Should I Teach My Child a Second Language? 6 Reasons From a Dad of Six

My kids speak two languages: English and Farsi. For years, I thought that was the whole story — they can talk to more people, they can talk to our family. Done.

Then I started reading the research, and the story turned out to be bigger than I thought.

Here is the number that surprised me first. Researchers at the University of Granada tested bilingual kids between ages 5 and 7 against monolingual kids on working memory — the brain's short-term workspace, the part that holds information while you use it. The bilingual kids did better. And the harder the tasks got, the bigger the gap became.

Here is the number that scared me a little. In a UK study of second-generation kids, most of them UNDERSTOOD their family's heritage language. But fewer than a third actually SPOKE it with their own brothers and sisters.

Understanding is not the same as keeping.

So here are 6 reasons you should teach your child a second language — or help them keep the one they already have. Number 6 is the biggest one for me as a father.

When a child speaks two languages, their brain has to move between two different language systems. Different words for the same things. Different rules. And they have to pick the right one depending on who they are talking to.

For my kids, that can mean English in one situation and Farsi in another. To them, they are just talking. But their brain is getting practice every single time they switch.

Researchers connect this daily switching with practice in attention, memory, and mental flexibility. The Granada study I mentioned found the working-memory edge showed up most clearly on the hardest tasks — exactly the kind of thinking school keeps asking more of as kids grow.

That surprised me. Something my kids have been doing naturally for years may be helping their brains in ways I never thought about.

This is one of the biggest reasons I want my kids to keep their Farsi.

Language is not just words. Language connects people.

If you have grandparents or relatives who are more comfortable in your family's language, your child can talk to them directly. They can hear their stories. Understand their jokes. Build that relationship without always needing someone to translate.

For my kids, Farsi is not just another skill. It is part of our family.

Sometimes we think, "They live in America. They speak English. That is enough." Maybe English is enough for everyday life. But I think our kids can lose something important when they lose the language that connects them to their family.

And once that connection is gone, it can be very hard to get back.

A second language can show your child that the world is much bigger than what they see every day.

When kids learn another language, they are usually learning something about another culture at the same time. They start to understand that people may speak differently, communicate differently, and have different traditions.

I like that. I want my kids to understand where our family came from, but I also want them to feel comfortable around people who are different from them.

And when you understand another language, you can understand things that do not translate perfectly into English — the humor, the expressions, the little things that belong to a culture.

A child who speaks two languages learns that they may need to communicate differently depending on who they are talking to.

Maybe they speak English with one person and Farsi with another. Their brain has to notice that and adjust.

That is a useful skill. They are learning: who am I talking to, and how do I reach this person?

Now, here is something parents worry about. What if your child mixes the two languages? Starts a sentence in English and drops a Farsi word in the middle? Or understands your language but answers you in English?

That happens. It is normal when kids grow up with more than one language. One language can also get stronger depending on how often they use it.

For me, the goal is not perfection. I would rather my kids use Farsi imperfectly than stop using it because they are afraid of making mistakes.

Little kids are very good at picking up language. They listen all day. They copy sounds. They learn from the people around them.

That means if you already speak another language, you do not need to turn it into a class.

Use it at home. Talk to your child in that language. Let family members use it with them. Make it part of normal life.

But if your child is older, do not think you missed your chance. They can still learn. It may take more work, but learning another language does not suddenly become impossible because your child is not three years old anymore.

And if your child already knows another language, keep giving them chances to use it. Because if they stop using it, they can slowly lose it.

Remember that UK number: most second-generation kids understand the heritage language, but fewer than a third speak it with their siblings. Use is what keeps it alive.

The drop-off is real, and it differs a lot by community: about 8 in 10 second-generation Hispanic Americans speak their heritage language "at least pretty well," compared with about 4 in 10 second-generation Asian Americans (Pew Research Center).

The first five reasons are great. But this is the one that matters most to me as a father.

One day, my kids are going to grow up and have lives of their own. Maybe one day they will have children of their own too. (I have been thinking a lot about what it takes to stay close to them as they grow.)

And if they keep their Farsi, they will have something from our family that they can carry with them — and maybe pass down to the next generation.

For me, that is bigger than the brain benefits.

English is going to be around my kids everywhere. At school, with friends, at work, online. They do not have to work hard to keep English in their lives.

Farsi is different. If we do not use it, it can slowly disappear. My kids could understand less Farsi than I do. Then maybe their kids understand even less. And eventually, that language can disappear from the family.

I do not want that.

I want my kids to be able to talk with family in Farsi. I want them to understand where our family came from. And if they choose to teach it to their own kids one day, I would love that.

I am not just helping my kids learn another language. I am helping them keep a piece of their family.

But here is the part nobody told me when my kids were little: keeping a language takes less effort than I feared — and losing one takes less neglect than you would think.

If this helped you, here is how to go deeper — pick the one that fits you:

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"I would rather just watch."
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I am not an expert on any of this. I am a dad of six trying things. Here is what we actually do:

1. Farsi at the dinner table — not a lesson, just dinner. Nobody gets corrected mid-sentence. The point is hearing it and using it, not getting it perfect.

2. I let the grandparents do the heavy lifting. Video calls with family count more than any language app. When my kids want to tell grandma something, they reach for Farsi on their own.

3. I stopped chasing perfect. My kids mix English and Farsi in the same sentence sometimes. I would rather hear messy Farsi than perfect silence.

This is not a magic fix. Some weeks we barely manage it. But the direction matters more than the streak.

Research does not support the confusion worry. Kids may mix languages or take a little longer to find a word in one language, but that is a normal part of sorting two systems — not a sign of a problem. If you are ever truly worried about speech delays, talk to your pediatrician, not the internet.

Do not panic, and do not turn every conversation into a correction. This is the most common pattern in bilingual families — understanding almost always runs ahead of speaking. Keep giving them low-pressure chances to use it: grandparents, family calls, dinner-table talk. Pressure kills it faster than English does.

No. Younger kids pick up sounds more easily, but older kids learn just fine — they just need more regular exposure and a real reason to use it. A weekly call with grandma they actually enjoy beats a daily drill they hate.

Confidence: Medium. The working-memory finding comes from a peer-reviewed journal; the heritage-loss numbers come from Pew and published sociolinguistics research via secondary coverage. The 2026 brain roundup is a content site summarizing studies — treat its broader claims as suggestive, not settled.

— Amam