Maximize Your Child’s Bilingual Ability: Ideas and inspiration for even greater success and joy raising bilingual kids

Maximize Your Child’s Bilingual Ability

Ideas and inspiration for even greater success and joy raising bilingual kids

Praised worldwide by leaders in the field of child bilingualism and parents raising bilingual and multilingual kids, Maximize Your Child’s Bilingual Ability is the popular guide to the bilingual journey by Adam Beck, founder of Bilingual Monkeys and The Bilingual Zoo. In this empowering 310-page book, Adam shares the best of his personal experience as a teacher and parent, working with hundreds of bilingual and multilingual children for more than 20 years.

This book will enable you to…

Deepen your grasp of the key factors (including the two "core conditions") for successfully nurturing a bilingual child
Strengthen your efforts by taking even more mindful and effective action on a regular basis
Boost your child's language development, day by day and bilingual ability over the years of childhood
Empower your spirit and feel greater motivation, enthusiasm, and perseverance
Experience a more joyful adventure with your child and a richer, closer relationship

Available worldwide, in paperback and e-book, at Amazon, Amazon UK, the other global Amazon sites, and other booksellers.

A Polish edition of the book is also available.

Praised by leaders in the field

“A pure gem! Adam Beck has created a truly wonderful and easily readable book that parents everywhere will enjoy and that bilingual families and children will benefit from.”

“Who but Adam Beck can tie together the complexities of raising a bilingual child with such wisdom, warmth, and wit? An in-the-trenches father, he shows how fun speaking another language at home can be. His work tells you not only the benefits and the methods, but delves deep into how to motivate both yourself and your child. He gives the percentages of success for the various bilingual strategies (One parent, one language: 74.24%), but for those who heed his advice, count on 100%.”

“Not long after I started Spanish Playground, Adam Beck began writing his blog Bilingual Monkeys. As I read his early posts, I recognized a talented educator and a kindred spirit. His book Maximize Your Child’s Bilingual Ability was released last year, and since then I have recommended it often to parents raising bilingual children. Without fail, their reaction is ‘Thank you. This is exactly what I need.’”

“If books are food for thought and if continuing to learn about bilingualism is an essential part of a bilingual parent’s mental diet, then Maximize Your Child’s Bilingual Ability is nutritional superfood…the ideal guidebook for parents who are sure of their commitment to bilingual parenting but in need of ideas and ongoing inspiration.”

Maximize Your Child’s Bilingual Ability grew over the course of 20 years, ever since I first began teaching, and then parenting, bilingual and multilingual children. The writing process itself took well over three years.

It’s a big but reader-friendly book, and shares the best of my personal experience as a longtime practitioner of bilingual acquisition in children. It explores the subject in unusual depth from a practical standpoint, focusing on the day-to-day reality of effectively, and enjoyably, fueling language development.

I have sought to create a book that offers a comprehensive breadth of ideas and inspiration—“a big buffet of food for thought”—that will help parents of any background, anywhere in the world, experience even greater success on their bilingual journey.

Like my blog and forum, I have done my best to make the book not only informative and encouraging, but engaging to read. While some of the content naturally overlaps with my work online, I’ve also gone far beyond it by providing a wealth of new material, diving deep into the ways of thinking and acting that can lead to more productive efforts and stronger progress.

The full appendix not only includes helpful information on additional resources, it contains a targeted Reader’s Guide for individuals and groups: a list of 45 key questions about maximizing a child’s bilingual ability tied directly to the content of the book.

Praised by parents around the world

“I can’t say enough good things about Adam Beck’s book Maximize Your Child’s Bilingual Ability. Before I read it, I was hopeless that my almost 4-year-old son would become proficient in Portuguese, my mother language. However, after reading Adam’s book and putting into practice every tactic suitable to our circumstances, I noticed extraordinary progress in my son’s language (Portuguese) ability. I am beyond excited with such striking progress and forever thankful to Adam for raising awareness on bilingualism and providing invaluable tools for our bilingual children to thrive.”

“A must read! I very rarely say ‘you must read this’ but if you are a parent or carer raising children bilingually, or thinking about doing so, look no further. We are parents to a two year old boy and a three month old girl and have found this book incredibly helpful and informative. Prior to our son being born, we both researched around the subject of how to best support him to become bilingual. Maximize Your Child’s Bilingual Ability is such a welcome break from the usual dry academic resources. If you are going to read one book about raising bilingual children, make it this one.”

