Mistake #4 can be avoided by striking a balance between correcting and allowing the child to be themselves. It's only a mistake when we overdo one or the other, so the challenge is finding the right equilibrium.. Is it hard for you to find a balance when it comes to correcting mistakes?
I've heard that correcting might be unnecessary altogether. Since kids are still open minded about how the language works, they'll just hear the right way enough times to adjust subconsciously.
I’m an English speaker currently learning Spanish. My bf’s first language is Spanish but living here in the US has really weakened his Spanish speaking. We’re currently living with his parents who speak majority in Spanish. We’re expecting our first baby end of September and I have made a big deal out of making sure our baby knows both languages!
Thank you for useful information 🌹🙏🏻 I’m from Iran so my first language is Farsi but I speak also English Turkish French Almost arabic and Spanish and Azerbaijani. My husband speaks English French and arabic . We speak English at home so I want my baby to learn all of them what do u suggest ?
You need to carefully craft a plan for your baby so that things work our smoothly. Consider booking a consultation with me so that I can help you with the details. More information here: www.multilingual.family
Wow! Thank you so much for your videos! Me and hubby are learning a lot and good to know what to expect and try to be prepared for raising our child with multiple languages. I did have a question and hope to hear what you think. For background, we are in the US and am planning to speak to our baby in my native language, Tagalog (Philippines), which will be the minority language. Me and my parents and brother will be her main source of Tagalog as we don't really have a lot of other resources in that language. I just thought about me singing in general. I have not been singing songs in my language and I only sing songs in english. I love just singing in general everyday and we also have praise in church. Will you recommend i refrain from singing in english to her or around her?
My friends and I just got on with it and brought up our children with both languages 40 years ago. There wasn't much advice about in those days so we winged it. In fact, we were just emerging from the theory that using more than one language from the start would "confuse" and "damage" the child, so everyone in the same position was experimenting or just getting on unscientifically. We must have got something right because they are now bringing up their own children bilingually. Over 50% of the world's population is bilingual without any effort or theoreticising on the parents' part. It's the norm in large parts of the world. No need to overthink it.
Thank you for your video. I am Japanese and my husband is Romanian, but we live in Czech Republic. We both communicate in English 😅 4 languages environment is super challenging for us, but we will try …
Oh I feel you. I'm French, my husband is Japanese, we live in Tokyo and speak English (and a bit of Japanese here and there) at home. Not quite as challenging as 4 languages, but we already wonder where to start..we're expecting twins, so they'll be learning at the same time and chance is that they'll pick a comfortable language to talk to each other 😅
Oof same here. Husband is Japanese and I'm Hispanic living in the US. I speak to our child in Spanish and my husband speaks to him in Japanese but hubby and I speak English, which I don't want my child to learn until they're in school. It's definitely a bit tough.
We’re a Polish-Mexican couple and we’re nervous about our first kid. Your videos are very helpful and calm us down, they make it all sound possible. Thank you :)
Hi, we are Polish couple. I speak fluent English ( lived 15 years in UK) but my accent is still strong . How this can affect my child ? She's 11months. Thanks
What languages do you speak with your child? Normally, it's best to use the strongest language that you can speak with your children. Here you can find more information and help: Webpage: www.multilingual.family Subscribe for free tools: www.multilingual.family/sign-up Consultation: www.multilingual.family/coaching-call-60-min Other Services: www.multilingual.family/services RU-vid Videos: ru-vid.com Kind regards, Andrea
You'll have to stick to english ALL the time.....only you! Your partner does the same in Polish! We did this with my son 50 years ago and he is fully bi- lingual, English/German and picks up languages so easily. The best thing you can ever give your child. Good luck!
Nah you got it wrong way round, Natalia isn’t English and like me she lived in Uk 15 years but it’s not English. She should speak just polish just as I speak only Slovakian to my son even though I fluent in both English and Spanish, we live in Spain and his mother talk to him in Spanish…later I’ll teach him English but it’s lower priority, don’t wanna overwhelm and confuse the kid ❤
What language do you want to introduce and why? Here some helpful links: Webpage: www.multilingual.family Subscribe for free tools: www.multilingual.family/sign-up Consultation: www.multilingual.family/coaching-call-60-min Other Services: www.multilingual.family/services RU-vid Videos: ru-vid.com Kind regards, Andrea
Thank you for the video! Could you do a video about how to manage situations where the whole family is together and parents use OPOL? How to establish the joint language for the family?
I am Slovakian but living in Spain. I speak to my kid Slovak and his mother Spanish as we should. However, I speak to my son sometimes Spanish when we are outside around other Spanish…intuitively this seems the best approach, also when I teach him words sometimes I mention the Spanish version but 95% of time it’s pure Slovak…could you please confirm that this is in fact ok
I'd love a video with tips for raising a multilingual child in a single parent family (either because you are a 100% solo parent or the other parent is away for long periods of time). I will be raising my children as a single parent and want to be able to teach them my first language of Sign Language, but also English as it will be the primary social language and French as it is my family's language. They will get English through child care, but I don't know how to teach them both French and Sign without confusing them but also giving them enough exposure (my family does not live nearby so will only be able to speak to them in person a handful of times a year).
Hi, thank you for you ideas. Make sure to watch my other videos. I have many that can help you figure out how to deal with all those languages without confusing your child. The key is to use one main language (OPOL) and then introduce the others using for example the OSOL method.
Thanks for different advices. My children 8 and 6 understand the minority languangue (English) but always reply back in majority languague (Italian), I don't know to increase the minority language. Thank you
I wonder how dangerous it is that the child can not tell the different languages apart and gets really confused if the parents are not consistent in their language use... We don't aim at both languages to be perfect, but that he gets the basics in the minority language urdu at least. And it's hard for my husband, who is the native speaker in that language, to keep talking urdu to our 3 month old son ...he keeps falling back into german. I am also learning urdu... So sometimes we talk in urdu, sometimes german. It's hard to stick to rules like speaking urdu at home or something... I am really worried that in the end, our son won't even be able to tell the languages apart... Any experience or advice concerning our struggles?
Another thing you can do : We do days. For exemple, one week in english and one week in french or french during the week and english on the weekends. But it’s proven that babies don’t get confused and there is not a better strategie than an other. You baby might just be better in german and take longer to learn urdu. In bilingual babjes, there is often a dominant language. For exemple, my toddler makes sentences when speaking french but not yet in english, so when he speaks english he often mix both languages. He will often start with « je veux (i want) » and then add the english word. When he’s gonna get better in english he will not mix anymore. Most bilingual babies go to this learning process. Btw. I’m from canada, and since there is a lot of bilinguisme here, many universities have studies on bilinguisme. I participated in one with both my kids. That’s why I know what’s normal not in bilinguisme development.😅
At the end of the day, different languages just sound different. I might not speak German or Spanish but if someone speaks one of these, I can tell which language it is. Babies are even better at this because they have more neuroplasticity. Yes, differentiating the languages by speaking them at set times helps, but it is not essential. Good luck!
I was brought up with mom speaking Javanese and Bahasa Indonesia changing every now and then up to her moods. Though my speaking javanese is minimal, but I can clearly understand javanese. So, based on my experience, telling the languages apart is not a problem at all. Languages have their own distinct sound that will help children to differ them.
