2018/06/10 Mary Nobuoka

Raising Bilingual Children

by Mary Nobuoka

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 where the majority language dominates) requires planning and attention. This presentation advised parents on the challenges of raising a bilingual child and shared some factors for success. Tips for adding bi-literacy skills were sprinkled throughout. This talk was beneficial to all Gunma JALT attendees, especially to those hoping their child(ren) will be bilingual, and to teachers of children who are being raised bilingually.

Mary Nobuoka came to Japan in 1994 and has taught English to every proficiency level, ages 2 to 82. She volunteered as 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 of Language Teachers (JALT) from 2011 to 2015. She currently teaches various courses at Gakushin University, Waseda University and Keio University, including a course of soft skills and leadership skills. 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. She also holds a teacher's license from the Sogetsu School of Ikebana and sometimes offers courses in English. In her free time she enjoys gardening and cooking for her husband and 14-year-old bilingual son. She has two adorable cats. She also volunteers at Kohoku-ku Public Library reading Children's books in English.