Teaching A Baby 2 Different Languages At The Same Time?

My sister and her husband are fluently bilingual. One a native english speaker, and the other a native spanish speaker. They were very eager to teach their first born two languages at the same time in hopes that the kid would grow to become bilingual much easier than either of them ever did in years of language training. It seemed like a great idea to them at the time.

My nephew is 2 years old. By this age a two year old ought to know and say 60 different words clearly. My nephew knows and says about half that amount, and many of the words he says are missing important consonants (both spanish and english words). My sister is concerned about her son's speech development as he is fallen behind.

My theory is their method of introducing 2 languages to him at the same time has caused lots of confusion for him, and slowed down his language building and speech development process.

Am I right? Or has this bilingual teaching method actually been proven to work?

 

I think you are absolutely right. My husband, who is a speech pathologist, has seen this in his younger clients many times. Trying to teach a child two languages at one time can cause confusion, which can result in a language delay.

I'd elaborate, but I'm pretty tired tonight and my brain isn't working properly.

 

In Theory It Sounds Like A Clever Idea, But I Would Think At That Tender Age It Would Overheat His Young Brain And Have The Opposite Effect.



Cheers Glen.

 

Okay, I just showed this thread to my husband and here is what he said:

"It is standard practice to recommend that each parent speak one language consistently to the child and it is also quite common for children learning two languages simultaneously
to have reduced vocabulary in each language, but often the total vocabulary is greater than average for a mono-lingual child. Also, there is a wide range of normal in language development."

 

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I think Ash's husband probably knows best in this scenario.

And he's right about "normal" language development being pretty diverse, especially in those early years. But if your sister is worried about her child's language skills, she should probably get her son evaluated by a doctor, who could rule out any underlying issues (some other developmental disability). Personally, I think your sister is doing your nephew a huge favor by raising him bilingual! That will be helpful in the long-term.

 

One of my nieces was taught both English and Dutch at a young age. It was pretty interesting

 

I don't know about 2 year olds but only a few years older already and it doesn't have to be any problem. I know several people who even learned 3 different languages from age 4 or 5 on. Seems a nice advantage. So two languages from the age of like 3 or 4 and onwards should definitely be possible for a lot of kids.

 

From personal experience it is not only possible it is beneficial for children to have more than one language. As parents we were both bilingual (English and French) and our children were exposed to both from birth. When they were school age, we enrolled them in French Immersion and they are both fluent in both languages without an accent in either. They have since picked up Spanish and my son has dabbled in Latin.

As children (before school age) one rule was that we only speak in one language at a time. So if the conversation started in English, it stayed in that language. We also did not allow mixing of language or slang as some would term it. We also used varied media in each language such as books, TV or movies. Some were purchased in each language as it did make for more exposure.

Each child is different and learning is a curve. If exposed and encouraged to learn in a fun and positive way, they will.

 

I actually read a while back that children's brains can compartmentalize two languages very easily, but it wasn't necessarily referring to children as young as two. I've always assumed there would be some initial confusion in growing up bilingual.

Long term I can't really see any negative points to learning two languages, but I suppose it is possible it will hinder his language development in the short term. I don't think it's all that important though - children are all over the map when it comes to language development anyways.

 

It is recommended that each parent speak one language consistently to the child (ie: mom speaks Spanish and dad speaks English) as opposed to mom speaking both Spanish and English and dad doing the same.

 

If there is a language delay, perhaps your sister should get the child evaluated by a speech pathologist? Assessments can be expensive, but I know there is usually funding for the younger kids.

 

maybe look at mom and dads methods BEFORE blaming jnior

 

This topic is covered from 16:35 - 18:00 (there's a ton of other info, but that time frame covers the topic of this thread)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmWrOUK2zgA

To hold a North American child to the same standards as a European child (regarding the learning of numerous languages through direct exposure) is flawed right from the start.

Take for instance Canada, an enormous country with two official languages. Most citizens only speak English. In contrast, a person living in Holland has countries such as France, Germany, and Italy within the same distance from the east/west coasts of Canada.

 

Jnior? Sounds like you need to go back to kindergarten and play with the blocks.

 

Real mature, Bradley.

 

LOL.

I know, I know. I couldn't help it. He's been a real dick to me lately. I shouldn't lower to his level, but the door was wide open, almost as wide as his fat tub of lard ass.

 

haha good attempt but lame...

hey?...you seem PISSed off?