I need some advice…my son is 2 years old and bilingual (english/ hungarian) . It means that I speak almost only in hungarian with/to him. I use english only when i use the YBCR or read a book. My Husband speaks only english. I would like to know when I could start a third language and how. The “problem” is, that I don’t speak other languages so my option would be dvds.
Start asap. Don’t listen to people who say your child needs to be fully fluent in one language or in school before you introduce him to a new one.
For the third language, I would pick a language for which i can find lots of ressources. It makes it a lot easier.
Thanks,
Do you think only dvds would be enough? I was thinking to start Spanish.
i started on LIttle Pim Spanish dvd some time back. Basically my daughter just follow along and pronounce the words. I will be making spanish flash cards later, and let her listen to spanish cd at the background while she is playing. I can’t bring her to spanish playgroup yet, coz’ the time doesnt fit our schedule. I was thinking of hiring a spanish teacher, my daugher is 26 months old, would hiring a spanish teacher be any good and do what? any idea?
We started our boy on a heap of languages all at once and it was fine.
We only speak English so our only choice has been to use DVDs and CDs
I recommend -
- Picture Dictionaries from the IAHP
- Teach Me Tapes - we used Chines and Japanese but they have heaps
- Lyric Language - we used the French and German, they’re great
- Wink to Learn - absolutely brilliant, used their Chinese and he was reading along in no time they have other languages now too
- Leap Frog - Little Leaps console - you’ll have to find a second hand one as they don’t make it anymore
- Favourite movies - change the language on favourite movies/shows if you can
I’m thinking of hiring a young adult who is a native speaker of one of the many languages he talks and getting them to just come and play with him…when I can fit it in - bit hard in a rural area too.
One day, in the park, I met a mother who spoke German to his son (both are Romanian natives). She told me that she speaks with him in German, and their relatives speak only Romanian. He was around 2 yrs old, and understood and spoke a bit of both languages.
She also new a case where the little girls in the family (Romanian natives) were raised in an environment rich of 3 different languages. The girls met daily or weekly with 3 different relatives that spoke one of those languages. By the time the girls were 3 or 4 yrs old, they could speak and understand them all (Japanese was the fourth language they started to learn, I think). The mother who told me all this new nothing about early learning methods, but she new it is possible to start teaching foreign languages at an early age. The sooner the bettter, she thought. It was very encouraging for me. 
My son is 2 yrs and 4 months old.
Our native language is Romanian.
The second language in the house is English (both my husband and I speak English).
The third language is Chinese (for now only my husband speaks Chinese).
So… we use YBCR for English (it’s been more than a month now, and he’s learning words, songs etc.), and WinktoLearn for Chinese (in the first viewing session he was puzzled, but looked at it. Within days, he showed more interest in this too).
Have you done any sign language with your child? I was reading yesterday in “Superbaby” by Dr Jenn Berman how ASL makes a great bridge when learning multiple languages because it links the sign to words they know and then to words they are learning.
Stodd,
All posts have great advices. Start introducing another language whenever you are ready.
My baby (22 months) knows English, Polish, Spanish and about month ago I introduced Chinese. I don’t speak Spanish or Chinese. He knows Spanish only from DVD’s ,Dora cd’s and some flashcards I know how to say. He reads Spanish flashcards so I know watching dvd’s systematicly works for a baby.
He loves to watch Chinese Little Pim and Wink to Learn.
Do your own research about dvd’s of the language you want to introduce and go for it. Don’t wait. Babies can absorb few languages at one time. It’s proved by researches.
Marta
I know it is good to start early in languages. My little girl can speak Mandarin, cantonese, english and she watches Little Pim Spanish, not speaking though. I am thinking of introducing Japanese. Absorbing at a young age is one thing, but how do I keep up the languages as she grows older? I think languages is something where you need to constantly expose in order to remember the languages and practise frequently. As she grows up and goes to school , she would have other sport activities, music lessons etc… how much time would be required to “keep” the languages, if you are not exposed to the language in your daily environment?
My understanding of the process is that by starting them now you ensure “a good ear” for the individual sounds of each language and develop the pathways for understanding the individual syntaxes of each language. This means that should they take a break or stop that those pathways are in place for later.
Having said that it would be more ideal to keep the languages progressing…not sure myself how I intend to keep all the languages up but I’m sure it will come to me. With the internet things are much easier than they were for previous generations.
One of the biggest gifts my parents gave me: private English lessons with a wonderful teacher, right before or during first two primary school classes. I know, it’s quite late, comparing to what we know now or what we do with our kids. But for me, it opened the door to the love for learning foreign languages. I’ve been speaking English for 23-24 years now and it’s something not many people of my age have here in Romania. I have learned French easy and fast, almost immediately after. I’ve learned Italian watching TV when I was 12-14. In fact, I’m so confident right now, that I believe I can learn any language in this world, if I work on it, with the suitable lessons (it takes time… and perseverence and much more… but it’s possible). I love to learn foreign languages! That’s a fact!
It’s true: it trained my ears. I can sense different accents. And I can ever imitate them. I also sense different notes in music. And I love to sing (to my son, especially). I also like to play an instrument, but in my childhood my parents couldn’t give me this chance. (with LMusic and Piano Music Academy, for my son, and a keyboard for me given as a gift from a relative, it can be done…)
I think that what we do, in fact, for our kids, by using such methods, is to share a bigger vision.
Through these methods our son can see that the more we understand other people, the more we find out about the world, about life. And it’s so much to discover out there. And the more he can understand, the more opportunities he has in life. And he can find more reasons to be happy, to enjoy living.