Having a young daughter myself, I struggle as a mother to teach my child to be bilingual (I guess trilingual for that matter). After all the years of teaching Thai to non-Thai speakers, Thai-Americans struggle the most in keeping their Thai language. Thai parents normally don’t think Thai will be useful to their children  or they think that knowing both English and Thai will make their children not being able to speak English properly. Some Thai- Americans that I met can read, but not to the point that they can hold a job in Thailand. My Thai-American students often encourage me to teach my child Thai since they feel that a part of their lives are lost because of their inability to communicate with their Thai grandparents and relatives.

According to the article, “The Bilingual Advantage,” bilingualism helps delay Alzheimer and enhance multitasking ability. The result of this research encourages me to continue raising  my child to be multilingual. It also answers my question why I feel my brain functions better whenever I take an interpreter project. It’s like tapping into the part of the brain that I don’t normally use.

Here is the link to the article The Bilingual Advantage 

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