Bilingual children in Görlitz: advantages and challenges in everyday life

Bilingual children in Görlitz: advantages and challenges in everyday life

in the Görlitz border region, where German-Polish families are the order of the day, the influence of bilingual education is becoming increasingly clear. Katarzyna Zinnow reports on the first reactions of her daughter Sophia when she learned that children in their daycare center can learn Polish as a foreign language. The history of the Zinnows reflects the reality of many families who live in the region. According to sächsische.de Görlitz and Bautzen recorded 149 German-Polish marriages, which illustrates the increase in such families.

In the district of Görlitz, 7,435 Polish citizens are currently living, while around 1,850 Polish citizens are located in the Bautzen district. These families attach great importance to bilingual education in order to offer their children a comprehensive linguistic basis. Malgorzata Schubinski and her husband Manuel are another example of how important parents are this dual language education. Malgorzata plans to teach her eldest son Nataniel in reading and writing in Polish, supported by an online school.

challenges in practice

Despite the motivation of the parents, there are always hurdles to overcome. In primary school, children like Nataniel often only get knowledge of German rules, which can lead to difficulties in reading and writing in their other language. Malgorzata and Manuel report on the concerns they had when registering their son at the elementary school, in particular regarding his knowledge of German. The son of Katarzyna Zinnow, Bruno, also had to do without a polish course at primary school due to the lack of offers. This raises the question of how families in the region can receive better support.

The Volkshochschule Görlitz has currently launched a new offer for Polish lessons - a small step in the right direction, but there is still a lack of comprehensive networking options and offers for language teaching in Eastern axes. This was also confirmed by Maria and Stephan Meyer from Oderwitz, who also educate their children bilingual. For the Meyers, visits to relatives in Poland are an important way to promote and consolidate the language skills of their children. However, they also fight with the motivation of their children and access to Polish lessons.

The advantages of bilingualism

Despite the challenges, early contact with two languages also offers immense advantages. A study by the Anglia Ruskin University research team shows that bilingual children enjoy cognitive advantages as adults who affect their entire lifestyle. The study published in the journal Scientific Reports , it says that bilingual adults can perceive visual changes faster and shift their attention more efficiently. This is particularly valuable in an increasingly globalized world in which multilingualism is becoming more and more a norm, such as text dynamics.

The local families in Görlitz and the surrounding area show how important it is to promote the promotion of bilingual education. In view of the growing number of mixture -speaking couples and the connection between Germany and Poland, access to Polish lessons should be further strengthened in order to offer the children the best prerequisites for a future in two cultures. As the article by cordis.eu of great importance for society as a whole, because in the past contact with different languages opens up new perspectives and opportunities in the world that lies ahead of them.