https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sat, 18 Apr 2026 07:18:09 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-you-raising-your-child-bilingual/page/2#post-855692 Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:29:03 +0000 lamariniere 855692@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are a bilingual household, English and French. DS also goes to a bilingual English/German preschool. He has been going for about 6 months now and we can see that he is picking up German and using it at home sometimes. </p> <p>At home, I speak about 95% English to him and DH speaks 100% French. However, DH and I speak about 80% French to one another so I think DS gets a fair amount of exposure to both languages at home. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-you-raising-your-child-bilingual/page/2#post-855020 Thu, 13 Jun 2013 13:04:04 +0000 banana 855020@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Clementine: Oh man. I can write a novel about this. But basically, what I've learned from dealing with my son's speech delay is that it's best to stick with "one language/one person".<br /> We've worked with at least 5 or 6 different therapists and they all agreed with this. They definitely all recommended that we expose our kids to multiple languages because studies have shown that early exposure to multiple languages boosts executive function. So it's definitely a positive thing. But in order to help the child compartmentalize the 2 (or more) languages, it's easier for the child to associate languages with specific environments/people. </p> <p>With that said, there are certainly children who tend to pick up languages easier/faster without the "one language/one person" split. When I asked our speech therapists about bilingualism, they said there isn't any evidence to show that bilingualism causes speech delay. Apparently it's a hot topic in the speech &amp; language community. But they've all seen it first-hand. They've worked with many, many bilingual speech-delayed kids without any diagnosable problems, other than expressive speech delay. Once the child masters the art of expressive language (in whatever language), then it's ok to start mixing them up.</p> <p>This is sort of the same premise as language immersion programs. Most of the ones that I've seen start by speaking 100% in the foreign language in Kinder, then 90% in 1st grade, 80% in 2nd grade, etc. I haven't seen any programs that mix the 2 languages up 50/50 in the beginning, when they are first becoming exposed to a new language.</p> <p>We started by mixing up the 2 languages in our household too (english/korean). I spoke Konglish to him all the time. Once we realized he had a speech delay, we switched to 100% English because he gets 100% korean at his daycare (and from his grandma). It's really made a big difference for us. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-you-raising-your-child-bilingual/page/2#post-854914 Thu, 13 Jun 2013 12:39:11 +0000 PurplePumps 854914@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yes! I hope to raise our future children bilingual. I speak Cantonese and plan on speaking it to the LOs. My parents are pretty close by too, so I hope they can spend a lot of time with them too. DH does not speak any Chinese though, but I think it's still possible.<br /> My distant relatives are from Puerto Rico, the dad speaks Chinese, English and Spanish. The mom speaks Chinese and English. So Dad always speaks Spanish to the kids, mom always Chinese, and then to each other, English. I'm not sure why they speak English to each other, instead of Chinese - I think Chinese was his last, language so it's not as easy for him as English. But anyways.. it works, the kids understand Spanish and Chinese, and being in America, will have no problem learning English, esp since their parents speak it to each other too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-you-raising-your-child-bilingual/page/2#post-854813 Thu, 13 Jun 2013 12:15:18 +0000 CupQuakeWalk 854813@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Clementine: we're speaking Arabic exclusively at the young age before school</p> <p>Our plan (and our parents did it) is no speak Arabic at home 24/7 and then when they go to school, they can learn English. We plan to send our kids to pre-k so, that means the age of 4. I think Arabic will be solidified by then and English will/ can be easily learned by 4.<br /> Then, after that point, we plan on speaking exclusively in Arabic at home, but allowing the kids to listen to music, watch TV and play in English. That way: both languages are solidified and fluent. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-you-raising-your-child-bilingual#post-854765 Thu, 13 Jun 2013 12:06:40 +0000 Clementine 854765@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Sunglasses: @geekinheels: do you have to speak one language exclusively? I find it hard as I seem to mix Korean and English more. Just wondering what your thoughts are. I don't want to confuse him, but I find it hard to stick to one language all the time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-you-raising-your-child-bilingual#post-854756 Thu, 13 Jun 2013 12:05:20 +0000 Clementine 854756@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Do you have to exclusively speak one language to them? I speak Korean very well, I'd say fluent, and my husband's is very fluent, but my instinct is to speak Konglish. I don't want LO to be confused, but I can't see myself speaking just one exclusively which seems to be par for the course. Any one else have any good ideas or running up against this? