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Attachment Parenting
FancyFrenchie
member
**anna7602*
FancyFrenchie
member
Sorry, this isn't really AP related, but I have no idea how to PM and I was thinking you could settle my curiosity...
When LO learns 2 languagues simultaneously, how does it work? For example, my DS right now understands English and Spanish no problem and some French. He's also started talking, but if he knows the word in one language he doesn't use it in the other languagues. Like he'll say "more" but not "mas" and "agua" and not "water". How does this work as they grow older?
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Re: **anna7602*
Hi there!
At the beginning, ages and ages ago, I remember that DD said some words only in Spanish and some only in English. "Agua" was definitely one of them and she held on to this one particularly for a while, even saying it to people she absolutely knew were only English speakers well after she'd started to make the distinction. So, what you're saying sounds exactly like what DD went through.
DD started preschool at 2 years, 3 months and at that point, her English vocabulary and her Spanish vocabulary started to even out. I don't know if it was because of exposure to English at school or if it would have just happened naturally or what, but by 2.5 she was speaking exclusively in Spanish to Spanish-speakers (like me, my family, some friends, etc.) and exclusively in English to English-speakers. To this day, even though she knows my DH understands Spanish perfectly, if I tell her in Spanish something like "go tell Daddy dinner is ready," she will instantly translate the phrase into English when she says it to him. It's rather entertaining.
Now that we're living in France and she goes to school in French, she will try out saying different words in French at home, but she is very conscious that it's a different language. I can't think of anything for which she only knows the word in French and would default to that. If there's something they do at school that she doesn't know the word for in English or Spanish, she asks me later. Usually, these are more cultural things, like the word for the little prize that's baked inside the King Cake.
Thanks for the answer! I find this all very interesting and I can't wait to see how it goes with DS. Apart from English, I also speak to him sometimes in French and certain words "bisous, dodo" we use exclusively in French so he knows those in French and doesn't say them in English or Spanish. Right now I just want to fill his little brain with as much as I can and then I figure we can help him if he's confused between languages down the road!
I don't think he'll be confused. Just keep keeping on.
What I do find absolutely fascinating though is when DD makes grammatical/idiomatic mistakes that show me she is thinking in one language and speaking in the other. She only does it occasionally, but she'll say things like "I have almost four years" and literally say "play" a guitar instead of the idiomatic "tocar" in Spanish.
That is interesting. Right now I'm just worried that since he can't differentiate between the langagues, he'll use words in English with his grandmother, who only speaks Spanish and for now I've been able to tell her which words he knows, but once he's full out speaking, it'll be harder, or hopefully by then he'll have it all figured out!
Just butting in here....I am by no means an expert on this. I am trying to teach my DD French. We mostly listen to music a lot (and have been doing that since she was tiny) just to get her the exposure and I try to talk to her a fair amount. I am not a native speaker and I have lost a lot of my French (I am Dutch and I was never fluent but managed pretty well) since living in the US for the past 22 years. So i try saying simple things very frequently. I recently also started reading T'Choupi books to her while we are nursing.
I think they get the different languages more than we give them credit for, even at that age. DD started watching the little PIm series around 18 months. Often if I would say something to her in French she would say "au revoir" (meaning that she wanted to watch little Pim, and she still calls it that). Now if I say "what do you say" she will answer with "thank you". If I ask her "qu'est-ce que tu dis?" she will answer with "Merci beaucoup". So nothing major obviously but it does seem like she gets that they are 2 different languages.
She say oiseau for bird and always has ( daddy likes to play oiseaux=angry birds) and same for jaune. I will ask her things in French (like tu veux marcher) and she will say yes walk or no walk. Hopefully one of these days she will respond in French..
Unfortunately where we live there are very few resources for French (classes/playgroups) and since I am not anywhere near fluent I know she won't be fluent unless she has total immersion but at least she will have had the exposure and some knowledge. She actually understands quite a few words but just doesn't say them (yet hopefully).
One of my friends is German (both she and her DH) and her DD was not exposed to much English until she started daycare/preschool. She would talk German to everyone but I think around 2-2.5 she got that not everyone spoke German.
Like I said, I am by no means an expert as I am sort of experimenting with my DD (she is also getting exposure to Dutch but not as much as French). I always knew kids were sponges but it does sort of amaze me how quickly they pick things up. I am betting your DS gets the different languages but just doesn't quite have enough vocab to respond in the right language at this point.
sucredee - thanks for your input! Can't wait to see how this all develops in the next few months!
Just found this article about bilingual children....check it out (sorry no clicky, on my iPad)
https://www.multilingualliving.com/2011/12/19/5-concerns-about-children-becoming-bilingual-answered-by-prof-genesee/#comment-63714