My husband and I speak nothing but English at home, but we live in a largely Hispanic neighborhood and my caregiver speaks primarily Spanish (she does speak English, just not as her first language).
I'm wondering if this is going to cause my son some confusion as he starts recognizing words and, eventually, begins to read. Does anyone else out there have bilingual babies, and if so, did they get confused about what things are called when they were learning?
I remember my high school spanish teacher telling me that he only spoke spanish to his kids and his wife would only speak english. They then learned both languages just fine!
Hi H.!
Congrats on your cute 2month old son and being a first time mom.
To answer your question,I am hispanic and bilingual and my husband is white nad speaks English. My mother who takes care of my son most of the week speaks to him in Spanish. I spoke to my pediatrician because I had the same concern you had and he said not to worry- on the contrary the younger they pick up different languages the better.Kids' brain are like a sponge It's a gift to be bilingual. When I visited Europe I was amazed to see 5 year olds who spoke 3 languages!
I hope this helps...let me know buena suerte!
Hi H.! Besides being a mother I am also a Early Intervention Speech-Therapist. Your child should be fine with a bilingual caregiver. You will be surprised how quickly your little guy should pick up both languages with ease.
I think you are so lucky! My mother speaks spanish and is trying to teach my 5 yr old. I was never taught the language and that has hurt me later in life. ANd it is true - they do pick it up fast!
Good for you and your son! Kids are little sponges. Let him learn both languages now. You will be so happy you did.
H.,
My son is not bilingual or around anyone who speaks another language. However, my nephew Jack has been going to daycare since he was an infant and had a spanish speaking teacher. When he was about 1 1/2-2 years old whenever he would finish his dinner he would pick up his plate and say "akey(sp)" which means here. We thought it was very cute and funny... but he also knew that here meant the same thing. He just liked to say akey better. He is now almost three and knows some spanish. He loves his books and never has not gotten confused. Their brains are like little sponges at this age plus, i read that the earlier you start teaching a second language the easier it is for them to learn. Just continue to speak english to him and he will be fine. It never hurts to know more than one language. I wish I took spanish in school instead of french.
Have no worries. I hope this helped a bit
I am from New York, and my husband is originally from Mexico. We have 3 boys. We speak both English and Spanish at home. Our first son prefers to speak Spanish while the middle boy understands Spanish perfectly, but always speaks English. Unless your son spends a lot more time with the caregiver than with you and your husband, I do not see you having an issue. I think it is good for your child to have some sort of exposure to other languages at an early age.
Kids are amazingly adaptable, and it's great that he will have the bilingual exposure! Don't be too surprised if he talks a bit later. Bilingual kids tend to talk later because they are learning 2 languages at once, but it's not because they're delayed - they're just busier!
We are purposely raising our kids to be bilingual (German and English). My husband only speaks German to the kids and I speak only English to them. My son is 4 and in an English-only preschool and my daughter who is 5 is in public school Kindergarten. Both are doing great with speaking in both languages. And, my daughter is handling reading/spelling in both languages quite well.
Consider it a wonderful opportunity to have your child exposed to other languages!
H.,
Don't worry, my husband and I speak spanish at home and our two daughters (5 and 3) speak both languages now. It's easier for them to learn two languages now, they sometimes mix languages, but I know that the end result will be having bilingual kids.
C.
