https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 16 Apr 2026 16:54:41 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/raising-tri-lingual-children-korean-kids-book-suggestions-spanish-english#post-2777835 Thu, 05 Oct 2017 10:40:33 +0000 CC Mommy 2777835@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@lamariniere: Thank you, I will definitely look into that! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/raising-tri-lingual-children-korean-kids-book-suggestions-spanish-english#post-2777834 Thu, 05 Oct 2017 10:40:11 +0000 CC Mommy 2777834@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: That is so encouraging!! When I finish my Master's degree in a few months I want to pick back up on my language-learning endeavor. I am using Coursera.org for a baseline and then from there, I will be learning with my kids as well, I suppose :) We will see how close we can get to establishing it as a family language before the baby starts talking :) thanks again for the support! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/raising-tri-lingual-children-korean-kids-book-suggestions-spanish-english#post-2776114 Wed, 27 Sep 2017 20:14:03 +0000 lamariniere 2776114@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@CC Mommy: maybe you could also hire a Spanish-speaking babysitter for nights out. I’m starting to think about looking for a German-speaking babysitter or try to find a German-speaking family with whom we can do play dates. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/raising-tri-lingual-children-korean-kids-book-suggestions-spanish-english#post-2775863 Wed, 27 Sep 2017 10:07:09 +0000 CC Mommy 2775863@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@gingerbebe: Thank you, I would like to take Korean classes with my kids, as well--I know the fundamentals, but I need to make some serious progress. My MIL only speaks Korean and I would like to have a deeper conversation with her--w/o my DH as a translator. </p> <p>Hearing all of your stories is very encouraging and I look forward to teaching my children languages and cultures from around the world. </p> <p>I would love to hear updates as your kids progress :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/raising-tri-lingual-children-korean-kids-book-suggestions-spanish-english#post-2775861 Wed, 27 Sep 2017 10:04:51 +0000 looch 2775861@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@CC Mommy: I don't speak my husband's native language fluently, I did go to a beginner's language course though, in order to establish a baseline, so I am basically learning alongside my son. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/raising-tri-lingual-children-korean-kids-book-suggestions-spanish-english#post-2775859 Wed, 27 Sep 2017 10:00:48 +0000 CC Mommy 2775859@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@lamariniere: That's a great idea--I will definitely look for classes and activities in my area when they get older--until then, any cartoons/videos will have to be in Korean or Spanish--they will get enough English in their surroundings. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/raising-tri-lingual-children-korean-kids-book-suggestions-spanish-english#post-2775854 Wed, 27 Sep 2017 09:57:41 +0000 CC Mommy 2775854@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: Great idea--I have read that exposing them to phonemes from various languages is very important at a young age. I think I will start using headphones in my belly band at week 18, then listen to various music/language CDs in the car, as well. </p> <p>Unfortunately, I don't speak Korean enough to establish it as a family language and my husband doesn't speak Spanish--so we will have to settle for the grandparents speaking only Korean to them. I will speak Spanish to them when it is just me and them and my husband has said that he will speak Korean to them, but we will see. </p> <p>Thanks for the advice! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/raising-tri-lingual-children-korean-kids-book-suggestions-spanish-english#post-2775420 Mon, 25 Sep 2017 16:08:43 +0000 gingerbebe 2775420@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have 2 kids, age 3 and 16 months. My husband is white, I am Korean. Our family language is English. I learned French, speak Korean fluently, and Spanish is the dominant second language where we live in California. We had a speech delay with our first child that we're just now getting totally sorted out, so we ditched anything intensive in Korean and just focused on English for a while. But we have always sung Korean children's songs and used the proper Korean words for food items and relatives. My parents exclusively talk to my kids in Korean and while its sorta bewildering to them at first, they get the gist of what's going on and have bonded really well with my side of the family. They also have been exposed to Spanish by their teachers and caretakers, so they use Spanish words for certain things. I think at this age, just tuning their ears to different sounds and pronunciations is what's important. </p> <p>Right now, our plan is to start our kids in weekly formal Korean school at age 5, which is the youngest they have the classes around here. That will be their foreign language instruction formally until they get to take a foreign language elective at school. I think very soon I am going to start back up with Korean more regularly at home. DH will continue to speak to them in English and I will probably start speaking to them in Korean. DS2 is normal for speech development and DS1 is now on track, so I think they're both ready to have dual language.