The Bilingual Family

Rating:
Summary: Great review of bulingualism, but it is a bit too abstract
Review: I enjoyed reading this book. As a beginner in this field, I learnt about many hidden issues that I might encounter raising my child in a bilingual environment. The index section turned out to be especially useful as it briefly defines the problem and provides the reader with potential resolution.

The Bilingual Family: A Handbook for Parents contains both theory and examples. However, if you expect to see a lesson plan, you are up for a disappointment.

Rating:
Summary: A useful book for middle-clas bi- and multilingual families.
Review: This is a useful book for middle-class families that are trying to raise their children bilingual. It's subjects are mostly (but not all) educated middle class families that are bi- and mulitilingual "by choice" (i.e. living in a foreign country because of the parents' job, parents with different native languages, etc.) and speak European languages. It provides basic conceptual framework for bilinguality and goes through all possible cases of bilingual families. These examples are very helpful - not only one of them is likely to fit your particular situation, but you get a feel for how different language arrangements can work out. The book is very optimistic and encouraging in tone. It is very useful introductory reading on the subject. It is probably not going to be very useful for families in forced emigration, families with foreign adopted children, or monolingual families that wish their child to learn a foreing language. It does not have any detailed instructions, as its main purpose is to show that bilinguality is doable and comes in many different flavors. I was very reassured by this book in my desire to raise my children bilingual and bicultural.