# Languages at home

**Should we raise our child bilingual?**

Which languages your child hears and speaks at home and how you pass on a second language: one parent one language, a minority language at home, or classes and immersion.

In short: Parents choose between 5 main approaches: Majority language only; One parent, one language; Minority language at home; By time and place; Outsourced (immersion, classes, caregiver). Evidence: evidence leans one way. Research or guidance points in a direction, but it's thin, small or correlational. Best settled: during pregnancy.

- Area: Play, activities and enrichment
- Evidence: Evidence leans one way
- Best settled: During pregnancy
- First published: 2026-10-03
- Last updated: 2026-10-05
- Page: https://www.raisingyourchild.com/topics/play-activities-and-enrichment--languages-at-home

## Languages at home: what are the options?

1. **Majority language only**: You speak only the main language of where you live.
2. **One parent, one language**: Each parent always speaks their own language to the child.
3. **Minority language at home**: The whole family speaks the other language at home and the child learns the main one outside.
4. **By time and place**: You use each language at set times or in set places.
5. **Outsourced (immersion, classes, caregiver)**: The child learns the second language from school, classes or a caregiver.

## Languages at home: what does the evidence say?

**Evidence leans one way.** Research or guidance points in a direction, but it's thin, small or correlational.

In about 1,900 families, children most often spoke the minority language when both parents used it at home; one-parent-one-language was neither necessary nor sufficient

Sources:

- [De Houwer](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/applied-psycholinguistics/article/abs/parental-language-input-patterns-and-childrens-bilingual-use/821A5852222197491F4E7ABC8AA4B099)

## What else is worth knowing?

Children can learn two or more languages from birth without confusion. They need a lot of exposure to each, so families choose a method and stick with it. This matters most when the two of you speak different first languages or want to pass one on.

## Questions to ask each other

- Which languages do we each speak, and which do we want our child to know?
- Who speaks which language to the child?
- How committed are we if our child answers only in English?

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General information, not medical advice. Two parents can each answer this and compare: https://www.raisingyourchild.com/explore?cat=play-activities-and-enrichment&topic=play-activities-and-enrichment--languages-at-home