How did you teach your child to speak a foreign language?

[trieuminh]

Hi BrillKids family,
I have taught my 17-month-oldgirl to read in Vietnamese, our native language, since she was 8 months old, and we have made steady progress. She's also on good track with her speaking ability, she can now speak groups of 3 words together. So recently I started to teach her English by showing her the YBCR dvd's, and she loves them. I wonder how I could teach her to speak English properly though? She was confused when I spoke English to her, and when she imitated me, the words were spoken in a very clearly Vietnamese way, maybe because she was still used to speaking Vietnamese. My accent, although considered good for a non-native speaker, is not perfect either. How did you teach your kids to speak a foreign language, like English, in my case? What are the best sources to use? Thanks so much!

[TeachingMyToddlers]

Hi! First of all, great job on teaching your baby a second language. Just taking the first step is a huge accomplishment so kudos to you! As far as the best source....anything in English you can get your hands on, preferably with a native speaker, and whatever you feel you will be most consistent with! Liltle Reader is wonderful for consistency because the lessons are condensed and laid out day by day.

The simplest method people use to encourage their children to become bilingual is "OPOL" or, "One Parent, One Language." Each parent ONLY speaks to the kids in their chosen language and the children will automatically pick it up through exposure. As a parent that is NOT bilingual, I really envy your child's situation of having a parent that speaks more than one language.  Lots of exposure through multimedia is helpful, OPOL if possible, audio CD's, books, and encouraging them to speak/respond in their second language. If you have a choice in hiring a babysitter, find a sitter that speaks the language you want them to learn. Seek out enrichment classes in that language or immersion schools/daycares (especially if both parents work and the child must be in full time care by necessity...might as well use all that time in a language right environment.)

Many parents who speak multiple languages find they can fit it seamlessly into their lives with a little effort and routine building, the kids learn to speak to each parent in their "designated" language. Now, teaching a language you don't know involves learning at the same time as your child to be most effective, or staying at least one step ahead of them. In my family, we have focused on various languages at various times and our downfalls have been-

1) Lack of further study on MY part with non-native languages so I am better prepared to teach my kids.

2) Lack of consistency over the long haul (this is KEY!).

We did not focus on a second language over the summer and my kids forgot what they previously learned. That's okay, they'll pick it up twice as fast the second time around.

[khatty]

I am 'trying' to teach my kids Spanish - and I do not know the language. It has been a struggle. In my community I have no access to any Spanish speakers - native or non-native. So, it is just me. And this is what I have been doing:

Little Reader
Doman Dictionary DVD's
Little Pim DVD and Ipad App
Little Pim Flashcards
Internet stuff I can find for free (onlinefreespanish) (youtube)
Listening to Spanish DVDs.
A few basic Spanish Books (Baby Board Books and Level 1 readers that I have in both English and Spanish, so I can figure them out)
I want Rosetta Stone, but the $$ has put this on the back burner for awhile.

Consistency is key, as TMT, mentioned. Especially with no access to a native Spanish Speaker, if we take a few week break, we forget lots. So, I try even just to say one word in Spanish every day, seems small, but it is better than nothing.

We are not learning very quickly, but slowly we are learning. I am not keeping one step ahead of my kids, that was just too difficult for me, but learning at the same time works for us. We focus on basic concepts, nouns, common verbs, and less on conversation. I find we do lots of speaking in English but changing one or two word to Spanish. It isn't ideal, but again, better than giving up or forgetting altogether.

Good Luck to you. It is a worthy idea to teach a second or third language, and speaking it at least some yourself is a huge bonus.

[mybabyian]

I am in the same situation as you.  I am teaching my son a second language that I speak but that is not my native language.  I really want to encourage you that it is not at all hard and doesn't require you to do anything special other than speak to your child in the languages you want her to learn.  You have such an advantage that you speak English.  You really can teach her yourself and you will have so much better results this way than buying any products or taking her to any special classes.  It doesn't matter if your accent is not perfect.  For me it was a trade off between fluency and a perfect accent.  I cannot give him a perfect accent but I can give him fluency which I decided is more important in the end.  The key to learning language is exposure, exposure, exposure.  Because you speak English you can give her that. 

I put myself on a schedule because I wanted to be sure my son was being exposed somewhat equally to both languages.  I speak 3 days a week to my son in English (native language) and 4 days a week in Spanish (my second language).  When we are with friends we speak English so it turns out to be about equal.  I did not do "one parent, one language" even though my husband is a native Spanish speaker.  I knew he would not get enough exposure to Spanish to really learn to speak it because he is with my husband very little compared to the time he is with me.

My son competently speaks both English and Spanish and I am so happy that I have done it this way. My Spanish speaking neighbors love talking to him in Spanish and are amazed by him.  If I had relied on someone else to teach him or if I had done videos he would definitely not speak as well as he does. 

I talk to a lot of people who speak two languages and are not sure how to teach their children.  I think the hardest part is getting over the fear that you don't speak the language well enough.  I totally get it because I had that fear too.  But, once I did I was so glad.

