3.5 year old talent for language, how to support and how much is too much?

[BijiPeshmerga]

Just looking for some advice on the best ways to help/support my DD in her love of languages but worried about confusing her/overloading her.

I speak to her in English and my husband speaks to her in Kurdish (his mother language) so she is bilingual. She has always been very articulate and uses more advanced language than her friends/cousins of a similar age in both languages.

My Dh can speak Kurdish, Arabic, Turkish, English and a small amount of Farsi. He wanted to introduce DD to Arabic at around 5 and maybe the others in time. From around 2.7years she noticed the difference in language when my husband was speaking Arabic and asked what are language he was speaking and said speak to me Arabic. So he counted to 3 and she could repeat it back on the 2nd turn of hearing it. She has picked up other Arabic words by listening to him and he has started read to her in Arabic which she seems to be mesmerised by and can now say a large number of words in Arabic.

She can also say around 10-15 Turkish words she picked up from Turkish friends and say hello, goodbye and count to 5 in Farsi.

We have a business in which we employ a couple of people who speak Urdu and Romainian and she asks what language are they speaking in and knows hello/how are you/goodbye/thank you in these languages. I have a Lithuainian friend and DD always asks about her language and can she also speak in Lithuainian. if we are out and she hears somebody speaking a language other than English/Kurdish/Arabic she always asks me which language they are speaking and says can you teach me.



She seems to have a good ear for languages and the ability to learn words very quickly. She is asking to know words in different languages and I want to help her to learn what ever she wants to learn but I don't know the best way to help her and know when it is too much.

[GeorgeHerbert]

but I think this is really interesting and unusual. I have several friends who are bringing up bi lingual children and at a young age what seems more common is that they can mix up 2 languages when speaking so often appear to be benhind their peers. I vaguely remember a speech therapist aquaintance also doing a study on this. So I think your dd is unusual.

I have absolutely no other advice! I would imaging that teaching her a little bit of arabic would introduce a 3rd and you would soon see if she starts to muddle up different languages in the same sentence. Adults I know who have a facility for languages tell me that once yo're on your 3rd of 4th language, learning a new one is much easier! If she is as interested as she sounds she will lead you.

[BijiPeshmerga]

Thank you for your post George we were worried about her potentially being behind in her speech due to there being more than one language used at home but luckily that has not been the case.

DH is going to continue on with reading in Arabic and using Arabic for simple everyday word/phrases so hopefully she will gain a wider vocabulary from this. She does not really mix up her language at the moment so I hope she doesn't start to mix them up but if that does happen I am sure this will sort its self out in time.

Interesting that you say that once you are on your 3rd or 4th language learning more is easier, I would expect the opposite due to the amount of information you are required to hold!

[Bonbonchance]

Speaking more than one language doesn't limit development in any one language. Children can cope with more than one language & quite often it helps overall language development. I often have parents who's first language isn't English concerned about their child not learning English fast enough & discouraging them from speaking their first language - no!!

Sounds like what you're doing is good, maybe dual language books might be good too?

[Worriedandlost]

Not all bilingual children mix up languages or are behind in language development. None of mine had these problems. Both recognise unfamiliar languages too.
BijiPeshmerga, what do you want to achieve with languages? I would analyse what languages your dd most likely to use in a future, what languages she is most likely to remember if learns now and what languages you as a parent can help her with (lessons, tv, friends, penpals, communication) and move from there.