Bilingual speaking to baby

[maddog37]

For those of you who are bilingual, do you speak to LO in only one language or both languages (or more, if you're gifted with more than 2 languages)? Do they get confused or dislike mommy switching back and forth?

 

[cowboys angel]

I speak both English and French, and also know American Sign Language. My LO is a little young to know the difference when I switch between them, but I plan on doing both English and ASL, maybe French, undecided so far.

On a different note, our LO's share the same birthday!

 

[OmarsMum]

I speak English & Arabic to Omar since he was tiny. It didnt confuse him & now he understands & uses both languages. It didnt delay his speech & he was a very early talker.

 

[kmac625]

I mostly only talk to Clara in English, but I do speak French to her sometimes too. My dh only knows a few words in French, but he uses them with her too. She understands the word "baiser" more than the English word "kiss".

 

[Natsku]

I speak both English and Finnish to Maria but focus on English but often I'll say something in one language and then repeat it in the other.

 

[sept2010]

Speak both.. She doesnt seem confused.. Ive heard if bi lingual mums speak both their languages to lo, it benefits lo as they hear different tones/sounds as not all languages have the same letters.. For example in arabic language der is no letter 'p' no words with p sound in them.. So lets say lo only heard arabic.. Lo wouldnt kno how to make p sound or find it difficult... So ive heard anyway lol

 

[Lellow]

We speak both Arabic and English to Aymen...We're doing this purposefully so that he picks both up...I dont mind if it delays his speech, cos the main thing is that he learns both!

We will use Arabic more at home tho, as school, TV, friends etc etc will be surrounding him all day everyday so he'll always be hearing English, whereas not as much Arabic!

 

[crazyguider]

I speak Both English and welsh to emilia, if we are out I will point something out like a cat and then say thats a Cath In welsh

I also speak a little French and her sophie the giraffe is French so I talk to her with sophie in French. She seems to love it!!

 

[tu123]

English from me and only French from daddy. She wont know any difference i am sure as we have done it from day one.

 

[Charliemarina]

im personally not bilingual but my OH is, he is greek cypriot and speaks both languages to both our kids, both my eldest kids understand everything in english and are learning greek also they understand alot of greek but so far not everything, i think its alot harder when only 1 parent speaks another language, it helps that there grandparents speak greek to them also

 

[Maya23]

I speak romanian to Matteo during the day when it's just us at home..when hubby comes I speak english so he we'll understand what I say and won't feel left out.

 

[andbabymakes3]

I speak to Holly in English and Spanish (although I tend to slip into English more often now, just because we're surrounded by English!) - when we are in Spain, she understands simple questions and instructions in Spanish, and comes out with (occasional) words in Spanish.

 

[Lauki]

I'm planning on speaking Dutch to my baby during the day and then perhaps English at night when my hubby comes home.

I'd like for my baby to speak Dutch so she can communicate with my part of the family better when we go over there. I'm a bit nervous about how well it goes, but I think young children tend to pick up languages so much easier right?

 

[KatieB]

I speak English and Louis' Daddy is French so he speaks in French to him

 

[tinkerbellita]

I'm a single mum bilingual in Spanish, and speak to LO in both. FOB is Spanish and I spent a lot of time over there so I want LO to know both.

 

[LittleShark]

English from me and only French from daddy. She wont know any difference i am sure as we have done it from day one.

The same here one language with me and in other with dady. I hope he will deal with this mix of languages somehow

 

[Deutschette]

My OH is German and I'm American, and we're both fluent in English and German. We speak to LO in both languages, often in our native tongues first, then we repeat in the second language.

Every once in a while, I throw in the occasional French or Japanese word or phrase, while OH does the same with Spanish.

 

[maddog37]

Thanks! That makes me feel better. I only hear of one parent doing one language and the other speaking another language without problem. My native tongue is Cantonese but I'm much more comfortable in English most of the time. I mainly speak to him in English but have recently started repeating some words in Cantonese, and sometimes I just switch between the two languages depending on what I'm saying. He furrows his brows when he hears Cantonese some times but I think he recognizes those words better than their English counterparts.

I read a while ago that studies show that babies are xenophobic and doesn't like it when their mothers speak to them in another language, but glad to hear that's hogwash!

 

[KeirasMummy.]

Im english & my OH is from pakistan, we live with his family atm they speak english and urdu but in the house they mostly speak urdu to each other, my OH speaks more english then urdu but keira is gonna be brought up to speak both, his parents speak to her in urdu all the time & i speak to her in english, i dont know urdu but il hopefully pick it up as she grows up & learns it .. she will be teaching me lol

 

[aliss]

I read a while ago that studies show that babies are xenophobic and doesn't like it when their mothers speak to them in another language, but glad to hear that's hogwash!

I did my degree in language acquisition and ESL... that is a load of bullhockey, all credible linguistic studies show that children who grow up in a bilingual environment will have advanced language skills and overall advanced academics in the future (sort of like music).

I speak English to my boy. We live in a French community and my OH speaks to him in French.