https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 19 Apr 2026 21:34:34 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-lo-is-learning-2-languages#post-1457480 Fri, 28 Feb 2014 10:13:06 +0000 Mamasig 1457480@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It's hard to tell at this point - he's 17 months old. My mom watches him and speaks primarily in Spanish to him. DH and I mainly speak English to him though Spanish is thrown in too. He understands both but I hear him mainly trying to say words in English. However, he just got tubes put in about a week ago and I can already tell how much better he can hear. He's trying to repeat more, so I bet Spanish words will now come too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-lo-is-learning-2-languages#post-1456881 Fri, 28 Feb 2014 00:49:25 +0000 sunny 1456881@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My LO seems to pick up whatever is easier for her to say. We aren't really good about speaking to her in a 2nd language. I would say I speak about 10% in Chinese with her. However, she won't say "doggy" but she will say "wo wo" (kind of like baby talk in chinese). I wasn't sure she knew they corresponded until the other day when we were playing a repeating game and I said "doggy" and she answered with "wo wo"! :-) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-lo-is-learning-2-languages#post-1456875 Fri, 28 Feb 2014 00:31:51 +0000 mrskc 1456875@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@locavore_mama: Well I guess DH doesn't speak 100% Mandarin in front of DS. He does talk to me in English. But he talks a lot to DS in Mandarin. With how little he hears it, I'm really surprised at how much he understands it and is even saying just as many words in Mandarin. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-lo-is-learning-2-languages#post-1454962 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 14:13:09 +0000 littleveesmommy 1454962@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH and I spoke to DD in Chinese 95% of the time from when she was born plus my parents (her caretakers during the work week) speak to her in Chinese exclusively. I did read her books in English since she was young but only conversed in Chinese. She now converses 95% in Chinese too but since she hears DH and I converse in English and we read in English, she has picked up quite a few words too. I was worried she would be confused with the two languages but she seems already to know which English and Chinese words correspond with one another - it's quite fascinating! She also knows to ask for certain items in Chinese with my parents and in English with us. This morning she said "Mommy, ngon ngon is eyes!" Kids are pretty quick in picking up and distinguishing multiple languages. Wish I had the same power... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-lo-is-learning-2-languages#post-1454932 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 14:09:27 +0000 Arden 1454932@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I speak to her in 90% English and DH speaks to her in 90% Albanian, but I'm home with her all day and he's only with her in the evenings. Her vocabulary is a pretty even split, but I think she says more English words.<br /> Occasionally she'll use both - signing "come" while saying "come" and "hajde". That's really encouraging to me because I know she gets it, understands that both words mean the same thing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-lo-is-learning-2-languages#post-1454913 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 14:07:40 +0000 sera_87 1454913@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@locavore_mama: I don't, personally. I'm with someone who is half Francophone who occasionally speaks to him in French and then I live in a Francophone community with him attending daycare 100% in French. He'll also be going to a French school when the time comes. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-lo-is-learning-2-languages#post-1454893 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 14:04:39 +0000 regberadaisy 1454893@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I am SO bad about talking to LO in Cantonese. It's hard for me because DH doesn't speak a lick of it so when I'm with him I naturally speak only English.</p> <p>How do you guys do it? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-lo-is-learning-2-languages#post-1454868 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 14:00:25 +0000 sera_87 1454868@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>LO didn't start 'learning' French until he went to daycare at a year old (he's now 18 months). His receptive language skills in both are good; (for example if you ask for a bisou he'll give you a kiss) but he's a bit slow in his expressive language, unfortunately. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-lo-is-learning-2-languages#post-1454183 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 12:14:27 +0000 lamariniere 1454183@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are bilingual English/French and DS is learning German at school. When he first started really talking around 15 months we were living in France and I was his only English speaker so he definitely spoke more French. We moved here right before he turned two and suddenly we had English playgroups and school was German/English and his English became dominant. Now at 3, his English is still dominant. But, when we go to France or my ILs come here, I am amazed to see how quickly his French improves and how easily he uses it. </p> <p>It's hard to tell for the German since I don't speak it. I know he understands it and I see him using it with kids from school, but I don't know how well he speaks it.</p> <p>Like @looch: said, he seems to use vocabulary from a specific language if he learns a concept with it first. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-lo-is-learning-2-languages#post-1454069 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 11:56:44 +0000 Alivoo01 1454069@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DS is 7 months so I can't tell what he comprehends/understands better, but I speak to him mainly in Chinese (maybe 90/10 chinese to english). DH speaks English to him mainly even though I wish he would speak to him in Khmer so that's another language he'll learn. I'm interested to see which language he'll speak in first! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-lo-is-learning-2-languages#post-1454029 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 11:52:15 +0000 hilsy85 1454029@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH speaks to LO in Russian about 60% of the time, so it's by no means a true bilingual household. That being said, he does understand Russian--if you ask where body parts are in Russian, or ask him to follow simple commands he will do it. He hasn't said any Russian words yet though, all his words are in English. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-lo-is-learning-2-languages#post-1454003 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 11:48:55 +0000 looch 1454003@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are raising our son bilingual, my husband and I each speak one language exculsively with our son, but the "family language" is English.</p> <p>My son speaks mostly English, but what I have noticed is when we have introduced concepts in German, he uses those words. As an example, my husband taught him the concept of light/dark using the german words. So, he'll often say things, like "it's dunkel, time for sleeping!" </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-lo-is-learning-2-languages#post-1453993 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 11:47:01 +0000 chopsuey 1453993@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Dd spoke mostly Korean until she was 2. Now she speaks more English.<br /> I used to teach her whatever was easier between the 2. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-lo-is-learning-2-languages#post-1453954 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 11:38:14 +0000 mrskc 1453954@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>which one do they know more words in? Which one did they pick up words faster in? </p> <p>DH speaks to DS (16 months) in Chinese. He hears English from everyone else. I'm really surprised how many Chinese words he's picking up seeing as he only hears it from DH. </p> <p>I'm wondering if some of the Chinese words are easier for him than the English version so he picks whatever is easier for him to say. Like he will only call the dog "go go" but he knows what dog means when I say it in English. And yesterday we were reading a book and there was a picture of a cat. I said to him "cat" and pointed at it. DH was in the room and said "mao mi" He only attempted to say "mao mi". </p>