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Bilingual Babes: Teach Your Child A Second Language
When Louise Sanders adopted her daughter, Camille, from Panama, she thought it was important to teach her about her heritage. So just before Camille turned 3, Louise enrolled her in a Spanish-language school in their Tucson, Arizona, community. Now, at 3 1/2, Camille loves to sing Spanish songs, and sometimes she even answers questions more quickly when her teachers ask her in Spanish rather than in English.
"Kids this age are developing language skills rapidly, and they quickly absorb whatever they hear," says Erika Levy, Ph.D., assistant professor of speech and language pathology at Columbia University Teachers College, in New York City. "They can learn to understand new words in two different languages at an incredibly fast rate." And you don't need to enroll your child in formal language classes to hear her repeat words and songs in a new tongue -- just listen in when she's watching television shows like Dora the Explorer, Go, Diego, Go! and Sesame Street, which teach basic Spanish words to the preschool set. Lots of parents are also supplementing this elementary knowledge with bilingual books, toys, and CDs.
Why are so many families jumping on the bilingual bandwagon? "In our increasingly global world, parents realize that their kids will benefit from knowing more than one language," says Nancy Rhodes, director of foreign-language education at the Center for Applied Linguistics, in Washington, D.C. "There's definitely been a grassroots push for more bilingual education in preschools." Exposing your child to a second language will help him learn about other cultures. Research has shown that bilinguals tend to be more creative thinkers than those who speak one language, and one study suggests that their brain functions may stay sharper as they age.
Here's how to get your little linguist to begin learning.
- Start now. Two- and 3-year-olds are not only increasing their vocabularies, they're starting to recognize the speech patterns they've been hearing since birth. The earlier you introduce a second language, the easier it will be for your child to pick up its unique sounds. The ability to hear different phonetic pronunciations is sharpest before age 3, and we lose the capacity to hear and produce certain sounds if we aren't exposed to them early on, according to François Thibaut, director of the Language Workshop for Children, in New York City. So just hearing a television show, listening to music, or learning a few words in a second language will give your child essential tools for appreciating it now and learning to speak it later.
- Create a casual learning environment. The best way for a child to learn to understand a new language is for him to hear people speaking it fluently, says Thibaut. If he's exposed to conversations, he'll begin to pick up the sounds and the natural accent. Choose a language that is spoken in your neighborhood, on a television show your child can watch regularly, or one that is offered in classes or playgroups in your area. "If you have a bilingual babysitter, encourage her to speak her native language to your child exclusively," says Rhodes. Two- and 3-year-olds love to mimic what they hear, and soon they'll begin to understand the meanings of short words and phrases.
- Teach a word at a time. If you don't want to do formal lessons, you can introduce bilingual basics by pointing out to your child that objects can have two names -- one in each language. "When my 2-year-old son, Constantinos, sees a spider, he'll say 'spider' to me in English and then say it in Greek to my husband," says Cassandra Attard, of Nottingham, New Hampshire. "He knows they mean the same thing." As your child learns new words, tell him what they're called in a second language too.
- Have reasonable expectations. Of course, a child won't learn to speak another language fluently from hearing words, watching videos, or singing songs. But simply being exposed to a language will help her understand phrases when she hears them. So even though you probably won't be having a French conversation with your child very soon, if you say "bonne nuit" every night at bedtime, she'll figure out what you mean.
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I have been raising my kids to speak Mandarin in the Bay area while my husband speaks only English. It requires a significant change in lifestyle. I've started to write about my own experiences and tips, as well as how I became bilingual myself, at http://mandarin-tiger-mom.blogspot.com
5/14/2012 02:38:52 AM Report AbuseI just started using the My Child Knows Chinese iPhone apps. My Julie really loves them. She is 2. They are sort of like flash cards and sort of like picture-play books. I don't know Chinese, but after playing for five minutes she was saying things that sounded like Chinese. If anyone is interested - it's this thing - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/my-child-knows-chinese-transporation/id505605682?mt=8 but there is a free one too.
3/26/2012 08:59:17 PM Report AbuseWow!!! It's great to read the responses and see so many parents teaching their children a second or third language. I'm husband and I speak only English, but we are teaching our daughter ASL, Mandarin, and Spanish. She does here some German, French and Russian from my husbands grandfather (and it makes her smile)So far, we've been lucky in having a friend that speaks Mandarin and she's been great about calling and helping us with phrases.
