Casual exposure two days a week, worth it?

[sara57]

It is not super serious but we have someone who is with our 12 month old two times a week for a few hours at a time and only speaks Portuguese. This will probably be the case for the next 6-8 months or so. Is this “worth it” so to speak in building a foundation and should we continue it? Or is it too low exposure that we shouldn’t really count it? I’m wondering whether to start buying books in Portuguese and whether to see if we can extend the time this caretaker can be with our family or find someone who can take over and maintain the language with him.

Thank you!

 

[godmadegorillas]

@sara57 I'm no expert, but given your child's age and the timeline of their exposure, I'm not sure they will retain any of it after their caretaker leaves. That being said, I also wouldn't necessarily ask the person to not speak Portuguese to your child, if it helps them bond and interact with them in a more natural way, I personally wouldn't care what they speak to them.

 

[barsomo]

@sara57 Having exposure to different languages is never bad, but that amount of exposure is low so it’s good to manage your expectations. You can definitely buy some Portuguese books that the caretaker can read to your son, especially if you are planning on extending the time or finding someone else who can speak Portuguese to him.

 

[satan1568]

@barsomo Yes, they may not really acquire any Portuguese but getting used to communicate across language barriers and understanding that there are a lot of different "normal" are valuable experiences

 

[tmc1284]

@sara57 It’s good for early brain development regardless

 

[roberto96]

@sara57 They won't retain any Portuguese after a few months (maybe a word here and there) but it's valuable to increase their exposure to diversity early