Talking to your children in two languages

[doumauk]

Hi everyone

I just wanted to ask whether there is anyone here in a multicultural relationship/marriage and how you get by with 2 different languages.
Im english but my husband is Moroccan so his first language is Arabic. We are very keen to bring our children up talking both english and arabic but are not really sure where to start.

Is it better to start from birth or wait until 2 or 3 years old? Im curious as to how other couples manage. Do you say the same thing once in english once in arabic or I dont know lol.

Any replies are greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[marley2580]

I'm pretty sure you should speak the Arabic in the house and the English outside, or both. Kids will pick the two up very quickly and easily. Remember that they will get English from everywhere else - TV, school, friends, etc.

 

[xCherylx]

Me and OH were thinking the same thing as my OH is swedish and obviously I'm english. As he is half swedish it would be nice for him to know it (even though I don't ) although as he will only speak to his dad in it I'm not sure when to start teaching him or how :S

 

[doumauk]

The only problem we face is we will only stay in the uk until we are financially able to move and live in morocco permanently. That might be 5 or 10 years. So we are keen to bring them up with both english and moroccan customs and languages. So not to phase them when the time comes to move. His family speak little english so arabic is essential for them really.

 

[marley2580]

I actually want Kaya to learn another language but as both me and OH only speak English I'm going to have to get her a teacher. My ideal would be someone who would just visit her a few times a week and speak to her in their native language. The first two or three years is when they are learning their language and if you get them while they're young it should be so easy.

 

[brownhairedmom]

I'm getting my baby a babysitter when I need to go to work that can speak French. I'm going to ask her to only speak French to the child when she's there, not English at all.

 

[AquaDementia]

I am in the same situation. My husband and I speak croatian/serbian and we want Mia to learn the same. Another thing you can do is have one parent speak to the child in one language and the other ...you know.

I am pretty clueless myself as to where to start but I am sure it can be done without problems.

 

[babezone]

well i no thi isnt quite the same but my mum (she has sole custody of my nephew) talks to him in english and she also does sign language too and has been doing it since he could move his hands...no 1 is deaf but she thinks it would be cool for him to learn and he picks it up really well. hes 2 and half. personally if i were to do two languages id do it right from the start not jus introduce it abit later on. xx

 

[Samo]

i learned both english hand japanese at the same time, eventually i learned to distinguish the two as 2 different languages, but when i was young i don't think i grasped the fact that they were separate languages. Like i'll say sentences using words from both languages. I don't think there is a right or wrong way...just talk to your LO and they will catch on, as they get older they will learn to distinguish the two and understand that they are 2 different languages.

I remember some instances haha when i would be talking to my friends and i'll say things like "can you grab the hasami" and they would look at me like whaaat? And i couldn't understand why they didn't understand that i was asking them to get me scissors... you learn though and it's all good

 

[clairebear]

i work in a nursery and one of the children there speaks 3 languages. His mum was french, dad was german and we all spoke english. At 2 and a half this child could easily flit between the 3 languages when speaking to different people and we also encouraged him to use the other languages whilst at nursery x

 

[Mamafy]

I have no experience of it but I think it would be amazing. Good luck with it!

 

[nikky0907]

I am in the same situation. My husband and I speak croatian/serbian and we want Mia to learn the same. Another thing you can do is have one parent speak to the child in one language and the other ...you know.

I am pretty clueless myself as to where to start but I am sure it can be done without problems.

I guess I am just like Mia then.
My mother is Croatian and my dad is from US.I was born and raised in US,but my mother spoke Croatian to me and my sister since we were born.We learned both languages at the same time. Our father and everyone else spoke English to us and our mother spoke Croatian which I can speak fluently now even though I can't really use it with anyone.

 

[missjess]

My first language is french and OH is English. I only speak to Josh in french and he speaks to him in english.

A friend of mine has a 3 yrs old little boy and he speaks 4 languages FLUENTLY and PERFECTLY! He speaks italian, his wife speaks french, they speak english between them and his nan who babysit during the day speaks only in spanish to him. It's very impressive!!!!