“As a mother raising bilingual children, and professionally, as a speech-language specialist, I’ve read and written extensively on the area of bilingualism. There are many resources readily available out there for bilingual families, but Maximize Your Child’s Bilingual Ability is uniquely special. Adam’s use of Perspectives (ways of thinking) and Principles (ways of acting) will certainly bring about right thinking that leads to right doing when it comes to fostering active bilingual ability in children.”

“I found reading Maximize Your Child’s Bilingual Ability a very uplifting experience. It’s easy to read and very enjoyable. Adam speaks from his heart straight into yours and offers a great guide to bilingualism and good parenting. Although I would have loved to read it before my children were born, I gained so much knowledge and tips about bringing up children bilingually that I can’t wait to start putting it all into practice! Definitely the most useful, practical, and motivating book on the market.”

Why I wrote this book

The reason I wrote this book is the same reason I write about raising bilingual kids at Bilingual Monkeys and The Bilingual Zoo: because this subject matters. As a longtime teacher and parent of bilingual children, I understand how deeply, how personally, the subject of raising bilingual kids matters to families everywhere, all across the world.

And because I’ve been blessed to gain experience and knowledge in this area, I’ve grown to consider it a deep duty to share what I can with others who might benefit.

After all, language lies at the heart of our lives, and the more successful we can be at fostering language ability in our children, the more our families—now and for years to come—will potentially experience greater joy and fulfillment. That, to me, is the larger purpose of my work.

Praised by parents around the world

“An honest and engaging book full of motivational insights and practical advice on how to foster bilingualism, from an author with a uniquely valuable perspective as both an educator and a parent. It is culturally sensitive, respectful, and valuable to any family raising bilingual children, no matter its location, languages, or finances. The book is informative, methodical, and realistic about the challenges of raising bilingual children, yet it will propel your enthusiasm and provide you with countless incentives to keep on going. The second part, Principles, is a treasure trove of wonderful practical ideas and creative tips.”

“As an American ex-patriot and father of a bilingual family in Japan, I was thrilled to find the community of bilingual parents and children which Adam has founded online at Bilingual Monkeys and The Bilingual Zoo. Maximize Your Child’s Bilingual Ability is the perfect guidebook for our family’s ongoing multilingual journey. Adam deftly combines anecdotes from his own experience with a depth of technical knowledge and invaluable research to present a comprehensive program to support any family’s language learning goals. His sensitivity to the thousand daily struggles and gifts of fatherhood in a global family are always a joy to read.”

“Adam brings us this book with his perspective as both a language educator and a parent in the trenches, living the experience alongside us. He separates the book into two distinct sections: Perspectives and Principles—making it clear that our feelings about and dedication to the bilingual journey will inevitably shape our actions and our success. Adam’s book is comprehensive. He goes beyond nuts and bolts to our emotions, passion, motivations, and frustrations. His anecdotes and illustrations keep the book light and readable for every parent. He has a unique way of encouraging parents throughout the book, and tells us that every parent can be successful at raising a bilingual child. If you are a parent looking to raise your child with two or more languages, and need some encouragement as well as some concrete suggestions to help you along the way, look no further. This is the book you need.”

Get a copy of Maximize Your Child's Bilingual Ability

Maximize Your Child’s Bilingual Ability is available worldwide in paperback and as an e-book at Amazon. The Kindle e-book can be read on any tablet, smartphone, or computer, too, by using the free Kindle reading apps.

The paperbook and e-book can also be obtained directly from other Amazon sites, including…

Bulk orders for the paperback—for organization, groups, and booksellers—can be made by contacting me directly.

Please help me spread the word…

Read my book and share your impressions by posting a review at Amazon, the global Amazon sites, Goodreads, and other sites online. (Even a short review is fine!) If you find value in the book, others may, too, and I’d be so grateful for your feedback and support.

Tell others about my book, through social media and word-of-mouth, by making use of…

1. the link to this blog page you’re now reading:
http://bilingualmonkeys.com/maximize-your-childs-bilingual-ability-book/
2. this link to the book page at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Maximize-Your-Childs-Bilingual-Ability/dp/4908629013/
3. this link to my author page at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Adam-Beck/e/B01EKPRIE6/

If you run a blog, website, or online group, please consider posting something about my book. For review copies, and other inquiries for interviews, guest posts, or presentations, please contact me.