I was just talking with a co-worker about her little cousin (I think she’s around 18 months). They are already teaching her Spanish AND Sign language on top of properly learning English.
What do you think about teaching a child another language so young?
What do you think the ideal age would be to learn a second language?
Am I the only one who thinks a child should learn proper English BEFORE learning a second language? I would think trying to do both would be too confusing. English & sign language together I think is great but an actual speaking language? I don’t think so.
Thank you elodie!
Momto2inFL: That situation is a little different as that child would HAVE to learn both in order to communicate with both parents. But I’m talking in example of an American family who speak English, learning another language “just because”.
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Bad idea.
13.
It’s better to teach a child a second language when they are young and already picking up on their native language. It’s easier for them to learn and they remember it better.
From birth is when they should learn the second language. I think Spanish would be the best to go with. My friend has her two year old in sign language. However, I have no money and I don’t know Spanish or sign language, so we’re SOL.
I think it is GREAT. The younger the better, it is much more easier for them to take in all this info at this age than say 20 years old.
I think its a great idea. My father is from Cuba and wanted to teach us spanish when we were little and my mother refused. My father isn’t bi-lingual but actually can speak 3 languauge fluently and read latin. My mom is Italian-american and only speaks English and pigeon italian. All my life i struggled and stuggled with a second languauge. In grammar school they tried to introduce us to spanish and even with my dad’s help i could grab it. And in High school i had to take french & Latin and had a hard with them too
Before my daughter was born i purchased a cd of baby first french, since i could read it. And durning play time i would play it in the background, it was just music and silly song in french. Nothing like Repete after me “Parle-vous francaise? Or Passe le frommage” It was to indroduce the french sounds and pronouncation. She is 7 now and can still pronounce alot of french words like a pro. rolling her r’s and such. She didnt learn any real french but her pronouncation is good so if she chooses french in school maybe it will help her.
I know these tapes helped.. For my second child i’m going to be doing this with both french and spanish.
I think it is great. They are sponges if you have the time DO IT!!! Good for them
i think there is no to young of an age. Like I said sponges
i think teaching young children more languages is a good idea but not at the same time, i learnt english and welsh , both from birth and used to confuse the two but now i can speak english and welsh fluently because i speak a mixture of both at home and i go to a welsh scool. I am also fluent in spanish and french and i’m learning italian đ i’m 13 btw
I think teaching a second language should wait until the child has a good grasp on their primary language.
I have mixed feelings about this. Because my stepdaughterâs mother speaks Spanish while my husband and his family speak English. My stepdaughter has THE biggest problem speaking in general. With either language. Itâs like she canât find her ânative tongueâ so to speak.
I think itâs amazing when kids speak multiple languages. I actually think itâs a huge advantage. And itâs unfortunate itâs not offered at a young age. (In most areas) And I donât know if my stepdaughter has an issue regardless of the language or if the confusion came about from not knowing which language to speak. At home theyâd speak Spanish, in school they speak English and she STRUGGLES. With both languages, so it always made me wonder. And of course, I have nothing to compare it to so I really just donât knowâŠ.
But I remember growing up and watching Sesame Street. Before I went into high school, Sesame Street was about the extent of my Spanish. I could count to 10, but that was about it. Until high school at leastâŠ.
** ADD **
That’s actually probably the EXACT reason with my stepdaughter’s problem. No “native tongue” was ever determined for her. So she was always confused….makes sense to me! I agree with you….they need to speak their one language first before taking on another. Or you have a very confused child…
** ADD **
Itâs actually very similar. We didnât know about my stepdaughter until she was 2 yrs old. So her mother made the choice to mix the languages since birth. And since then, sheâs struggled. So was it because no native tongue was determined? It was always a mix. I have absolutely no ideaâŠ.but itâs always made me wonder.
GREAT IDEA!
My husband speaks some Spanish, so he’s teaching my daughter what he knows; on top of that, we’re going order the Muzzy second language program for kids.
They say children are most receptive to second languages before they turn 5, that’s why we’re starting our kids now.
There’s no reason why a child can’t learn proper English and a second language at the same time.
ETA – sorry, here’s a working link
http://www.early-advantage.com/Howitworks.aspx
kids are able to master up to SIX languages by the time they are 5 years old. The younger the age the better. They pick up on the second language easier and faster than any person over the age of 5. After 5 years old, the ability gets less and less with each year. If your household is bilingual, (you and your mate speak more than one language) it is ideal to teach the baby to talk both languages. He will pick it up naturally, and he will not confuse the two languages. Their brain is able to absorb so much as toddlers, why not fill it with other languages? It’s great for them. Children are able to learn sign language even before they are able to speak any language.