I think you should start now, 3 yrs old is late to start. Don't worry, baby will understand, they're like sponges!

 

[Carley]

Hi everyone

I just wanted to ask whether there is anyone here in a multicultural relationship/marriage and how you get by with 2 different languages.
Im english but my husband is Moroccan so his first language is Arabic. We are very keen to bring our children up talking both english and arabic but are not really sure where to start.

Is it better to start from birth or wait until 2 or 3 years old? Im curious as to how other couples manage. Do you say the same thing once in english once in arabic or I dont know lol.

Any replies are greatly appreciated.
Thanks

I think the earlier you start the better! The earlier you start the more fluent he will speak it. Languages will get him far!

 

[welshcakes79]

im welsh and my OH is english, i speak to Rhiannon in welsh and he speaks to her in english, its how i was brought up ( dad speaking welsh mum english) and i picked up both languages no problem, we have been speaking this way to Rhiannon since she was born and ive noticed when you aks her to smile in welsh or english she does so even now she "understands" both languages ,

id say go for it right from the start, theres nothing to it you just speak to them in your own native language about what your doing, where your going etc all the day to day words your use so that they pick it as it is spoken instead of trying to learn it out of a book XXX

 

[gemma24uk]

my friend is vietenmese, and her little girl is 2 and she barely knows any english my friend speaks to her in vietnemese all the time, i asked why she done this and she said because you got to teach them there 2nd language first before they go to school then they wont forget it living in an english speaking country she will pick english up natural then at 3 she will teach her english before school her other little girl is 5 and speaks both fluent now, my daughter is 19 months and im trying to teach her spanish not because im spanish or oh is just to give her a new thing to learn and i think it will come in handy but im not teaching her just spanish im saying one word english the other spanish (well trying coz im not great ha ha )

 

[emmajane]

We are thinking about the same thing - my OH is Spanish and obv wants baby to speak Spanish fluently so I think the plan is for him to talk only in Spanish to him (which I don't understand!). He is also fluent in French though and we aren't sure when to introduce that to him too. I am aware that babies with more than one language often start speaking later than babies who are learning one language so don't want to cause more problems by introducing the 3 languages.

 

[doumauk]

Thank you all for your replies. Its really interesting to see how everyone else copes! I think the way we will have to do it is my husband talks to him in arabic and Ill talk to him in english. I can speak basic arabic, enough to get me by so it might help me too lol
My husband also speaks french so once our baby gets to grips with arabic and english then he will teach him french too. I know basic italian and spanish and hope to continue with that some more so hopefully baby can learn them all too.
I think it just gives them alot more opportunities in life, to be able to travel and work wherever they want. Im looking very far ahead but start early I say!

 

[brownhairedmom]

My first language is french and OH is English. I only speak to Josh in french and he speaks to him in english.

A friend of mine has a 3 yrs old little boy and he speaks 4 languages FLUENTLY and PERFECTLY! He speaks italian, his wife speaks french, they speak english between them and his nan who babysit during the day speaks only in spanish to him. It's very impressive!!!!

I think you should start now, 3 yrs old is late to start. Don't worry, baby will understand, they're like sponges!

Awwwww Jess, that is going to be so cute, Josh running around jabbing away in French =)

Its cute for all languages, but I'm only used to hearing French, not so much any other language(except maybe Chinese, there are so many Chinese people at our school)

 

[mickey]

OH is british and I am german and we live in UK.

I did some research on the topic and found out that people advice to seperate both languages.

e.g. mummy speaks only this, daddy only that, or mummy speaks this inside the house and that outside the house etc...

otherwise the child might get confused which can result in starting to speak late or even knowing languages perfectly, but not finding the right expression in certain situations!

my friend's daughter heard 4 languages from birth on, mixed throughout from her mother, she is 3 years old now and can only speak a few words, not any sentences!

we do it like, daddy speaks english, mummy speaks english and mummy speaks german if with german friends and sings and reads in german. (although she might learn some mistakes from my english ) very rarely daddy speaks twi on the phone or with his twin. english will be the dominant language and german the one we need to support