Introducing a second language to a child? Need some tips

My first language was Italian - and then English.

Me and my husband speak italian - and I always said before having children - that I would do everythign I could to teach my kids to speak italian. Well - I started too and with good intentions but naturally me and my husband have been speaking more English in our home.

DD will be 4 and my other DD turned 2 - and although they understand it when I speak it or others speak it - they always respond to us in English. I just hope I didn't miss the boat with them. Its really important and I would love for them to learn it.
For BTDT mothers - has anyone had success with teaching their children a second language and how did you do it?
Do you speak to them in your native language all of the time?
Should we be doing that?
Any tips would be great.
TIA

Message edited 12/3/2009 9:37:55 AM.

Re: Introducing a second language to a child? Need some tips

I spoke to Ale almost exclusively in Spanish (I am not native but bilingual) from the day she was born.

At 18 months she wasn't speaking hardly at all in either language.

At 24 months she was still very behing so I switched to English with her.

She understands everything in Spanish. She has been taking Spanish classes twice a week since she was 6 months old. Now she goes to a nursery program for 5 hours a week that is exclusively in Spanish. I am also speaking to her more in Spanish now, since her speech has caught up to her age.

It's incredible that she understands absolutely everything. But, she replies to me in English, although in her class they tell me she will repeat everything in Spanish.

Now is the time -- the earlier the better. I don't think you missed the boat but I would speak to them exclusively in Italian from now on, if I were you.

Re: Introducing a second language to a child? Need some tips

not sure. dh failed completely.

good luck, from what I have read, you speak in Italian to kids, DH in English...speak Italian to each other.

Re: Introducing a second language to a child? Need some tips

Just speak italian to them. Let italian be the primary language in your house.

Re: Introducing a second language to a child? Need some tips

Keeping speaking to them in Italian. They will pick it up.

Re: Introducing a second language to a child? Need some tips

Re: Introducing a second language to a child? Need some tips

we are speaking to Luce primarily in Spanish...we figure he will pick up english from everyone else around him, and of course, Elmo so we are TRYING to stick to that.

it's harder for me b/c english is my primary language, though I grew up in a home with spanish speaking people.

dh didn't learn english until he went to day care..and he picked that up right away and he speaks BOTH languages properly and perfectly (diction, grammar, can write and read in Spanish, which some kids that speak it can't do all that well)

there are also immersion schools that you can look in to. There is one near us in Brooklyn that holds day care in one primary language (this one is either spanish or french) and goes this way up until the first grade. then, it's 60% the primary language and 40% english.

my husband and I are contemplating a move abroad, and Italy is at the top of my list...so Luce will hopefully end up speaking at least 3 languages by the time he goes to school.

I would ask your kids to answer in Italian if they answer you in English, especially when they are asking for something. they'll be far more inclined I think to answer you in the language you are asking them when you are holding out on giving them their Nutella sandwich (I plan to use this one on Luce for EVERYTHING )

good luck.

Re: Introducing a second language to a child? Need some tips

If you know that she can say the words in Italian, tell that you dont understand and to please say it in Italian.. I am not a mom but a friend of mine explain me that is how she teach her kids to not only understand what she was saying but also learn how to respond back.

Re: Introducing a second language to a child? Need some tips

My mother was a French teacher, growing up she spoke french to us, but wasn't consistant. We learned more phrases than the actual languauge (like "please pass the milk" )

My sister's is trying to help her daughter become bi-lingual, they are doing it by location. Whenever they are at her MILs house they speak hebrew. It is working; Ayla is 2 and as soon as she steps through Grandma's door she switches from English to Hebrew.

Re: Introducing a second language to a child? Need some tips

My mom who is Greek watches Athan for us during the day and all she speaks to him is Greek. When I am with him I speaking Greek to him 95% of the time but when I point things out - like a flower, or the moon, etc - I will say it in both Greek and then English and he will repeat it back to me in both languages.

He understand Greek, he speaks Greek, he responds to me in Greek. He also understands English, says words in English but it is, right now, primarily Greek.

For some reason, it seems natural for me to speak to him in Greek and I am committed to making sure that he can communicate in the language being that we have so much family in Greece and I want him to be able to speak to them and understand them.

So right now we are raising a "Greek" baby and at the same time daddy is learning it too

Re: Introducing a second language to a child? Need some tips

I have and still do speak primarily in Croatian to DS, so does DH as does the rest of my family.
However, he watches tv, and learned a ton of english from there, and now mixes his responses to me, which is ok too.... he still understands me, and some words are easier for him to say in english than they are in croatian...I just continue to speak in croatian to him.

Re: Introducing a second language to a child? Need some tips

I don't speak another language, but DH does, as he's from Israel. It's more difficult for us to raise them in a bilingual home because I don't speak hebrew so we don't converse at home in another lanugage.

So, whenever DH is alone with Alex and Yael, he speaks hebrew to them. Whenever DH is doing anything with Alex, it's always in hebrew, like brushing teeth, setting the table, etc., even if I'm in the other room.

And, of course, we enrolled Alex in a hebrew immersion program at school, which is helping A LOT.

Re: Introducing a second language to a child? Need some tips

I don't speak another language, but I did understand Italian as a child because my grandmother and great aunts spoke it around us. No one ever made us speak it, so we didn't.

So, my advice would be to speak it to them, but also make them speak back to you, you know?

Re: Introducing a second language to a child? Need some tips

My oldest son, 4, is fluent in english and spanish and understands everything in Greek and speaks some. The way we did it is that my family (Spanish speaking) only spoke to him in Spanish since he was born. He now has conversations, as he would in english, in spanish with my mom, dad, and grandparents. My in laws, who speak Greek would always speak to him in greek and english so he's not as fluent in greek as he is in spanish but he's getting there. So it's never too late to start IMO. We're doing the same with my youngest, who is 16 mos. So my advice is for one of you to only speak to your children in Italian or have another close family member speak to them only in italian. Good Luck!

Re: Introducing a second language to a child? Need some tips

I'm completely in both English and Spanish and can read and write in Spanish. My parents primarily spoke to me in Spanish until I was about 2 years old. At that point my dad started teaching me some English and over time learned my numbers, letters, colors, etc. He did this so I would be somewhat ready for school. When I entered Kindergarten I didn't know much English and my school was all English so I was completely immersed. I picked up English in no time and never had any delays. Once I turned 6 my parents got my a tutor (2 hrs every saturday, aghh!) to make sure that I learned how to read it and write it well. (my mom figured i'd learn more from a "teacher" than if she tried to teach me. A good tactic is when one parent speaks to the child in one language while the other speaks in the other. There's some books out there that might help you figure this out too. Children are primed to learn a new language until about age 7 although the end of the "critical period" continues to be debated.

Re: Introducing a second language to a child? Need some tips

Posted by NinaLemon

My mother was a French teacher, growing up she spoke french to us, but wasn't consistant. We learned more phrases than the actual languauge (like "please pass the milk" )

My sister's is trying to help her daughter become bi-lingual, they are doing it by location. Whenever they are at her MILs house they speak hebrew. It is working; Ayla is 2 and as soon as she steps through Grandma's door she switches from English to Hebrew.