Teaching a Child a Foreign Language

Hello N. ,

I praise you for teaching your daughter a foreign language . I was born in Panama but i've been leaving in the USA since I was 4 yeras old . I have two boys 7 and 2 1/2 . I speak to them Only spanish because even though they were born here , It very important for me to be bilingual at this age kids are a sponge and they are quick leaners , It is always good to speak another language ither than your native one . I speak spanish , english , & French I'm eager to learn other languages as well . THere is a language program I think is www.muzzy.com and it I heard is a good progam to teach children a foreign language , Good luck I hope it goes well !!!

~ A.

Just speak to her in english. Since Russian is the native tongue she will pick it up.

I have a friend who is in Germany and her son is 16 months old. He speaks more english than German but that will change as he gets older. What she does is in the house her and husband (he tries) speak only english. The inlaws do not know english (they are learning) so when they go to visit/he stays with them they speak german.

Her son understands German but will answer back in English. But like I said (as well as my friend) as he gets older he will pick up the German.

This is very important to her since she comes back to the states once a year to visit family.

Good Luck.

Consistency. That's how you do it! Each parent can speak to the child in another language and, believe it or not, kids are SO ADAPTABLE and such good learners that it becomes second nature for them to switch between languages with the appropriate people. I spoke to my kids in Spanish and my ex spoke to them in English. When we lived in Germany, my dd also learned to converse in German with her peers and some of my neighbors due to our interactions with them on a daily basis. She would actually only speak German to OTHERS and not to ME ... and she was only 3 when we left! LOL!

When they were little, our langagues in public didn't change. Whatever we spoke to them at home in, we spoke in public. I'm from Miami, Florida, so hearing many languages is actually very normal here.

Now, I can switch back and forth between English and Spanish (even in the same conversation) and they are fine. They are MORE fluent in English because of school and whatnot, but that's okay with me. They are both bi-lingual and my dd no longer really understands but a few words in German since we have been back here for so many years.

Each of you pick a language and stick to it. Kids here do it all the time, English to parents and Spanish to the grandparents. Your dd will do wonderfully!!!!!

Good luck! Buena suerte!!

Dear N.,
I am a mother of 3 bilingual children (6, 4 and 1), and aunt to 4 bilingual ones since the whole family is of mixed backgrounds. I only speak portuguese and my husband only English to our children. Children are truly sponges, so I assure you she will not go crazy because you speak a "different" language with her, when you are with her, and a "public" one, when you are surrended by other children or adults, which is what I do to my own children. It is almost as if when driving a car, you change gears, the driver knows when to change gears, and this is what you daughter will eventually do. She will talk to you in English and Russian with daddy, other children and his family relatives. The secret (tested already with my nephews and my older children is always speak your chosen language (your mother tongue) with your baby and once she starts speaking back at you, inforce the need for her to talk back at you in that language. Frequently, unfortunatelly, parents accept that their children understand the language, but do not force them to speak correctly back at them in that language, accepting that they mix up the 2 languages, which initially sounds "cute" so when they grow up, they understand, but are shy to speak with their cousins, or even with you. My husband understands and speaks my language (portuguese) really well, which is a great help to me, as when I am directing children on what to do, he knows what I have just said and will not say otherwise. This will not apply to your case. You will have to tell your husband what you have just told your daughter to do. My children, however, eventhough they hear their daddy talking to me in portuguese, they assume they have to tell daddy in English what I have just told them in Portuguese, which is funny, as sometimes they tell me whole stories in portuguese in front of their daddy, just to translate the whole story again in English for their daddy!!! They will create words every now and then, so it is your job help them learn the vocabulary - I read books from my country every other night, play cd's, watch DVD movies, take them on vacation once a year and organize playdates with children from my community (having said that, children will tend to speak among themselves in the language of their school, which in our case is English - but will revert back to your language when they need something from you.. a snack, a juice :). When they get older, I will probably pay for private lessons, as I would like them to speak the language and know the grammar quite well, so they can blend well with my family on visits to Brazil.
So, good luck with you N.!
Claudia

For now is best if you speak to her in only one language which ever is the predominant language in the house I assume that would be Russian. When you read to her you can read her in English that way she can begin to associate the words with the objects. In my case my first language is Spanish so at home I only speak Spanish with my son but at school he speaks English so far he has manage both languages very well. That is blessing of being little children grasp languages easier than adults. Best of luck

The most important thing is that your daughter hears the language and then begins to speak it. All of the experts say that children raised in a bilingual househould MAY be a bit slower to speak than normal and that was the case with my son. I speak Spanish to my son and my husband speaks English to him. My husband also speaks Italian and now that our son is 2.5 years, he is starting to teach him some Italian as well so that he will be comfortable when we go there next year. Be consistent and when your daughter starts talking, insist that she answer you in whatever language you've designated for yourself.

If you want her to be completely fluent in both languages, you will have to find a school that is bilingual also. We live near Miami and many children are raised in biligual households that mix the languages too much. Remember to correct your daughter when she mixes the languages so that she will be able to switch. Too many people here are not fluent in any one language - they speak Spanglish.

Good luck!