bilingual mums - when did you start to teach your child?

[laetitia85]

My hubby and I are native french speakers and are planning to teach our child as early as possible how to communicate in French. we will speak to him/her in both Engligh and French so that they can become bilingual.

however I have decided that when it's time to speak French, it will be french all the way, and when it's time for english, it will be english all the way, meaning I will not mix the two languages in case they get confused.
when did you start speaking the other language with your child? i'm looking to start very early, but i'm not sure if that's the right thing to do which is why i'd like some advice.

 

[sam96031]

hi hun were welsh but speak english at home and my nan is french we speak mainly english when its the 3 of us DH LO and me and then with family we speak welsh and my nan does what she did with us mainly english with french words in like little cabbage which i am not even going to attempt to spell in french i also sing all three languages for nursery rhymes, i dont think it confuses her and she enjoys hearing differences hope thats helped

 

[Nicola]

I've replied in the off topic thread! xx

 

[Minime]

I speak to Eefie in English, OH speaks to him in Afrikaans & English so I expect him to pick up the english first and Afrikaans eventually as its the secondary language. He should know a few workds and phrases at least when he starts school

 

[laetitia85]

thanks! i'll start from about 18 monthsi think

 

[Fiona]

I started from day one........ although DH and I are both english, I lived in Hong Kong and China for over 10 years and speak Cantonese fluently. I really want Grace to be open to other languages and so when it is just her and I around I speak to her in cantonese.
Kids are like sponges and will soak up anything you teach them... they certainly won't get confused........ but they will become stronger in whichever language they hear the most

 

[BEX101]

our nephew now lives in switzerland. They speak engish to him at home and french at nursury. he's only 1 and i dont think he has any problems understanding either.

 

[laetitia85]

I started from day one........ although DH and I are both english, I lived in Hong Kong and China for over 10 years and speak Cantonese fluently. I really want Grace to be open to other languages and so when it is just her and I around I speak to her in cantonese.
Kids are like sponges and will soak up anything you teach them... they certainly won't get confused........ but they will become stronger in whichever language they hear the most

waouh that's amazing

 

[Terrie]

me and dh speak welsh to rhys and my mum, m-i-l etc all speak english to him.

so far he says dada (english obv) and he understands good boy in welsh and kisses in welsh and no in welsh...

eventually we will start to seperate the languages but at the min we're speaking just welsh to him

 

[Sammystar]

Start from day one, no reason to wait.
My kids speak only english at home, but German in kindergarten or with friends. We only speak German to the kids when there are other Swiss people around. They watch only German TV, but DVD's in English.

My brother is married to a French girl. She speaks only French to their kids, my brother speaks only English.

I was told to always use your mother tongue with your kids, and they will pick up the language of the country in which you live by default (socialising, school etc). This seems to be working for us.

Good luck, you'll be amazed when your LO starts speaking fluently in both languages.....!

 

[Marijana FC]

I think I've already started! I am regularly playing CDs with Serbian music and also bought a collection of Serbian nursery rhymes. I've read somewhere that you should do it as soon as possible so that baby can start getting used to different sounds and rhythms of the languages. Apparently it is never too early and although in the beginning it might seem as if the little ones are confused they grow out of that very quickly. They are actually practising multi tasking from a very early age and it positively affects their inteligence.

 

[laetitia85]

thanks for the great advice everyone.
i'm definately going to start early

 

[Miracle babe]

We are welsh and english speaking and to be honest I've just chopped and changed from day one with both my kids and it hasn't posed a problem. My daughter is now totally bilingual at the age of 7 and Rowan is getting it both barrels bless him. Its never caused any confusion here but you have to do what feels right to you.

 

[Josephine_Beth]

My friend is Croatian and her hubby is Cypriot, from the moment her son was born, they spoke all 3 languages to him. By the time he was 3, he was fluent in greek, croatian and English and he is a cheeky git!

My other half's first langaueg is Madingo (he is from Liberia in west africa), his second language is French, my only language is English.

So we are planning to speak english and madingo to him, so he understands both our families, then integrate french in from a very early age.

 

[Emmalt]

My sister was born in Holland to a Dutch mother and English father. We spoke both languages at home all the time. Switching from one to the other. She had this up to the age of ten when her parents split up. After that it was Dutch only. Her mother tongue is Dutch but she speaks English quite fluently with a Dutch/Yorkshire accent. Quite unique!