanish. They understand it well when they hear or read it but cannot speak it, or they do so only if necessary.
This doesn’t mean that you cannot speak a second language. It means that you’re developing your listening and reading skills but not your speaking and writing.
By working on the two primary skills that help you understand what you’re listening to or reading, you’re laying the foundation to climb further steps and achieve fluency.
With passive language skills, reading, and listening, you don’t need to write sentences or think a lot about a complicated structure. You just need to understand what you’re listening to or reading.
These skills are the first ones worked and strengthened when learning a language, any language, even the native one, since at birth, the first thing you learn is to listen to what your parents tell you.
From what your children hear, they’ll begin to understand it and even speak it.
In multilingual families, children communicate without problem in either language, but when they grow up and become more integrated into society, they leave Spanish aside and prefer English.
But don’t worry. They continue to use passive language skills constantly, and if they take Spanish lessons, they’ll be able to learn it at an advanced level without issues.
Advantages to Transition From Passive to Active Bilingual
Being a passive bilingual is not a negative thing. It’s better to know a percentage of the Spanish language than nothing at all.
Based on your knowledge and understanding of the language, you can begin the path of transition from passive to active bilingual.
The advantage of starting your bilingual path with passive skills, reading, and listening, is that it helps you get into the most fundamental aspects of learning a new language.
You learn to listen to accents, learn the different words for a single object, learn about their customs, and have a link with a multicultural language.
When you start working on your other two active skills, writing and speaking, you will see the benefits immediately.
You will know how to pronounce words without so much effort, how to manage the pace of your conversation, where to place the accent on important phrases and words, etc.
Use each of your skills to master Spanish. For example, listening is linked to speaking. When you practice active listening, you’ll learn phrases, decipher the message, and understand the rhythm and tone of the voice.
Reading is linked to writing, not only because it’s the best way to learn vocabulary through texts but because you will understand the context of how each word is used in the sentence.
We recommend: Why Doesn’t My Child Want to Speak Spanish with Me?
Strategies to Transition From Passive to Active Bilingualism
Although you have already completed 50% of learning Spanish with your children, developing active bilingualism needs lots of commitment.
Passive bilinguals may have developed two of the skills we mentioned very well, but they still need to practice them more to reach the level of fluency necessary to speak or write.
So, we will share five strategies for successfully transitioning from passive to active bilingualism and taking advantage of their knowledge.
1. Enroll Them to School and Ask For Teachers Support
A close relationship with your child’s teacher can further enhance the transition from passive to active bilingualism.
Telling your children’s teachers a little about the family’s history will give them insight to reinforce what is necessary.
So, we encourage you to tell them about the native language they speak at home, the dynamics of how they take advantage of bilingualism, etc.
Ask the teacher how your children behave in front of foreign classmates or bilingual communication and what language they use the most in class, when they play, etc., so you can give the necessary support at home.
2. Continue Talking in Your Native Language at Home
There is a belief that teaching children two languages simultaneously prevents them from learning both languages well or that they mix both languages.
If your impulse is to stop speaking the native language to practice only in the other language you’re learning, don’t do it! Since your children can create an emotional and linguistic shock and inhibit their cognitive development.
Working on language skills at home develops emotional stability by ensuring that your children manage their class’s cognitive, social, and emotional demands.
Removing their mother tongue would be like denying them part of their identity, roots, culture, distinctiveness, and individuality.
And we’re sure that’s the last thing you want to do.
3. Talk to Your Kids
Create a bond of trust with them and enter their world.
Discuss what they like, what happens to them at school, what kind of games they’re interested in, who their best friends are, their interests, whether they’re introverts or extroverts, etc.
All this information will let you know what activities would help them start speaking and writing in Spanish. As well as the scenarios in which you would feel comfortable and confident to practice without feeling overwhelmed.
Share with them your own experience of when you had to learn a new language. Mention what your frustrations and problems were but also your joys and how you overcame obstacles.