3/1/2012 06:20:50 PM Report AbuseHi, My kids (7 and 4 years) old are now 3 lingual. They speak Polish, English and Spanish. Do you want to know how we did it, please read http://wanderlust.bajan.pl/2011/12/15/raise-multilingual-children/
2/27/2012 08:55:59 PM Report AbuseI would add to the "reasonable expectations" and remind other parents to also make sure the expectations aren't too low. Children WILL surprise you with how quickly they pick stuff up! for those of us who need a little help in the Spanish department I really enjoy the http://www.readingamigo.com program. It helps bathe your child in Spanish. We use it all the time it has books, DVDs, a Music CD, Games, and Apps to use.
1/21/2012 10:20:39 PM Report AbuseI am raising my children in a bilingual household where we model One Parent-One Language. I speak exclusively in Mandarin Chinese with my children, and my husband speaks English with them. Our daughter who just turned 3, is completely bilingual, and she speaks only in Chinese with her baby brother, 4 mos. We have our Chinese babysitter and her children come over twice a week to play with my children. I also wrote a bilingual musical book series: www.littlelauramusic.com
11/5/2011 01:04:46 AM Report AbuseThis article is good for me I was confused about what or how begging to talk to my so he is 20 months old and didn't said many words I was worry I am bilingual and my husband too,so we begging to talk to my son both language but I feel he is confuse so I will talk just Spanish and my husband english
9/11/2011 01:11:11 PM Report AbuseI have done the same as the author of this article with my little boy and the results are great. The main thing is that he enjoys using the French words and words from songs and television programs (Dora is fab!) spout automatically from his mouth. My French stepmother remarks that his accent is excellent. I'm really pleased with the progress. @Trevcirclestud, are you signed up for the site http://www.languages4yourkids.com/ yet? I see it is new. It's a good idea but will people use it?
6/23/2011 03:23:37 AM Report AbuseInteresting. I am currently reading a book called "Catching Tongues" that has a similar explanation but has lots of fun games and strategies for teaching your kids another language. I came across it on a site called http://www.languages4yourkids.com/ It's so great that there is so much opportunity to make a difference for your kids nowadays!
6/7/2011 04:36:09 PM Report AbuseI thought this article made a nice follow-up to this one: http://shine.yahoo.com/event/yahoocontributornetwork/bilingual-basics-teaching-your-toddler-a-second-language-2487678
5/26/2011 03:56:07 PM Report AbuseFebruary is national Discover Languages Month. The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages¿ (ACTFL) sustained effort to raise public awareness about the cognitive, academic, cultural, social & economic benefits language learning provides. Help U.S. students Discover Languages¿Discover the World!® Visit www.discoverlanguages.org for information, research, logos, templates, eCards & ideas to help parents, teachers and students educate, advocate & celebrate language learning.
2/8/2011 07:14:29 AM Report Abusewhat about Muzzy? http://early-advantage.com/ it's awesome, and even better than any of that Dora the Explorer stuff.
8/3/2010 03:58:58 PM Report AbuseI found this fun IPHONE app the other day that my toddler just adores. Called 'icountcats' he is counting to 10 in English with the help of this simple little app - whether it is the fun of pressing the numbers on the phone or the pictures of cats, I have no idea, but boys do like gadgets!
2/23/2010 04:09:58 AM Report AbuseI have a 12 year old and a 10mth. I always try to speak Spanish to both but my husband only speaks English and sometimes without realizing I speak English to them, then I quickly change it back to Spanish. My 12 year old learned both languages from the begining as well and she had no delay in speech or any other problem. She is bilingual and well spoken on both language. The real challenge is not teaching them, it is to keep them from fogetting it. So, consistency is what works.
2/4/2010 06:44:52 AM Report AbuseI speak French & English. English is my native language though. So we speak English at home. At 6 months my son started watching French cartoons. At a year old, he started saying a few words in French. He is 2 yrs old today & will be starting in a French immersion program next week, Mon-Fri, 8-5. I'm so excited for him!
12/29/2009 09:16:34 AM Report AbuseI started speaking to my children in Spanish from birth, and now they are all perfectly bilingual. Some say it delays the child's speech and causes confusion. My eldest didn't say one word other than "ma" for nearly two years, until suddenly one day she very clearly asked me as I was looking through a kitchen cabinet, " ¿ Que buscas Mami?" She may have been delayed, but confused she was not. Feel free to visit my blog for more tips on raising bilingual children: http://mishijostambien.com
10/27/2009 12:34:15 AM Report Abuse