WDYT?

Amorlinda · March 2010

Is the best way to have a child learn 2 languages from the start? One being English and the other (in my case) being Portuguese.

leslie13510 · March 2010

I think just speaking both equally will help the most, and pointing out both names for objects when they're learning words. It might also help to use sign language of some kind so that there is an easy way to bridge the gap between the two languages.

I am not bilingual though so I may be way off base with this.

~Flossie~ · March 2010

savannah_girl:
Growing up as the only white family in a Mexican community (not Hispanic, I lived in Phoenix, they were from Mexico). The parents would say the words/phrases in both langues.

As the children grew up, they responded in half English half Spanish.

This happened to my speech except it was half english and half french. I had to go to a speech therapist to get sorted out. I still have speech issues. I don't recommend it.

ETA: my mom spoke english to me and my dad spoke french. I did not learn one first then the other, it was just all at once.

I would recommend bringing in the second language once the first is established.

cailiejan · March 2010

I am bilingual and it's sooo easy for kids to pick it up. Start with english first and add in the second language once they can carry on a converstation, then sprinkle in new words. My son is almost 4 and knows his body parts and a few other words in french, I plan on putting him in french immersion school so I' not too worried about his progress. Do they have bilingual schools where you live?

Amorlinda · March 2010

It's such a hard thing for my to process. When I was younger I had no other choice but to learn portuguese because my parent's don't speak english. I then learned english from my brother, tv, and other sorts of interactions. But I don't feel it'll be that easy with my little guy because I obviously speak English, and it's what we speak at home. I guess we'll have to figure it out.

Maybe I'll have DH talk in Portuguese only and I'll do the English...

Dr.BeepersWife · March 2010

Children are born with a ton of language receptors that eventually go away the older we get (I beleive by 6 or 7). In my child development class in college they said that a small child could essentially learn several languages at the same time with ease.

I would speak both equally (or as best as you can) in you house. My old boss did this with English/Spanish and both her kids are bilingual.

Amorlinda · March 2010

cailiejan:
I am bilingual and it's sooo easy for kids to pick it up. Start with english first and add in the second language once they can carry on a converstation, then sprinkle in new words. My son is almost 4 and knows his body parts and a few other words in french, I plan on putting him in french immersion school so I' not too worried about his progress. Do they have bilingual schools where you live?

We live in a fairly vast area of Portuguese people, so we do have schools. I just don't think they are until the kids are much older... which isn't going to help. His babysitter is Portuguese and will be speaking to him in Portuguese only and so are my parents. So maybe I wont even have to worry to much about him learning it with the daily exposure he'll be getting from the babysitter. I just want to make sure he will be able to fluently speak Portuguese so he can speak with his grandparents... and the rest of the family for that matter.

cedge05 · March 2010

Amorlinda:
It's such a hard thing for my to process. When I was younger I had no other choice but to learn portuguese because my parent's don't speak english. I then learned english from my brother, tv, and other sorts of interactions. But I don't feel it'll be that easy with my little guy because I obviously speak English, and it's what we speak at home. I guess we'll have to figure it out.
Maybe I'll have DH talk in Portuguese only and I'll do the English...

This was me growing up. I learned English watching Sesame Street because my parents are from the Azores and although they spoke English, they only spoke Portuguese at home. I know Henry will be around them a lot so he can learn from them because they will only talk to him in Portuguese. I want to get him some kids books and maybe a DVD in Portuguese. I'm just so worried about him not knowing the culture or the language. DH isn't Portuguese so it's up to me and my family.

Amorlinda · March 2010

cedge05:
Amorlinda:
It's such a hard thing for my to process. When I was younger I had no other choice but to learn portuguese because my parent's don't speak english. I then learned english from my brother, tv, and other sorts of interactions. But I don't feel it'll be that easy with my little guy because I obviously speak English, and it's what we speak at home. I guess we'll have to figure it out.
Maybe I'll have DH talk in Portuguese only and I'll do the English...
This was me growing up. I learned English watching Sesame Street because my parents are from the Azores and although they spoke English, they only spoke Portuguese at home. I know Henry will be around them a lot so he can learn from them because they will only talk to him in Portuguese. I want to get him some kids books and maybe a DVD in Portuguese. I'm just so worried about him not knowing the culture or the language. DH isn't Portuguese so it's up to me and my family.

That's exactly what I worry about.

cailiejan · March 2010

That's funny that those schools wouldn't start at kindergarten....sounds like your babe is gonna be just fine and will be wonderfully bilingual!

SkyLizard · March 2010

Amorlinda:

cailiejan:
I am bilingual and it's sooo easy for kids to pick it up. Start with english first and add in the second language once they can carry on a converstation, then sprinkle in new words. My son is almost 4 and knows his body parts and a few other words in french, I plan on putting him in french immersion school so I' not too worried about his progress. Do they have bilingual schools where you live?

We live in a fairly vast area of Portuguese people, so we do have schools. I just don't think they are until the kids are much older... which isn't going to help. His babysitter is Portuguese and will be speaking to him in Portuguese only and so are my parents. So maybe I wont even have to worry to much about him learning it with the daily exposure he'll be getting from the babysitter. I just want to make sure he will be able to fluently speak Portuguese so he can speak with his grandparents... and the rest of the family for that matter.

It sounds like he'll have a lot of people around him that speak portuguese and will have no problem picking it up. I learned portuguese first (since my parents didn't really speak english) and then picked up the english from friends and school. Will you guys also be traveling to Portugal with him? My parents took me over there several times as a child and it did help being immersed in the culture.

Frogsdontpoop · March 2010

Be careful- there can be language develemental delays if you introduce both languages at the same time. Particularly if the languages do not relate. I would consult with a language specialtist or, more simply, learn one first, then the other.

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