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/question-for-bilingual-parents#post-760148 Fri, 03 May 2013 14:50:42 +0000 Maysprout 760148@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've worried a bit about LO too but she's hit all the basic milestones so our pediatrician wasn't worried at all. My husband speaks french to her and I speak english. There were a couple things the ped said that made it seem fine, even if it's not a 'real' word, if they're using it regularly to mean the same thing than that counts as words. LO followed directions and really started following longer directions in both languages at that age, so comprehension was a big thing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/question-for-bilingual-parents#post-760113 Fri, 03 May 2013 14:37:09 +0000 banana 760113@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@irene: I've written about my son in other posts but he's speech delayed and receiving speech therapy right now (he's 3). He grew up speaking only korean when he was younger, and then a mix of korean/english from 12 months on. He said 10 words at 18 months but only picked up 5 more words when he was 24 months (he should have had 50 and putting 2 words together). So he received speech therapy for 9 months. He's 3 now and is still delayed but progressing rapidly! He saying 2-3-4 word phrases all day long now. We didn't stop with the bilingual language environment, even though he was speech delayed and I'm glad we didn't. He understands both languages really well now. If i say something in korean, like "ok, jah jah" (let's sleep) he'll say "no sleep! no sleep!" and vice versa. I know studies show that bilingual environments don't cause speech delays but in my gut, I really feel that it definitely could. I've met WAY too many parents with similar experiences. And I agree with everyone else. Comprehension is REALLY important. It was one of the main factors during his EI assessment. Sorry, kinda rambling on but I've been through it so I understand how you feel. If you're concerned, EI is great. Everything is free and they come to your house or daycare for therapy. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/question-for-bilingual-parents#post-758989 Fri, 03 May 2013 06:53:58 +0000 regberadaisy 758989@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't have any personal experiences with MY Daughter but do from observing my nieces and nephew. My niece is 9 and when she was growing up she was exposed to Cantonese, taosanese(sp?), fujianese and English. She did have some speech issues with pronunciation and had to go to a speech therapist for about 1-2 years? But today she has no issues whatsoever. She goes back and forth between Cantonese &amp; English. She understands Taosanese &amp; Fujianese but can't speak it. All this mainly bc she is constantly exposed to it at home.<br /> My nephews never had speech problems but they were exposed to Cantonese, Fujianese, Mandarin, Wenchau &amp; English. They did get words confused a lot when they were just starting to talk. They were not continually exposed to the languages after they started school so they have dropped almost all of it.</p> <p>I speak Cantonese &amp; English (daddy only speaks English) to my daughter at home. She just turned one and can say da da, mama when she's pissed &amp; wants me :P, she said wai wai once when she was "talking on the phone" and started saying baby. What I'm trying to say is I don't think speaking dual languages to her will hurt in the grand scheme. It *might* slow her speech development a little but it'll all work at out the end. And if there are any issues daycare will pick up on it. </p> <p>My ped encourages us to speak both language to her at home!</p> <p>@looch: agree! I also think comprehension is much more important. If they comprehend both languages then they obviously understand. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/question-for-bilingual-parents#post-758954 Fri, 03 May 2013 06:18:29 +0000 looch 758954@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I saw this post while on the train and I rushed into the office to let you know that you are doing the right thing by exposing your child to more than one language. </p> <p>The delay that a lot of posters above are mentioning is a bit muddy, because depending on who you are talking to, there is belief that bilingual children are not any more speech delayed than their single language peers....that is the opinion of my pediatrician. The thing is that you can not simply look at number of words spoken as a benchmark, you must also take comprehension into account. In addition, kids do not know that they are being spoken to in different languages, they just understand that they have many words to express the same thing.</p> <p>I was concerned that my son was delayed, even to the point of having him evaluated and was told by the speech therapist that one of the things they are looking for is comprehension. I'll give you an example. At age 15 months, we could tell our son in either English or German to pick a piece of paper up off of the floor and throw it away in the kitchen garbage and he would follow through with the instructions. </p> <p>So, I'd suggest continuing doing what you are doing. The more you expose your child to other languages, the richer their vocabulary becomes. I can also tell you that since my son has started attending day care for half a day, he's speaking and singing more and more, as well as counting in Spanish. I was stunned when he busted that out in a restaurant the other day. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/question-for-bilingual-parents#post-758928 Fri, 03 May 2013 04:42:17 +0000 tequiero21 758928@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@irene: 13 months</p> <p>I agree w everyone else. Bilingual kids are a bit slower but it will benefit your lo in the future. My kids are worse off. i heard twins of bilingual are the slowest! but im not concerned....yet lol. I grew up w Korean until school an now I'm conversant in Korean. My friend came to the states from china in jhs and now speaks both fluently! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/question-for-bilingual-parents#post-758907 Fri, 03 May 2013 03:03:01 +0000 SugarplumsMom 758907@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our new pediatrician urged us to speak every language we know to DD, just so she can hear it. He thinks it's very important. She's 10 months old.