Abstract: Many people think that children raised by parents who speak two or more languages will naturally become bilingual or multilingual. However, in a monolingual country, this is not so easy. Raising a bilingual child in Japan (or countries like the USA) requires planning and attention. This presentation will alert parents to the challenges of raising a bilingual child and share the factors for success. Tips for adding bi-literacy skills will also be included. This talk will be of benefit to any family that is hoping their child(ren) will be bilingual.
Bio: Mary Nobuoka came to Japan in 1994 and has taught English to every proficiency level, ages 2 to 82. She was the coordinator of the JALT Bilingualism Special Interest Group from 2011 to 2015. Before that she was editor of the Children's Resource column for the Bilingualism Japan newsletter. She served as an executive board member for the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT) from 2011 to 2015. She currently teaches various courses at Gakushin University, Waseda University and Keio University. In addition to teaching at the university level, Mary has coordinated English playgroups and currently teaches literacy skills to bilingual elementary and junior high school students aged 4 to 14. She also volunteers at Kohoku-ku Public Library reading Children's books in Englis
