Bilingual Baby Advice

He can learn both languages now. At 15 months he won't have a large vocabulary in either language. Boys generally speak later, but make more noises and sounds, like truck noises, so it's great that he already has some Spanish vocabulary. Children who are raised in a bilingual home often speak later, but understand both languages and know the difference between the two. If he is hearing Spanish at home and English at school and shows understanding, I would just be patient and let him learn. The research I've read says they learn two or three languages more easily the younger they are because of they way their brains are developing, so the advice to "wait" is not valid. I've also read that it's not necessary for one parent to speak each language, you can both interchange, just not in the same conversation.

My son is 4 my husband is Mexican and ... I'm a mexican wannabe jajajaja, I always spoke to him in english and everybody else spoke to him in spanish. @ the beginning he would just say words in english, then spanish, now both. He doesnt mix english and spanish, he will respond accordingly, but will start conversaation mostly in spanish.
I say give him time, my baby started speaking late (he does have other issues) but I can tell you boys that age are perfectly capable of learning both languages perfectly. Keep an eye on him though.
Good Luck!

Don't stress out, bilingual babies take longer because they have to fend in both languages. It's ok to speak to him in Spanish at home, he will learn English from everywhere else. We are also a bilingual family Spanish/English since both of my girls are American but hubby and I are Hispanic, my oldest is 8 and she has a cute little accent when she speaks Spanish and she speaks English perfectly from interacting with friends.
My youngest understands Spanish mostly and babbles a lot too, she is almost 18 months.

Also I have a friend in your exact situation, they just got here two months ago and their two year-old baby boy stopped talking in both Spanish and English, they did take him to a speech therapist since it was covered by their insurance and they reassured them he was perfectly fine.

I've known two bi-lingual households (English/German and English/Japanese), and in both cases the child did not start speaking as early as kids with only one language to learn. They were learning and sorting it all out in their clever little heads, could say a few words and understand anything that was said to them, but were reluctant to speak until they worked out the different vocabularies and grammar rules.

Both children started speaking in full, fluent sentences in BOTH languages during their third years. You probably have nothing to worry about, and your current approach sounds great to me.

I believe this is totally normal as he acquires two languages. Hope someone else with more knoweledge sees your post, but I have heard of this with older children. They spend time just listening, and do demonstrate understanding well before they begin to speak in the second language. I also think they sometimes speak less in general in their first language but that part I am not as sure about. How wonderful for your son and your family to be bilingual!

When learning a second language, there is what's called a 'silent period'. It's when a person is absorbing all the new language's sounds and words. He might be going through this but I would watch him closely. This is an important time for language development and you don't want him to have significant language delays in either language.

Look up on the internet what is the average amount of words a baby at 18 months should say in Spanish. If your child at 18 months is way under that amount of words, ask to be evaluated by a speech therapist. You want to make sure that there is not an underlying reason he is not talking. Speech therapy is free for children under three through the state so it's good to start now. It is then free from the school districts from age three and up.

He's processing language in his mind.
He probably doesn't want to try saying anything until he has some sense of OKness in his mind.
If he's understanding what's going on at daycare, that's good.
Meanwhile, at home, you might consider trying speaking both languages,
maybe at different times.
This morning we are speaking espanol and say so, specifically.
This afternoon we are speaking English.
For example.
And, also you might want to get some little kids' books
that have both languages and show him, for example,
a TREE, a DOG, a CAT, etc.
and say the word in each language.
Good luck!!

We are bilingual-Polish/English. Our kids are 5, 4, 3 and 3 months. We started out speaking ONLY Polish. They went to Pre-K not knowing any English. Now they don't want to speak Polish...

Kids brains are like a sponge. They will learn English VERY easily-it's all around them. The second language is what you and your husband have to maintain at home.

Speaking for us, it's SOOOO hard. I am second generation and my husband was born in Poland, so for me it's soo much easier to speak English and sometimes, I just don't have to energy to argue and repeat myself "Can you say that in Polish?"

I know for me, when I was younger, my parents would send me to Poland for a month in the summer and I would be forced to speak it.