</p> <p>I speak to her in English with tiny bits of Swedish. DH speaks to her in Swedish, with bits of English. She hears DH and I speak English to each other. We live in Sweden, so it's reinforced by everyone else.</p> <p>My mom and grandma, talk to her through Skype in Tagalog with bits of Ilocano. And I like watching Asian drama, like right now when she's sleeping on me, so she sometimes hears Korean and Japanese in the background.</p> <p>Her first word was "hello". It really surprised me because it was so obvious. She said it when I tried calling my mom. She also has a toy phone that says hello, so I'm guessing it helped. She's said "hi" and "hej" before that, and will say it when prompted, but that's about it. She hasn't said mama or papa, except by accident. We haven't been able to get her to say mama or papa at all. </p> <p>I heard it takes a little longer for bilingual kids to speak. Does your LO say words that are close to what they sound, yet understands the meaning? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/question-for-bilingual-parents#post-758899 Fri, 03 May 2013 01:34:33 +0000 wheres_c 758899@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@irene: our LO is younger than yours and no first words yet...<br /> Daddy speaks Spanish only. I speak English only. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/question-for-bilingual-parents#post-758859 Thu, 02 May 2013 23:34:00 +0000 BoogieBea 758859@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our immediate family isn't bilingual though I can understand cantonese fluently. My parents only speak cantonese so my kids are exposed to it when we skype with them once a week. I wanted to start speaking to my son in cantonese more at around age 1 but saw signs of possible speech delay. I also heard that bilingual kids might have speech delays so I hesitated and just continued speaking all english. My doctor wasn't concerned at all with his speech because he showed he was able to hear and comprehend everything we were saying. In fact, we ended up pushing her to have him get evaluated for Early Intervention at age 2. He did end up getting EI and didn't really start speaking until 2.5 years old. He just had a natural speech delay. Half a year later, at age 3, he started going to a language school where they teach entirely in mandarin. I was very worried, especially with his speech delay. His mandarin is much better than mine now.<br /> So, don't worry about confusing them with multiple languages. Even before he started speaking, I knew he was able recognize that there are different languages. My son is able to speak 2 languages now even though he DID have a speech delay. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/question-for-bilingual-parents#post-758837 Thu, 02 May 2013 23:07:51 +0000 Photo Book Girl 758837@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We mostly speak English to our little one, but he is exposed to Thai, Mandarin and Taiwanese when family is over. He said his first word at 11 months, but then really didn't say his next word until 13 months. Then from 13 - 15 months he had a word explosion. Now at 21 months he talks non-stop. I'm not a doctor, but unless you see some other signs, it seems to be a far leap to suggest autism. Every time I worried there was something wrong with our LO, it was just a phase, or he wasn't ready for that milestone yet. I think the best thing you can do is to keep talking and engaging your LO and reading to him. If he responds to music, sing songs and play music for him every day. Children have the capacity to learn many languages and I think it's great to expose them to as much diversity as possible. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/question-for-bilingual-parents#post-758786 Thu, 02 May 2013 22:35:20 +0000 sunny 758786@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've read that kids learning multiple languages have speech delays and its totally normal. Don't quit with the Chinese!</p> <p>Btw like @turtledoves, I didn't speak a word of English until I went to Kindergarten. I spoke Cantonese only and as an adult I pretty much only speak English... My canto is quite limited these days. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/question-for-bilingual-parents#post-758702 Thu, 02 May 2013 21:59:54 +0000 Baby Boy Mom 758702@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My kids are learning three languages. My oldest started by saying a few words but then would stop saying them. This went on until maybe 18 months when he started saying some things more consistently. At 21 months he has a lot of words but is not exactly speaking yet. We are not worried because we know he understands everything we say. I would definitely encourage you to stick with the Cantonese- it will be a huge asset for him in the future. Also, try to notice if some of the sounds he makes might be a mixture of the words from the different languages- we've had that happen too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/question-for-bilingual-parents#post-758693 Thu, 02 May 2013 21:55:34 +0000 irene 758693@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@tequiero21: how old is your child now? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/question-for-bilingual-parents#post-758680 Thu, 02 May 2013 21:48:42 +0000 tequiero21 758680@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My kids can say 3 words clearly right now, although I still am not sure they know what umma and appa mean lol. They say appa to everything. That means dad. They point to the sky and say appa. Uh, no, that's the sky, appa is at work lol. They do know what mamma means...food in Korean. I speak English, my mil speaks Korean. I think they are prolly slower than kids who only speak 1 language, but kids are smart and pick things up like a sponge. