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Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months
question about trylingual households and DS's level of communication
Hello Ladies,
I am not necessarily worried about DS's (he is 19 months old) level of communication yet but I am Curious. I speak to him in Spanish, my husband speaks to him in Hebrew, he goes to classes (mommy and me, swimming, music, storytime, etc) in English and we do sign language too. He currently says about 15-20 words I think (about 2 or 3 of those words are made up words: i.e.: he calls food "caca" even though that's not the Spanish, English or Hebrew word for it. He also know that "caca" is poop, because he says "caca" every time before he poops - I don't know why he does it but he gives that one word 2 meanings).
DS's cousin, who is 3 months older than him, has an amazing vocabulary (she is a girl and I know that girls are usually more advanced than boys). Everybody speaks to her only in Spanish but she goes to mommy and me and music classes in English. At 16 months she was already speaking in 2 word sentences and knew colors and things like that.
DS seems to be at the same or similar level of other boys from his classes last semester (he didn't start this semester yet because we are both sick). He has spoken in 2 word sentences about 3 times but i think it was just a fluke. He said twice "mama agua" and once "mama globo."
I am only a bit concerned about his spoken language because he understands and follows directions in Hebrew and Spanish and most of the time in English too (which is surprising to me because he really doesn't hear it that much). He also communicates very well even if he doesn't say the words (he does it by signing, pointing, gestures or by taking you to were he wants to go or do). he also "speaks" (babble) constantly. Some people have told me that sign language might be deterring his speech but everything that I have read says otherwise (sign language develops the same area of the brain that handles speech and we always say the words when we are signing to him)
He is on track (and sometimes advanced) in other aspects and he did walk on his own early on (10 1/2 months). Should I be concerned? Should I get him evaluated or take him to therapy?
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Re: question about trylingual households and DS's level of communication
We're raising Sadie bilingual, Dutch and English and at 17 months she has quite an big vocab (normal words, names, animal sounds) and it making 2 and 3 word sentences in both languages. It is quite normal though for kids being raised in multi lingual households to speak later than other kids. I guess it's more for them to sort out in their heads.
I definatly don't think you need speech counceling or anything that drastic. He seems to be right on track for his age group. Try not to compare him to others so much, as every kid learns different and at their own pace.
Context: my nephews went K through 12 in language immersion programs and my son will go through one as well. And I worked for a company who provided language translation services, so dozens of my friends raise their children in bi- or tri-lingual homes.
It's very common for kids in bi- and tri-lingual homes to have smaller vocabularies in the early years. As we prep for school in an immersion program, we've been told that he likely won't catch up completely until about 3rd grade or so. But the advantages are so huge and when the kids get to that milestone time, their vocabulary goes well beyond an average kid of the same age with exposure to only one language. At this age, they may only have a handful of words, but it's in several languages. Mastering the sounds of Spanish, English, and Hebrew is a huge task. Your son is lucky!