Need help plan moving fwd w trilingual toddler

[myfaithislost]

Hello! Need some input on how to keep Spanish in the mix.

Based: US

Community language: English

Mother tongue: English, heritage: Spanish

Father tongue: French

Nanny + Grandmother: Spanish

He’s 2.5 and speaks / understands all 3. We are moving and the area we are moving to has no Spanish or French preschools so we had to enroll in English. We will no longer have his Spanish speaking nanny. French is fine as father only speaks French to him.

My worry is Spanish. His grandmother speaks to him in Spanish but she only comes to see him 1-2 a week. I speak Spanish but I’m more comfortable speaking in English.

Should I split my day speaking to him in English and Spanish? I don’t want to confuse him as I’ve spoken to him in English his whole life. I tried it out the other day day and I spoke to him in Spanish. He acted like it was normal and responded to me etc.

Not sure how to keep Spanish in the mix. Should I split?

 

[yaheli]

@myfaithislost Speak Spanish to him. It will become more natural & comfortable for you over time. I wouldn’t worry about his confusion since he seems to understand. But the longer you wait, the harder it’ll be...

 

[jprice63]

@yaheli I agree, no need to split, just speak Spanish to him and he’ll adjust. That way you’ll also get much better at Spanish over time and it will feel like less and less of a strain on you. I certainly got much better at my own heritage language after speaking it to my child since her birth!

 

[myfaithislost]

@yaheli Gosh ok. I’m worried I won’t give him that rich of a vocabulary as my Spanish isn’t as robust as English. But I guess it’s better than no Spanish at all

 

[aldredian]

@myfaithislost Just speak Spanish. You live in the US and daycare is going to be English. There's more than enough English exposure.

 

[lionheartiv]

@myfaithislost Look for Spanish activities on the weekend?

 

[lionheartiv]

@myfaithislost Also, there are soooo many similarities between French and Spanish that dad speaking only French to him is almost like second hand learning Spanish if that makes sense? I do not speak Spanish by any means but I am fluent in French and I can read quite a bit of Spanish and understand the gist of it. (100% not the case for oral comprehension though) A lot of my native French speaking friends though that Spanish was very easy to pick up!