Questions for those whose kids are exposed to more than one language on a daily basis

Cunning Stunt

Hi all,

just two quick questions for those of you whose kids are exposed to more than one language on a daily basis:

- when did your child start to talk - was there any 'delay' by normal standards?

- Which language did they prefer to use - the language that mammy/daddy use at home or the language they hear in daycare - or a mix of both?


I am asking out of curiosity as our little guy hears one language in daycare and another at home. He is 20 months now but not really using any words yet..
I am afraid we may be confusing him!

Thanks!

skallywag

My situation is similar although different in that I speak English with my daughter while her mother speaks a different European language with her, which is also the native language of where we are currently living.

To address your questions, we did not experience any delay that I can recall at all, in either language.

Myself and her mum speak English together so she hears a lot of English been spoken at home. As for preference though it is definitely her mum's language, which she also uses of course all of the time outside of home.

In general I would not worry too much at 20 months, I know kids who were not really forming too many words at this stage either.

Xdancer

Our 3 year old is exposed to 3 languages. English with me, French with my OH and Spanish in daycare and now school.

She had a few words at about 18 months (mama, Papa, ball, no, yes, yogurt and a couple more) but she really didn't start speaking until she was 2 and then it was mainly in English and some Spanish.

Now at 3.5 years, she speaks English and Spanish well albeit not quite at the level of monolingual kids. She understands French, but as yet refuses to speak it unless she really had to.

Exposure to more than one language can cause delays in some kids but try not to worry too much about it. Your little boy will be fully bilingual before you know it

andala

My husband and I speak our native language at home and our kids started talking quite late. If I remember correctly, it wasn't before they were 3 that they were able to make sentences. I think it's the lack of proper exposure to either language (our native and English) that caused it. They'd be exposed to English while playing with friends and doing creche/school and Polish when they're at home, but the contact is limited to just two speakers - my husband and myself. Our eldest is in school and while his English has improved a lot since he started Montessori, it's nowhere near the level of an average Irish seven-year-old. The youngest (4) understands a lot but doesn't speak any English. Their Polish is not very good either. Sure they're communicative but their grammar is nowhere near the level it should be. With time, I'm sure English will become their dominant language, I can already hear Polish words being replaced with English ones when my eldest talks.

galah

Ours hear two languages at home - and i definitely noticed a delay compared to monoligual kids in terms of fluency in the prevalent language spoken here. At 20 months I wouldnt worry though.

Our eldest at 3.5 mixes languages a lot, at least when he's talking to me - he'd use the grammar and structure of English but with lots of German words thrown in. He'd say the correct English word when he's talking to daddy though.

he's also very much aware that i speak a different language to daddy and the childminder etc, and keeps playing the game "what does mummy call x, what does daddy call x".

I think as long as his comprehension is good in both languages, i wouldnt worry too much; it is a lot to take in. But defo keep it going, such a great gift to have.

We're sending our kids to gaelscoil as well, now this will be interesting, having a third language thrown in...

IvyTheTerrible

I'm Irish, living in France with a French husband. My son, who is 3.5, was a bit slower to talk than the average. I speak only English to him, while my husband only speaks French. (We speak English to each other). My son almost exclusively speaks French, but he can understands everything I say to him. He has just started to put English words into sentences when he's speaking to me (so he'll say something like "Je ne suis pas well").

byhookorbycrook

What Ivy said, once one person uses one language to talk to the child and the other, the different language, it usually works well. Children who are bilingual might be a little slower to develop a command of both languages, but usually fly it then, unless there is as specific speech and language issue.

josip

Ours took a few months longer than "normal" to start talking. Mammy speaks one language, Daddy and the creche the other.
It just takes some of them a little longer to sort out the different words for the same thing.

ToTriOrNot

I am Spanish, husband is Irish, English is the spoken language at home. I do speak a bit of Spanish to the kids (4 and 7), but not consistently and definitely not enough. Oldest start talking pretty early, with a good command in English and reasonable in Spanish. Youngest hardly talk till she was well over 2. Now, one was in Creche from the time she was a baby, while the other was more at home with a childminder, and then an spanish au pair, so they had a different exposure. Now, we have au pairs at home, so they have a good few hours a day of spanish only.. and their language abilities is exploding. After spending a few weeks in Spain, with no English around there (other than people trying to probe themselves they can speak English, only to be answered back in Spanish by my kids), I can't wait to see the different it has made to their Spanish. Eldest can have a proper conversation, and while you know she's not native, her conversational skills are very good, and it's able to talk in both pass and present..

I don't think it's true to say bilingual kids are slower to talk...it depends on the kids really..I think it's a wonderful skill we are giving them..and I would definitely make a better effort speaking more Spanish to them after seeing how good they are getting at it!! My eldest daughter who just learned to read in school this year, has been trying to read in Spanish, and succeed without much input from me (thanks to the phonics method used now to learn to read in English!)