Raising my boy bilingual

[mmsyther]

@lisaleger This isn't helpful advice, but as someone who grew up around my dad's family who didn't speak much english but was never taught the language as a kid has always been a huge point of contention in me with how I was raised. I loved them all so much but could barely speak to them and I lost what could have been a great connection to a rich heritage. Basically I just want to applaud you for trying to make sure your kid is connected to their history and family.

 

[worldview93]

@lisaleger Spanish childrens books are great tools for learning. Hopefully your local library has some.

 

[kaykay8]

@lisaleger How old is your son? I have 3 raising bilingual (French and English) and I found kids books in the non dominant language and second language tv (paw patrol or puffin rock, for instance) in whatever language work best.

My advice for a 1 year old would be different than a 5 year old, and this advice is more for the younger ages.

And it helps me with my own vocabulary.

 

[lisaleger]

@kaykay8 Currently 2 months old. I'm a little bit ahead, I know lol

 

[kaykay8]

@lisaleger At that age, just you talking on both languages, regardless of vocabulary, is good

Grammar and priming the sounds are what they get

 

[emm3635]

@lisaleger "Peanut" is a common term of endearment for a baby. In our home (SE USA), we also use "bubba," which is southern slang for brother, "love bug," "angel," and sometimes get silly and combine them like "angel bug," which is not a common term of endearment.

For other people's kids, I would use "bud" or "buddy," which is like "friend."

Like another commenter, we almost never use baby words for the world around him, unless he uses them first. For example, if we ask if he wants water, and he may say "wa-wa", so then we may start to call it "wa-wa" too, but we start with the real world.

The only examples I can think of where we might start with a silly word would be "dolly" instead of doll, and "sockies" and "shoesies" instead of socks and shoes. In general adding a -y sound to the end can make some nouns cuter, or more diminutive, e.g. dog = doggy, cat = kitty, but I'm not sure the linguistic rule of when this can and can't apply. You wouldn't for example say car = carry or music = musicky, but you might use it for some body parts: nose = nosey, stomach = tummy, toes = toesies.

We are teaching Spanish as a second language and mostly do it through books and videos. Ms. Rachel is a great YouTube channel for English nursery rhymes.

 

[truthtomenow]

@lisaleger I just want to thank you for doing that. My mom was a Spanish teacher, fluent, but raised my sister and me speaking English-only and it frankly really ticked me off when I got to an age of understanding that she could have easily raised us to know 2 languages. I wish she had.

 

[katrina2017]

@lisaleger Just wanna say, it's best not to use cutesy words with kids. I know it's fun but it'll set them back in their language development. Talk to your kid normal, they'll learn the languages properly and have a leg up in school.

Like if your kid wants water don't ask "do you want Wawa?" ask "do you want water." Even if they refer to it as Wawa don't use that word because it's incorrect. They'll learn from you and self correct.

 

[zaclong8]

@lisaleger I'm not sure how to raise a kid as multilingual, I can barely mange English alone however, one of my family members has a partner that is Spanish. They decided to raise their kids as multilingual but it's just not worked. They both speak Spanish to the kids all the time but the.kids have basically decided to just speak English. They bear themselves up for it for years but at then end of they day you can't force them to learn. I suspect the problem was they went to a school that spoke only English and didn't see the point in learning a different language at home.

 

[ilovecoconuts]

@lisaleger I used to worry a lot about learning and teaching children-specific terms before my kids were born and for a little bit after they were born but eventually stopped thinking about it once I dove into just speaking on a regular basis. For terms of endearment I use “my little…(insert noun, like pumpkin)” and do the same in the other target languages. Just using the language is what matters the most as exposure to a foreign language prior to 18mo of age will give the child the best chance to gain native-like fluency in their life.

I am teaching my kids English, Spanish, and French. It is exhausting to constantly say things three times in a row but I know it helps. Since I don’t speak French or Spanish perfectly, I focus on the phrases, grammar, and vocabulary I am certain of (I rarely have time to look up missing words online so I don’t sweat it). I have spent quite a lot of time sitting on the toilet, entertaining a toddler while spinning a colorful toy and singing numbers (counting up or down) and colors in the three languages. Whenever possible I describe the items on pages on books in each language. Any orders I give, such as “brush your teeth! and Let’s get dressed!” come in triplicate. I also strive to change the grammatical structure here and there and make sure to repeat that change in the other languages. For example, “brush your teeth” might then become “let’s brush teeth” or “it’s time to brush teeth” (etc).

Meanwhile, my husband is from India and speaks Bengali with his parents and listens to Hindi podcast/or news. Neither he nor his parents speak Bengali intentionally to our kids on a regular basis but speak amongst themselves in the language. Our common language for the kids is English.

My 3y old and 18mo old may not actively speak back to me in each language because of the heavy English influence in their life but they are gaining comprehension. That’s enough of a win for me!

I’ve just managed to check out some “Pim the Panda” (Pimsleur language Method for kids, I think) Playaway tablets from the library and the kids adore watching the videos in Spanish and French. Another commenter mentioned Ms. Rachel on YouTube (search Rachel Speech Therapy) and I highly recommend her videos for the exposure to common children’s words, phrases, and songs in English. I have long bribed my younger kid to sit on the potty, and now the big toilet, with Ms. Rachel!

 

[katrina2017]

@lisaleger Us too. My husband is Hispanic and we have a biracial child. I can't speak a lot of Spanish, so we both want to learn it too. My husband's family speaks Spanish and I want my child to be able to communicate with his family and community.

We have had him in preschool since he was a baby and every year he's learned ASL and Spanish. He's 4 and in preschool now. I used to teach 0-5 year olds and I've always taught ASL. Children that know dual languages excel in school. We are so lucky his teacher's 1st language is Spanish. He's learning a lot.

We have dual language books and he loves asking Google to translate words.

 

[rostislav]

@lisaleger Best to speak all languages to him! The common theory that's outdated is to isolate based on native tongue or @ home vs @ school language. Speak it all anytime and he'll be just fine! Wife's a bilingual speech pathologist and she tells her students' parents this all the time. Kids are sponges and will learn to create context around the languages. Nuances become more easily defined as they are exposed to the languages and eventually their brain maps all of the vocabulary properly to develop cohesive language. Hope this helps!