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/question-for-bilingual-parents#post-758629 Thu, 02 May 2013 21:17:17 +0000 irene 758629@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@sloaneandpuffy: Thank you .... you gave me hope..... Our doc said it will explode at 17 months... so let's see :( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/question-for-bilingual-parents#post-758626 Thu, 02 May 2013 21:16:32 +0000 irene 758626@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MungBean: Good for you!! I would have no worries if LO can speak 4 words by now.</p> <p>So far he says mama and uh-oh (when he drops something). I am not 100% sure he means me when he says mama. Another thing is his words go away. He used to say "this?" and "that?" when pointing at things, but he doesn't say it anymore. Probably that's something our ex-nanny taught him and now no one reinforces it? I don't know. I am scared out of my mind that one day he'd decide he doesn't want to say mama anymore. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/question-for-bilingual-parents#post-758614 Thu, 02 May 2013 21:13:06 +0000 mamimami 758614@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our doctor told us the same thing about 18 months, but we only had 13 words and the majority were animal sounds (which apparently count). He had a language explosion somewhere around 20 months. Don't despair! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/question-for-bilingual-parents#post-758591 Thu, 02 May 2013 21:03:32 +0000 pinkcupcake 758591@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My LO is 14 months. We speak both English and Korean to her. When I read books with her I try to identify the pictures in both languages so I can see it might be confusing for her. I'm actually considering whether I should just identify them in Korean. So far she can say about 4 words (that i can easily understand and I know she means them): hi, umma (mom), appa (dad), this. She babbles a ton though. </p> <p>I'm not too worried...I know she comprehends a lot. For ex, she can blow kisses when requested and point to our pets by name. Working on body parts and so far we have nose and mouth :) don't worry too much, I think bilingual kids might speak a little later but the future advantages will be so great! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/question-for-bilingual-parents#post-758572 Thu, 02 May 2013 20:56:05 +0000 irene 758572@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@wheres_c: How old is your LO now and when did he/she have his/her first words? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/question-for-bilingual-parents#post-758467 Thu, 02 May 2013 20:30:13 +0000 wheres_c 758467@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sorry you are going through this. We are raising LO bilingual, and I understand speech delay may happen. We have a bilingual pediatrician so she can help us determine what's normal. </p> <p>My first instinct says your LO is fine, and to keep going....but it doesn't hurt to get a second opinion from a bilingual Ped or a speech therapist. Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/question-for-bilingual-parents#post-758409 Thu, 02 May 2013 20:13:18 +0000 irene 758409@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MediaNaranja: The problem now is, I think he understands English better than Chinese (he's at daycare 5 full days a week). So in the daytime, they probably point at pictures of dog and say "dog", and in the evening, I point at pictures of dog and say "gou". So maybe he's confused and didn't want to try speaking any. I feel sorry for him. I know I need to stick to it, just that it is so frustrating and I didn't know it can be this frustrating. :( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/question-for-bilingual-parents#post-758407 Thu, 02 May 2013 20:12:25 +0000 MediaNaranja 758407@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@irene: don't worry! Children exposed to two languages often speak later!</p> <p>Eta: or maybe you could try having one parent speak English and the other Cantonese? I have many friends who grew up bilingual, and their parents did it that way. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/question-for-bilingual-parents#post-758398 Thu, 02 May 2013 20:11:08 +0000 MediaNaranja 758398@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I didn't vote either, since we don't have kids yet. But keep speaking to him in Cantonese! Like @TurtleDoves said, he will learn it in school, and quickly! I used to teach ESL to eelementary school kids, and the kindergarteners who spoke no English on their first day progressed so quickly! </p> <p>It will be so beneficial for your child to learn Cantonese at a young age. It is so much more difficult to learn a language when older, take advantage and do it now! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/question-for-bilingual-parents#post-758393 Thu, 02 May 2013 20:10:24 +0000 irene 758393@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@TurtleDoves: That's what I'd say when my baby was 6 months! I didn't know this can be so hard... I mean, it would have been easier if they don't keep asking me about the language milestones at well-visits, babycenter doesn't email me articles about "7 danger signs of language delay", and if I didn't have all these English-only families around me with their same age toddlers saying bye bye, hello, mama, dada, apple, all done, ball ...etc..... :( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/question-for-bilingual-parents#post-758310 Thu, 02 May 2013 19:55:01 +0000 CupQuakeWalk 758310@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I didn't vote e cause my LO is 6m old but I wanted to say: stick with one language and one language only (Cantonese). He will learn English in school. We all (6 kids) spoke only Arabic at home and knew zero English going into school. I picked up quick at school because I was forced to if I wanted to meet friends. My husband is the same...in his family: all kids speak Arabic until they learn English at school. They even speak Arabic at home (after school).<br /> Don't give up!!! He will never learn 2 languages unless you start now.<br /> *I am fluent in both and no accent in either </p>