When can I introduce a second language to my 18 month old daughters?
Posted on Thursday 8th July 2010 by Neil
I want my daughters to learn French, which is my first language. I learnt English from a young age because my parents insisted I learnt more than one other language. My daughters have only just started to speak English.
I do sing to them in French, partly because I never understood English nursery rhymes. Both Vee and Lottie have picked up on some of the songs as sometimes they will join in but the words aren’t pronounced correctly but I expect that is because they are still learning.
Best reply by No Bull!:
asap. they can learn 2 languages from birth. my kids know english, canadian french and spanish.
0 comments
May 11th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
Now now now!!! You cannot start too early!
Just say as much as you can to them in both languages. And have fun! : )
May 11th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
i have a daughter that knows spanish and english well and is only 2 years old. spanish is my first language. i used both laguages as she grew and still do.
May 11th, 2010 at 8:03 pm
This is the best age to start on a second language. Continue with singing to them in French and start introducing colors and number, introduce a new one each week. I did this with my two little ones with Spanish and its done wonders.
May 11th, 2010 at 8:03 pm
Well make sure they know their first language before you go onto the second one. Teach them French and try to make them recognise that they are two different languages as they’re skill developes at the languages.
May 11th, 2010 at 8:03 pm
earlier the better. especially with french which has different sounds. Its hard for people who learn it as a second language to speak it without a noticable accent. So just keep using it and they;; catch on. My kids speak english but also some spanish since my husband is puerto rican. He has been speaking it to them since they were born and they never had any problems mixing the languages etc ( he mainly uses english though but he uses some spanish so they know some spanish, not as much as I ‘d like them though because its easier to learnt a second language as a child than as a teenager etc)
May 11th, 2010 at 8:06 pm
I recommend teaching them french around the age of ten. maybe a little younger depending on their cognitive efficiency and how well they do in school.
May 11th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
The sooner the better. Start last week. Kids’ brians are like sponges, they’ll pick them both up.
May 11th, 2010 at 8:08 pm
You could have started 18 months ago.
Babies and young children are hardwired to learn language, and can easily learn 2-3 at once. You can either start talking to her in both languages, or you can talk to her in French and Daddy in English, or vice versa.
I used to work in a preschool where most of the kids were bilingual. Most spoke another language at home (Hebrew or French or Korean or Tibetan) and heard English on tv and at school. One little girl was trilingual (her father spoke Hebrew, her mother spoke Dutch and the school spoke English.) The bi/trilingual kids did learn to talk a bit later than typical, (most didn’t talk much until past 2 years), but once they did, they were completely fluent in both languages — and even before they could talk, they fully understood everything we said to them. Even kids of 3 and 4 years who had just arrived from another country, not speaking or understanding a word of English, were starting to communicate in a basic way within a week or two, and were quite fluent within a few months.
May 11th, 2010 at 8:08 pm
That is so amazing, I taught my daughter French. She is now fluent with both English and French, at age three. I am not French though the launauge is just so beautiful, and I took French from tenth grade through college. I would introduce both languages now, say something in one language and then repeat it in the second language. Your children will sort the grammar and the vocabulary themselves over a period of time. It is normal if they speak a little of each language within a single sentence as this will eventually disappear as they learn more words .As long as you are consistently making the same associations along with the languages, your children they will be able to learn the difference, with both of languages at the same time. When teaching your child a second language it is recommended that you associate one language with certain types of activities (feeding, bathing, when outside around town, and then using the other language when playing, ) My three year old is now speaking spanish but so far she can only say the basics .
Bonne chance!
May 11th, 2010 at 8:09 pm
Hey.. I Work In Childcare, If You Have Already Used English Or Another main Language With Your Child Then You May Need To Start When The Child Is A Little Older As You Will Confuse Them An They May Become Very Withdrawn You May Think im Being Dramatic But Ive Seen It Happen Its Not Nice When The Child Doesnt No Which Language They Need To Speak , 18 Month Is Way To Young To Introduce A New Language Really You Should Have Done It From Birth Then It Wouldn’t Be As Confusing For Them But Good Luck With What You Decide …. !
Hope I Helped You =D
May 11th, 2010 at 8:16 pm
mine speak both english and french and have so from day 1… as did i
May 11th, 2010 at 8:33 pm
Eighteen months ago
You are probably too late for them to grow up bilingual. It’s normal for parents who want their kids to grow up speaking 2 languages to introduce them to both from birth. Normally one parent talks to them in each language.
You could try starting now, but I suspect they will be very confused, because they understand when you speak English.
May 11th, 2010 at 8:49 pm
i have been speaking two languages with my son since he was born and he understands both but only really speaks English now. when we visit my parents he will speak the other language. I am really happy that he understands both languages but sometimes i wish he’d speak my mother language as well. i’ve just come to realise now that there is no way of making him do that however…
but my point is that you should start straight away. since there’s two of them maybe they’ll speak French together
May 11th, 2010 at 8:49 pm
Now!
i am presuming that your partner’s first language is english. he should just speak in english and you speak in french only to your kids. to begin with it can be very difficult when you are talking to your husband and then want to say something to your kids and have to remember to switch from english to french, but you’ll soon get the hang of it.
my son is 22 months old and i’m german but living in ireland for the past 16 years and married to an Irish man. he speaks english to our son an di only speak german to our son. he understands everything both me and hubby say and half his words are english and the other half is german. he has 140 words and 74 are german and 66 are english and for about half of those, he knows the english and german word for the same item.
the longer you leave it, the more difficult it will be for your kids to pick it up easily.
May 11th, 2010 at 8:52 pm
Now! It’s best for them to learn the two languages at the same time and their fluency will be stronger. One of my dear friends is teaching her children both Chinese and English. Occasionally they will switch a word or two, especially if they don’t remember the word they wanted in which ever language they were speaking in… but now her oldest son is fluent in both languages and it’s amazing what it has done for him.