Is it too late to start Chinese with a 26 months old?

[Stodd]

Hope, the question doesn't sound silly....My son is 26 months old and we just started Spanish with him a month ago. I'm planning to introduce Chinese to him soon, but I thought, I should wait a couple of months until he gets a little practice with Spanish.. I also know that the sooner is the better since he's getting "older".
Every advice, experience would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Stodd

[TracyR4]

No ,its definitely not to late. The younger they are the better it is for them to learn new languages.

Sounds like you've got a good plan.  You could still do both at the same time. We're doing Spanish and Chinese at the moment with my 4yr old and she doesn't seem to have issues transitioning from either or. I'll tell her this is the Spanish word for Tiger, and then this is the Chinese word for Tiger. If I say that she seems to know which is which. 

[lovemybaby]

Sounds like we are on the same page. I just started my little guy (32 months) on Spanish. He is picking it up pretty fast. I too want to start him on Chinese at the same time. Which program are you using to teach your kids Chinese? Are there DVD and flash cards as well?

Thanks in advance

[Stodd]

Thank you Tracy, for your advices....
It's been a little more then a month since we have Little Pim (Spanish) every morning as a part of our morning routine. We also started little "spanish breakfast time" using the words we'd learned already. It happened just 2 days ago, when he said his first spanish sentence even with a funny way: "I bebe coffee. (I drink coffee,). He saw, we liked it and were happy so he tried every different way the same sentence: dino was drinking and even Santa and not only "Coffee but "agua" and "leche" too. I always tell him, this is how Pim says, This is for dadda (english) and this is for mama (hungarian). This way I hope it will be clear for him, which  lang. belongs to who.
I still don't know/ undecided when to start chinese. Right now I think I will wait a few months and then start Little Pim in Chinese.
So, this is where we are. It's really exciting and amazing at the same time how great he is.
 I'm still curious about others experiences.
Thanks,

[charlesl]

Its best to expose them to someone who is a native speaker on a regular basis.  Their ability to pick it up easily falls off as the get older, but between 2-3 they are just learning their native language and will pick up anything you throw at them with ease.  I can usually guess the approximate age at which a foreign speaker learned English from their accent.  Prior to 7 years old and they usually have no accent.   After 14, they almost always have a detectable accent, even if they have lived here for 20 years.

With my daughter (25 months), she speaks English with her mother and I and Mandarin with her grandparents who live with us.  She seems to have about the same level of fluency in both.  We are trying to find someone who could teach her Spanish, but we think its important to find a native speaker who will communicate on a regular basis, such as a three day a week babysitter.  If you only teach them a few words, or you don't maintain an environment where they need to speak the other language they will loose it very quickly.  Although my understanding is that, even if not maintained, early learning of a foreign language makes it easier to learn one later.

[Stodd]

Thanks Charlesl.
The thing is that we learn Spanish together right now- that's our only option. But I'm hoping that later we can find a school or friend or day care where he can practice with others. That would/will be even more difficult for us with Chinese. I hope and actually believe that these inputs are not waste of time and it will make it easier to learn an other language even years later.
Thanks again,
Stodd

[2010BEBES]

.... We're doing Spanish and Chinese at the moment with my 4yr old and she doesn't seem to have issues transitioning from either or. I'll tell her this is the Spanish word for Tiger, and then this is the Chinese word for Tiger. If I say that she seems to know which is which. 

Tracy,
When did you start with your 4 yr old and how did you start with Chinese?
Does anyone around her speaks it?
Did you start both Spanish and Chinese at the same time?

[momtobaby]

Hi ,
Well, I can't answer your question in a simple no or yes. When I was young I was taught 2 diferent languages starting at the age of 3 1/2 and guess what I can speak, write and read both the languages pretty well now....so it is POSSIBLE

Regards,
MOMTOBABY

[shellychan2008]

It is never too late to start learning Chinese.

Would like to share my 28-month daughter who sung the Mandrain new year song:

http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/shellychan2008/article?mid=8291

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