Bilingual family NOT teaching 2 languages to toddler

[Plarka]

I just learned today that my Albanian friends who live here in the UK have stopped speaking Albanian to their 2 year old because they were worried his speech was delayed.  They now only speak English to him and plan to send him to Albania for a few months when he's 3 so he can learn it there!!!  I cannot believe my friends are so ignorant to think it's better to stop speaking their native language to him! People do not realise what babies are capable of, it makes me sad.

Both parents speak perfect English and she is a primary school teacher here.  I thought they would know better.  The child also goes to an English speaking nursery 5 days a week!

[nhockaday]

I agree. He would have learned both languages so effortlessly.

[Ayesha Nicole]

Dear Plarka, NHockaday, & All,

When I read this, I felt so sad for them, because they do not know any better.  My (unsolicited) advice is to gently and indirectly help them by educating them that they can have both.  The cultures are very different and you have to be indirect in your approach or you risk offending them and damaging your relationship.  The reason I say this is because back in 2000 I helped to resettle Kosovo refugees from the Albanian/Kosovo war, as they came to America, and I was in Nashville, TN at the time. 

Immigrants and refugees in particular go through a huge transition, and they want to learn English in order to fit in their environment.  It is a matter of survival, if you will.  Below is a link for two Albanian/English dictionary that I gave to many families to help ease their transition.  Perhaps it will help your friends as well:

http://www.hippocrenebooks.com/book.aspx?id=1275

http://www.hippocrenebooks.com/book.aspx?id=1109

You can also perform a google search for "Albanian English dictionary" and find many free resources, if they have a computer and internet.  However, books are always accessible, when the www is not, and they will use the printed dictionaries more than you can ever imagine.

I hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Ayesha

[Ayesha Nicole]

Dear Plarka & All,

Apparently I missed the part that they speak English perfectly and she works as a primary teacher.  Sorry about that - so, I am adjusting my advice in light of new information.  I would still use the indirect approach and "ask her professional opinion of the following information from the Ask a Linguist Thread:" . . and she will get the point . . .

http://forum.brillkids.com/teaching-your-child-other-topics/ask-a-linguist-faq-andgt-bilingual-and-multilingual-children/

When the girls were 18 months old, they had an overall developmental evaluation at the end of 12-month's physical therapy services (they are normal, they were just slow to crawl and walk, yet within the "range".)  At 18 months, they tested at 13-months level for English speech communication.  The evaluation team encouraged bi-lingualism, in addition to a teacher coming once a week to help.  They all agreed that this is very common with bi-lingual children, and more so with twins since they have their "own" language between them, and not to worry.

I hope this helps.
- Ayesha

[Nikolett]

Hi
I can understand their feeling, as I stopped speaking my mother tongue to my oldest when she was 1.5. It would be her third language... However kids are different and some are naturally a bit slower in some things. I can see they are concerned about him being behind  in the nursery. If they do send him to Albania, maybe that will be the time to pick up and continue speaking Albanian from then on.

[Grover]

I have 3 children, my son who is 7 years old and twins who are 4.5 years. In Malta, we speak Maltese, and I am Canadian so I speak alot of English with my parents. My children picked up the English more from television and educational resources. I believe that when my kids are ready, they will pick up the Maltese. But when they are ready!

[wenjonggal]

They should look into the research. I am no expert by far, but from what I have read, studies have shown that minority language parents who stop speaking their native language in the home,and switch to English to "help" their child, end up having children who speak English worse, and have more problems in school, than children of minority language parents who continue speaking their native tongue in the home.

This is because in one's native language, one has much richer language, more mastery of the language, grammar, vocabulary, expressions, nursery rhymes etc. So the child is exposed to a rich complex language environment while they are learning language and developing their brain... they can then transfer this to learning English in school. If they get "ok" but not native English at home, they never get that rich development, and high level of language skill from their parents. One can always look up the foreign language equivalency of a complex word in a dictionary. Anyways, they might like this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Bilingual-Edge-Teach-Second-Language/dp/0061246565/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

My son was also behind in language, but the speach therapist said it had nothing to do with bilingual or multilingualism. She said bilingual kids can be a bit slower at the start, as they are learning more than one language system, but then quickly catch up or are ahead. If the child has a learning disability, it will be apparent whether they are unilingual or bilingual... it doesn't make a difference and is no reason to just do one language.

[Kappasweet]

That's too bad, I'm not sure why they are convinced it is not a good idea for the baby to learn 2 languages.  I think in some kids speech delay/difficulty is diagnosed and worried about too early.  My brother did not speak until he was 3, then went straight to full sentences.  His doctor only checked his hearing, he did not do any therapy, and didn't go to preschool until he was 4.  He taught me how to speed read and is a highly verbal adult.  I know it is not like this for everyone, but I think it is a variation of normal to not begin talking until after age 2.  Some kids just take things in for much longer, while others are little parrots who get into the groove early.  Like a previous poster said, if there is a learning/speech problem that requires intervention, limiting to one language is not going to eliminate that problem at all.

[soka]

But do the parents still speak Albanian to each other in the house?  If they do, the child will pick it up, anyway.  I think its a great idea to speak 2 languages to babies.  It makes them more intelligent!

[zaku]

totally agreed

[Nikolett]

hi  Kappasweet,
Can you teach us how to speed read?

[PY]

Hi there,
 Ok.. I have a 13 months old who understands pretty much spanish and english, because daddy speaks english to her and I speak spanish to her!!She is really responding to both of us. I have been searching about this for a long long time, even before having her, because I am a pre-school teacher as well.
My point is Multilingual kids get to speak a little bit later than monolingustic kids because their brain is doing double work.
Some kids will get confused if mommy(who always speaks spanish to her, starts speaking english, or daddy starts speaking spanish) so We need to focus and not mix her with languages . Or not speak spanglish either!!! That's terrible.....because they will get confused.

You guys need to help me , I have a question for all the parents who has gotten the little learn pack, I will like to introduce to my  13 months old baby to start reading , what do you think about the product? if your family is multicultural what language did you teach her to read first?
Thanks a lot

I will like to help you with any questions about preschoolers. I work with kids between 3-5 years old.
 have a good weekend!!
 

[chongwm]

Our first born was only exposed to a second language (Mandarin) when he was about 18 months. I think that's a mistake because he speaks Mandarin like an Englishman who just got to China.
For our second, we're starting early and bombarding her with languages - Mandarin from my wife, English and other Chinese dialects from me, Singlish from my parents, Indonesian from her nanny, Korean from the kids at the playground, French and Spanish from TV.
Maybe she'll turn out like this lady:
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/QCsZdbfBuSY&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/QCsZdbfBuSY&rel=1</a>
http://www.mrbrownshow.com/?p=229

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