This will help them not feel alone on the path to bilingualism and that they can turn to you when they need help.
4. Create a Study Group
Surely, you’re not the only one who has children on the path to learning Spanish and whose native language is the same.
Talk to parents and organize a study group where your children get together at home, do their homework in Spanish, and discuss it in their native language.
An adult can accompany them to help if they have problems communicating in either language.
Being together in the group doing tasks that have nothing to do with learning the language will help them activate Spanish outside of a linguistic context but more in real situations.
With this, they’ll develop confidence in being able to use the Spanish language in a new environment.
Being able to speak and write it’ll give them new communication tools, and they’ll see that they’re capable of doing it.
5. Make a Calendar With Fun Activities
If there is one thing that will help your children move from passive to active bilingualism, it’s to soak up the Spanish language. Create opportunities for them to interact organically in the new language.
Children must find a real reason to use it, and what better way to do it in fun activities that awaken their curiosity and meet interesting people.
Create a monthly or quarterly calendar of activities that you can do together or with their school friends. It should not be a daily or weekly activity. Adjust it to what suits you best at home.
Look for activities or sports that are in Spanish and that they can easily enjoy since, without the fun, they may not be interested and would prefer to return home.
You can sign them up for a sports team whose members speak Spanish! Or, you can visit museums where they have guides who speak Spanish. The sky’s the limit!
Get in touch with Latino communities and learn about their activities so that you and your child can participate and immerse themselves in their culture and practice Spanish with native Spanish speakers!
Overcoming Obstacles on the Path to Fluency
One of the most prominent challenges your children will face is that they can quickly become desperate if the method used doesn’t suit their type of learning.
They may lose interest in learning Spanish due to the influences of their friends or the society in which they live. That is why parental support is so crucial at this stage.
A key to achieving fluency is having discipline and responsibility to study and practice it. Consistency will keep your children at a good pace, and eventually, speaking Spanish will become a habit.
No exact amount or magic formula tells us how much you should invest daily or weekly to achieve an optimal level of fluency. Not giving it priority can weaken any efforts made previously.
Another difficulty they may encounter along the way is that there are no Latino places with Spanish-speaking people in your community, so it’ll be difficult for them to have a first-hand immersive experience.
And finally, it’s crucial to find a valid reason for your child to learn Spanish fluently.
If there is no solid motivation behind it, they’ll likely refuse to learn it and remain only with passive bilingualism, which they may think is enough to communicate.
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Take the First Steps and Become an Active Bilingual
Now that we know what a bilingual passive is, you can rest assured that it’s not impossible to overcome.
Being in that stage means that you’re developing your listening and reading skills much more but not your speaking and writing and that there is much to work on.
With this knowledge your children already have, they’re close to developing the skills they need and achieving the goal of being completely bilingual or multilingual!
There are lots of strategies and small details that will help your kids fall in love with Spanish and want to learn it. But don’t forget to support them, listen to them, and validate them at this stage.
If, at this moment, they don’t want to practice Spanish, try later. Their priorities may change, or they may not find the necessary motivation at the moment.
Sometimes, the help of a professional tutor is necessary to level up the Spanish they have already learned.
At Homeschool Spanish Academy, we have a real human connection and native, authentic Spanish instruction with teachers from Guatemala.
With our highly skilled and experienced Spanish instructors, your kids will have access to fun and interactive classes, flexible scheduling, and the opportunity to apply for individual or group classes.
You can sign up for a free trial class.
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“It’s a great way to learn Spanish, from native Spanish speakers in a 1-on-1 environment. It’s been fairly easy to schedule classes around my daughter’s other classes. The best value for us has been ordering multiple classes at a time. All the instructors have been great!”
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“HSA offers very affordable, quality, one on one classes with a native speaker. My son has greatly benefited from taking classes. We have seen his confidence increase as well as his pronunciation improve because he learns from a native Spanish speaker. HSA has quick, personal customer service. Our family has been very pleased with our experience so far!”
– Erica P. Parent of 1
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