Good luck.  Let us know how it goes!

[trieuminh]

Wow, thanks so much for all the advice and support! I feel now more emboldened to go ahead with teaching my kid to speak English myself. Maybe I could create some games for her, so that she knows that it's time to switch off Vietnamese and switch on English. As always, it's great to be part of Brillkids!

[khatty]

Games in the second language are a good idea. We don't watch t.v , but I let my kids watch kids movies in Spanish.

Another idea I tried for awhile was finding a time/ activity during the day and making it the second language activity. I did this with snack time, the snack of the day was when we practiced Spanish. It helped me remember to teach it, and it helped my kid to know. I have also seen the suggestion of language days, Monday is native, Tuesday is non-native, etc. I have never tried this because I can't make it through 15 minutes without using English, but it seems like a good idea for someone that knows 2 languages well.

I agree, worry less about your accent or imperfect language skills. Talk with them in English. Learning from DVDs and interent is much slower. However, i do like hearning the flow/accent in movies and the Internet, it helps me with pronunciation.

Keep trying and good luck.

[trieuminh]

Many thanks, khatty! I just stumbled on this instruction on teaching to speak English at home, which seems interesting and resonates with what you said.
http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/parents/articles/speaking-english-home
Although, it's about English, it could apply to any other language that the parent(s) have some knowledge of

[TRexMom]

Following this topic, as it is of interest to us. We are (regrettably) monolingual, but are determined to teach our son multiple languages.

One thing we have considered is a nanny or au pair who speaks other languages, even though I am a SAHM (mostly). Has anyone ever tried this? Au pairs in any of the programs we have explored cost about $25k/yr for all fees & usually stay 1yr at a time. Do you think it would be worth the expense when we really don't need the child care aspect? We found one nanny locally who spoke FIVE languages (including all the ones we wanted our child to learn, except Spanish), but she is engaged full-time as an after-school nanny for another family & would only be available 4hrs/3day/week. Not sure he would really get much out of that. Thoughts?

[seastar]

Following this topic, as it is of interest to us. We are (regrettably) monolingual, but are determined to teach our son multiple languages.

One thing we have considered is a nanny or au pair who speaks other languages, even though I am a SAHM (mostly). Has anyone ever tried this? Au pairs in any of the programs we have explored cost about $25k/yr for all fees & usually stay 1yr at a time. Do you think it would be worth the expense when we really don't need the child care aspect? We found one nanny locally who spoke FIVE languages (including all the ones we wanted our child to learn, except Spanish), but she is engaged full-time as an after-school nanny for another family & would only be available 4hrs/3day/week. Not sure he would really get much out of that. Thoughts?

4 hours 3 days per week is pretty amazing compared to what many children get! I have asked a French nanny to come to my house once a week to play, sing songs etc and it has made a huge difference in my daughters interest in the language. I know it is not enough to become fluent, but it is a start

[mario]

I agree that the best method is OPOL but the experts that I've read said you shoudn't be so strict on it, since it may stress you in sometimes you don't feel like speaking in your non-native language.

My son is 18 months and I always speak in English with him, but there are some times and some words that I prefer speaking in Portuguese, my native language.

[Adina_B]

I have started teaching my little girl English when she was 1 year old (we're Romanian, living in Ro).
I have started slowly, talking for a few minutes, introducing vocabulary, listening to children nursery rhymes in English each day. And then, over the next months, I gradually increased the daily 'dose' of English, with the target to be able to use only English during our morning together (until lunchtime). And then, around 2 years old and a half, she began to enjoy longer reading sessions together before sleeping time, so I've decided to read to her exclusively in English.
I've bought books, borrowed books, and read a lot of free online books, as well. Here's my blog post on our favourite online books resources http://ourenglishhomeschool.blogspot.ro/2012/11/where-to-read-children-books-online-in.html

Also, you can find free books on Amazon.com for children daily, here's how you can find them http://ourenglishhomeschool.blogspot.ro/2012/04/carti-free-pentru-copii-de-pe-amazon-de.html

If you expose your daughter daily to the English language - by using music and age-appropriate videos, she will pick up the correct accent, in time. Don't worry if you're accent is not perfect, just keep playing and talking to your daughter in English.

I've added French to my daughter when she was 3.5. Her accent now is way better than mine - if you want to read about it - here is my latest blog post on that http://ourenglishhomeschool.blogspot.ro/2013/02/french-success.html
I wish you best of luck!
Adina

[MummyRoo]

Nikki has been exposed to Russian from birth. His father speaks to him exclusively in Russian (his native language) but since he lives in Russia and only visits every few months and speaks a couple of hours/wk on the phone, this is not enough. Fortunately, I am fairly fluent (though I am nearly 3.5 years in and still struggling with the my-Russian-is-not-good-enough thing) so we are able to have conversations, read books and play games in Russian. He also watches Russian programs most days (for exposure to native fluency/accent).