Luckily, it stuck. I can read write and speak fluent Polish. We try really hard to instill our family heritage into our children, but it IS really hard with everything around being English.

My advise is to just use Spanish at home. Don't worry about him learning English. Before you know it, he'll be blabbing away in English and won't want to speak Spanish anymore. (He's 15 months... he's got a way to go before he starts speaking audible words.)

Best Wishes!

Children are so agreeable to picking up languages when they are young. I have a friend that speaks 7 languages fluently and so do her children, several that speak different latin languages and the children all speak english as well, one is deaf and her children speak 3 languages, and my husband spoke a bit of 31 languages. I have a friend that has children speak, Tongan,Samonan, Guamanian, and French.
I tell you this becasue of the fact that you chose to move to America and the language here is English and should be taught to your child. I am not saying that you should not speak spanish in your home but your child should be able to converse in both languages. So teach him the same words in both at the same time. I would think from seeing my friends children that he is translating within his head from spanish to english and it takes a bit of energy to do it. So just keep at it and set the example. Watching childrens programing that is both languages will help as well. Good Luck

My grandchildren speak primarily Spanish, with just a few words in English, because their mother's language is Spanish. But I'm sure they'll learn English--my daughter-in-law did and both of her parents were Spanish-speaking. When my children were little we lived in Thailand, my husband's country, for two years and they spoke primarily Thai. But when we came back to the U.S. they easily switched back into English. Bilingual children do sometimes have language delays because they're processing more, but there is no underlying problem. I think you should continue to speak Spanish at home. He will learn English simply by living in an English-speaking society.

I think it if fair for me to say first that I am not biligual nor are my children. Having said that my son babbled a lot at the age of 15 also. This is also true for my neighbors son. He just turned 3 and only within the last few months has his words been clearn enough for us to understand him. Both my neighbor and I had our sons tested. Both of us were told that our sons were fine, they just weren't ready to talk. Basically, your son's lack of oral communication may have nothing to do with dual language but he just isn't ready to talk yet. He is processing two languages at one time and it may talk a little longer to get him speaking in either one. Continue working with and getting profession advice, but I wouldn't start freaking out just yet.

our niece has 4 children. they all spoke spanish until they were about 3 and 1/2. they slowly started learning english and now are fluent. they learn better then the adults do. good luck and god bless. R.
p.s. they were speaking pretty well by the time the started kindergarden.

It is fine for the baby to be spoken to in different languages. But because you are concerned that his language has regressed, you should get him evaluated by a pediatrician and express your concerns about his language regression.

BTW, my father grew up speaking multiple languages and easily picked up a dozen more. My mother was bilingual and I always regretted that they did not bring me up bilingual let alone multilingual (they had split up when I was young).

If the child understands what is spoken to him, that's great! My 3 1/2 old is learning 4 languages with 1 being major, 2 minor and one barely.... He sometimes answers in a different language when spoken to in english or other vise versa. Your son is processing the language and given an opportunity in the future will become proficient in both languages.
As an example, my 12 y/o son is fluent in 2 languages and semi-proficient in 2 other languages. So that is a great result. English will be the most familiar and used language for your son though, if he grows up in the US. But if you go back to PR for vacations you will see that he will be making leaps and bounds in his Spanish when he is there.
Being multilingual is a great thing for a developing brain! I can advise you to keep up and teach him both languages simultaneously. He will get it.

I haven't read the other responses so sorry if I repeat anything.
I have a friend who speaks fluent Portuguese, she 's Brazillian, her hubby is a Navy Lt Commander, knew no Portuguese when they married.
THe boys are all bilingual and she spoke no English to them as babies and speaks no English to them now. Her oldest is 15 and at 3 still didn't talk, but by the time he was 4 ish he was speaking in both languages at the right time to the right people correctly. He just needed the time to process it all in his head.
I have another friend who in Puerto Rican and doesnt' use English at home. All the English they get is from school and tv, the kids are fine.
In fact, in both families the children are very bright, the Brazilian child skipped 2nd, the Puerto Rican child was asked to skip third last year, M. said no though.