</p> <p>For school, we would prefer they choose Spanish as their foreign language elective. If they want French, I wont protest, but I think Spanish is just more useful. If they want to take Spanish sooner than high school through private classes, we are also wholly supportive of that and I think honestly we'd take it together as a family or at least me and the kids, since I personally also want to learn. I would also try to arrange family vacations and trips to places where they can practice the language they are learning. Our expectation is that they will take at least 4 years of foreign language instruction in high school and I will probably make it a requirement that they take 2 more years at the college level in order for me to pay for study abroad (unless they decide to go rogue and learn a completely NEW language and want to study abroad for that fourth language or whatever, in which case COOL!) </p> <p>I want our kids to know Korean culture too and I have family in Korea, so once they are a little older and can manage the long-distance travel a bit better, our plan is to take them to Korean for an extended visit and return every few years. I visited my grandparents for a month at a time growing up and it helped my language tremendously. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/raising-tri-lingual-children-korean-kids-book-suggestions-spanish-english#post-2775406 Mon, 25 Sep 2017 15:30:36 +0000 lamariniere 2775406@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My kids are trilingual and are being introduced to a 4th language this year. Our family languages are English and French, they became fluent in German while we lived in Austria and we have just moved to Thailand so they have exposure to Thai at school. I only speak to my kids in English, my DH only speaks to them in French. I speak French to my DH so French is more of our family language. Daycare was all German, so especially for my younger LO, she was introduced to all three languages simultaneously. I think you have to do what feels comfortable. But you also really can’t predict how your LOs will react. My son mixed languages when he was little and finally sorted them out around 3. My DD never mixed languages until about this time last year when she was almost 3. When my son started school his French went from 3rd place to 1st place in order of dominance and he started speaking much more French at home to the point where he and DD now only speak in French, whereas before they would speak to each other in all 3 languages. My DD only speaks to me in French now and my son is about 50/50 when I remind him to speak in English. </p> <p>We have plenty of books in French and English. I’m trying to maintain the German, so now that we have moved they are only allowed to watch videos in German (my DH and I don’t speak it enough to help them). YouTube is a great resource for cartoons and songs in various languages. You could also look for classes or activities in the various languages. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/raising-tri-lingual-children-korean-kids-book-suggestions-spanish-english#post-2775396 Mon, 25 Sep 2017 14:53:47 +0000 looch 2775396@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The biggest tip I have is to establish a family language. My husband and I made the mistake of conversing in English, when we should have instead been speaking in his native language. Now, even when I speak that other language, my son knows I speak English and doesn't converse to me in that other language.</p> <p>Also, regular music is great, we expose our son to music from all over the world and I think it helps with grasping nuances in language. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/raising-tri-lingual-children-korean-kids-book-suggestions-spanish-english#post-2775386 Mon, 25 Sep 2017 14:20:15 +0000 CC Mommy 2775386@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hi all! </p> <p>Like many of you, there are about a million and one things that you consider regarding how you will raise (or are raising) your kids. </p> <p>The one I am currently contemplating and preparing for (I have 5 1/2 months left, lol) is how to introduce them to various languages. I have done research on this for a project at school and definitely want to introduce all three languages to them simultaneously--the grandparents will speak Korean, my husband will speak English and Korean and I will speak English and Spanish. </p> <p>Additionally, for my own sake as much as theirs, I want to gather some good children's books in all three languages and begin reading from them all in rotation. This way, I can continue learning Korean with them and practice my reading skills. </p> <p>I would also be open to CDs I can play in the car of songs or stories in either language--or cartoons to introduce later in life.</p> <p>My main question is: Do any of you have experience raising a multi-lingual child and/or do you have any tips in this area? </p>