Hi, I have a 11 month old baby and I want her to atleast understand both my husband & mine languages i.e telugu and kannada. Since me & DH speak in english I am not really sure how I can get her to understand. The daycare teachers obviously talk to her in english. Right she says words like amma,nana, tata,baba,atta,mama etc Should I resign myself to the fact that she might never know these languages ?
I have heard people do this, each parent talk to child in their language only and the child will learn 2 languages at home. If the child is going to daycare he/she will learn English there . Now the language development might be on slower side as the child is learning 3 languages but its doable. Me & my husband both speak hindi only but we made a mistake of talking in English with our kids and hence they are not that fluent in hindi . SO if teaching your native language is imp than please do talk to your kids in that language only.
Its my case actually. My parents also are from two different places but understand each other's language. I was spoken to in two different languages and Hindi and English I learned outside.
The doctors say kids as young as yours must be taught only one language at a time, and that helps their thinking pattern and other growths. He can gradually learn the other language with time. Let him enjoy English first...
Oh please marlboro dont get disheartened. We too are facing such issues at home.We speak our mother tongue,english and hindi at home.And ofcourse arabic which my son has to learn in the school. But it depends on which language you use mostly at home that influences the child's command over a language. We started by teaching him our other tongue at home( it was easier because me and hubby both belong to the same state). English was easier for him to catch as at home,at school and outside everyone speaks english. Arabic...hes catching up. But am facing trouble with hindi.So these days instead of malayalam and english i have started talking to him in hindi.Initially he used to respond back in english but now hes trying to speak in hindi.I am glad that atleast hes trying. Chart out your plan.Whatever language you are teaching the child you should communicate in that language more frequently and the earlier you start the better their command over that language.Though i think till the age of 1.5 -2 you should communicate just in one language to your child.That will reduce the chances of speech delays.
Hi OP, I have seen my cousins and friends children speak 3 different languages by the time they are 3 or 4. My friend is married to a European. She and he speak English at home. She speaks only -ONLY- indian language to her child. He husband speaks only their european tongue to he child. She has literally picked English up form thin air. When she was 3, she would only talk in the European language but could understand me talk indian and English. She would actually communicate so well as to help me understand her first language. By the time she was 5 she was talking all 3 languages perfectly. Of course some kids have trouble following more than one language and have speech delays; in that case the parents need to sick to just one... However in most cases if you consistently speak to your little one in your language they pick it up. My DD is 2 and can translate between English and our mother tongue already when we ask her to... Just talk loads and loads to him. Give him phrases to use. He should be there quite fast. Cheers, G