He is reluctant to speak - at most he volunteers odd words - but will sing along with Russian songs and has memorized a couple of our Russian story books. He will repeat longer phrases back to me if I make him. His fluency is greatly improved after spending a couple of days with his dad. My greatest failing is lack of consistency and fluent conversation. I have yet to find any Russian playmates for him locally - his only Russian friend lives about 2 hours away so they see each other only rarely, but I am hoping to find someone soon!

I read Adina's blog posts on Language learning today and have decided to try reading the same 5 books every day for a week, rather than random selections all the time, to help him get more familiar with new words and grammar.

I won't mention our forays into Chinese (which I don't speak) - they usually last a few weeks and the consistency is horrendous. Needless to say, he hasn't learned much (having to re-learn the same material every time) and neither have I! I'm thinking I will try again with better consistency soon (especially if the 5-books thing works to improve his Russian). 

[lois1]

Good for everyone teaching languages -  it's not easy, even getting hold of affordable resources never mind the teaching it! Adina thanks for the links.

The OPOL method sounds good but you would have to be really disciplined... & when they hurt themselves or are upset it is very very hard to comfort a little boy in a non-native language (also, it's far hard giving them into trouble in a second language as well  ). We never did OPOL but at 28mths, he is fluent in both English & Spanish although probably a bit more verbal in English still. I think that's mostly because most locals don't see why you would talk to a tiny boy... so at the moment he can only have sensible interesting conversations about fractions or the solar system in English.

It's holidays here so I have had a local girl come for 1 day/ wk to be with my son & talk to him in Spanish. She also does playdough with him... so I figure I've got the arts covered as well for now She needed a little job so it works well for us - I'm here too but it gives me a bit more freedom to do whatever I have ongoing. The option of having someone come 4 hrs/ 3 days a week would be great, they would pick up loads in that time!!

I have 2 other "language exposures" ongoing... 1 is a local indigenous language, that's a bit hit or miss but he understands a handful of words. He maybe sees the speakers & hears Kuna spoken for 30-60 mins/ wk, that's since Christmas. It's not much but it's still something & he knows when to say hello in the right language without prompting, he impresses our visitors   

Now French... that's another matter, I know no local speakers but as he gets older I can think of a few people he could probably skype with as suggested by Mario on another thread. My husband is out 2 nights a week before my son's bedtime so I've made that French time, that maybe amounts to 2x 30 minute periods. If I didn't make it the rule we would never get round to doing it.
So my key to getting him interested was that he gets to watch "oui-oui" (Enid Blyton's Noddy) on youtube twice a week. It's his only TV, apart from an occasional educational DVD. If he gets a DVD, I'll put it in French. He doesn't care 2 hoots which language it's in, he's so excited to get to watch it.
We have Max et mathilde books & audios CDs & a DK beginners french which has an audio CD as well. That's a must as I don't have much of a clue as to pronounciation.
LR French files - huge thanks to hypatia & the others.
Little pim app is very dull & put me off getting any more of their material - for every French word he has a dozen or more in English, ugh. But there are some good related apps that are pure French & I hope will be useful in the future.
I have French nursery rhymes (mamalisa.com in particular) but they aren't handy for him to listen to yet, it's on the to do list.

As he gets older I will follow more of a curriculum in French (have my eye on French phonics CDs) but for now I'm going for the exposure & good exposure as much as I can, I don't want him to have to unlearn a whole lot. So I'm learning (again) along with him really & I will bring it into conversation again even if I know I'm not quite saying it right.

[velvetkatze]

Following this topic, as it is of interest to us. We are (regrettably) monolingual, but are determined to teach our son multiple languages.

One thing we have considered is a nanny or au pair who speaks other languages, even though I am a SAHM (mostly). Has anyone ever tried this? Au pairs in any of the programs we have explored cost about $25k/yr for all fees & usually stay 1yr at a time. Do you think it would be worth the expense when we really don't need the child care aspect? We found one nanny locally who spoke FIVE languages (including all the ones we wanted our child to learn, except Spanish), but she is engaged full-time as an after-school nanny for another family & would only be available 4hrs/3day/week. Not sure he would really get much out of that. Thoughts?

If you are a stay-at-home mum, there's one thing you can do (I'm in the process of moving houses, so I haven't done it so far, but I definitely intend to do it!) - There's a lot of cheap play groups around our area (once a week, stay-and-play with the parent) and in those groups some parents speak other languages to their kids, you can also hear it at the playgrounds or kids rhymetime sessions at a local library. Consider getting friendly with those parents and do a "child swap" one day a week (or even half-day) purely for the purpose of teaching other language, especially if you can offer some other types of tuition to their kid (like math or music) if your English skills would not cut the deal :-).

[Jenene]

lois1  Just a suggestion for your French videos.  My children enjoy watching Maisy in French (and for some reason my daughter has started watching it in Sweedish).  There are a few available on youtube.

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