The younger the better. The youngest learners are like little sponges. Later it gets harder.
As long as the kid doesn’t act / feel overwhelmed – I think it’s a great idea! I have been told that many people in India are expected to learn 3 languages at an early age. (The language spoken by their area, the one understood by more of India, and sometimes English.) This was told to me by guys who were from India, so I believe them. And while their English wasn’t perfect – it was good.
I don’t have links to the research, but I do know a guy who thoroughly researches almost everything he tells me. He said that once you hit your teen years, hormonal changes and stuff actually make it HARDER for you to learn new languages. So it’s better to learn a few while you are a kid.
I think that if the parents are fluent in multiple languages, learning 2 or 3 from a young age is fine. I have one friend who is excellent with both English and Spanish. His mother knows almost no English. His father knows both but is better with Spanish. The boy can speak both with perfect accents. It’s really cool! (actually, he is a man now. but he was good at both when he was a kid too.)
When both parents aren’t fluent in both languages … I think 3 or 4 would be a good time to start introducing a few extra words / phrases. My daughter is very proud of the little bits of Spanish and sign language that she knows. I really should encourage her to learn more. But now that she’s in first grade – we are already becoming overwhelmed with homework. Maybe that should be our project for this summer.
Yeah. I know i acouple languages. Since I’m half italian and half jamaican I speak some italian, english, spanish, japanese, french, filipino, and a little sign language. I was taught when I was 3 or 2 (now 15) It may not be fluently but it is good enough!
I think its good for a child to know more than one language.
I started teaching my daughter sign language at 3months old. She is now 2 years old and loves signing things. She didn’t really cry when she was little because she could sign what she wanted. If she was wet she could sign diaper or if she was hungry.
I will start teaching our twins sign language starting in a couple weeks. I think its great if parents want to teach their kids different languages. They learn faster when they are younger than when they are older.
By the time my girls are in school they will know english and sign language plus they learn spanish in school
I have mixed feelings about this.
I think a child should master English before learning other languages.
But at the same time, I see how easily my son learns at this age. It very may be easier for him to learn 2 separate languages now rather than trying to learn one later if he chooses.
I’m planning on teaching Jamie ASL, as my aunt is a translator (no one is deaf, she just decided to learn it and worked with kids who were deaf at school). My older sister was taught it for a while (her dad made my aunt stop because she’d sign instead of speak lol).
Now, Spanish while he’s little? No. But once he’s about 5 or 6, yes. Its easier to learn young, and by then he should be doing well enough with English. Plus, down here it’s really helpful with jobs and such.
I began speaking to my daughter in French and English right from the get go. When she was 3, her pediatrician became concerned because her language skills were lacking a little bit and suggested I switch to just exposing her to English for a little while until her speech pattern could catch up to other children her own age. We held off on the French for a year and she was able to catch up to (and in some regard surpass) her peers. We’ve since gone back to introductory French and some Spanish. She amazes people all the time when she can pick up a book and will point to everything on the page and give the person the English, French & Spanish word for that object.
Children are sponges.
Don’t let your political views get in the way of taking advantage of a child most able time of learning.
The older the child gets, the more confusing it can be to learn different languages. I speak from personal experience. When their young, it’s second nature…when they get older…it’s actually a conscious learning process.
I believe that everyone that chooses to live in this country should speak english…yes…and it should be the primary language we teach our children….but that hasn’t stopped me from allowing my spanish speaking mother and aunt start speaking to my son in Spanish.
And he’s picking up both languages quite nicely…and if we had anyone on my husband’s side that fluently spoke german…he’d be learning that too.
It’s my opinion, that the more tools we can give our children, the better off they will be for it.
Children will pick up another language more easily if they start learning at birth than they would if they started later. Leaning two languages at once isn’t going to slow them down at all. They will learn English at the same rate they would if they were only learning English so I can’t think of any reason why not to teach them, even if it is just because. If a person has the time for that, good for them. And what a lucky kid.
I think it’s a great idea. My dad’s from Chile and speaks Latin Spanish among other languages, I am learning now and would like to start teaching my daughter around age 4. I would like her to have a good grasp of English first. I too, have read many articles saying teach them young, but equally as many saying let them master one language first.
I think it’s a great idea. Children can learn a second language easier when they are younger, opposed to when they are older.
However, I believe the first priority should be English. If the child is showing proper devolopment in learning English, then there is no harm in adding on a second (or even third) language.
On the other hand, if learning extra languages hinders her ability to properly learn English, then teaching those extra languages should be minimized and slowed down.