ABSTRACT
The single most important factor in raising children with two languages (as, indeed, in any other language learning situation) is motivation. Without a good reason, the effort required to learn a language is simply not worth making. Children need to be motivated to accept being spoken to in the minority language and to make the attempt to answer their parent in this language. Parents need to be motivated, at first to accommodate their children into the couple’s language system in such a way that they will be systematically exposed to both languages, and later to ensure that they get sufficient direct interaction in each language. Both the parents and the children will find that their levels of motivation will fluctuate. One or other parent may spend less time with the children than the other; the children may be away from home most of the time. The family language system must be flexible enough to adapt to the family’s changing circumstances. If the system breaks down for any reason, e.g. a change in the family’s country or even city of residence, a divorce or bereavement, a new system must be devised to replace it.
