Bilingual dd prefers one language as spoken language - will the second language ever catch up?

[KaterinaValentina]

Hello mums and dads. My kido is two and a half and I am desperately trying to create a bilingual atmosphere but dd developed a clear preference. When my husband is at home we speak English, read both English and Russian books, 15 - 20 min of cartoons dd watches every day or every other day are split between two the two languages, both babysitters we use on occasion are English. Dd loves books so I alternate between English and Russian I speak Russian at home when husband is at work and also we do English and Russian playgroups.

Despite all my efforts to keep Russian on par with English dd clearly ignores speaking it, I get all replies in English so every conversation in in both languages :) its worth mentioning we have a very democratic exposure to both sides of the family so I would imagine dd should speak Russian as well as English but that's just not the case.

Dd understand everything in both languages just won't speak Russian.

Have any of you had this phase? Can you give me any tips to encourage both languages?

Many thanks
Kxx

I favoured Italian over English, still do in many way because the language sounds nice to my ear and feels nice to speak. I am completely fluent in both languages, but I refused to speak English for nearly 2 years.

Does your dh speak Russian? My father speaking (and insisting on responses in) English is what ultimately broke the refusal phase.

I assume you're in the UK? If it's only you speaking Russian to her regularly then IME it's going to be very hard work to get her to speak both languages equally well. This might not be what you want to hear, but my DD1 only started to speak any German when she was 6 and found some German kids on holiday who she wanted to play with! Before then all I got was English, even though I've always spoken to her in German and encouraged German TV.

Thank you both very much for replying! Very useful info. Yes we are in the UK and husband is British. I was hoping to introduce my other language which is Greek but I don't think it will make it easier at this stage! Thank you so much for taking time to share your experiences.

I have no advice but am watching this thread with interest! My baby is only 5 months but I speak English to him and his dad speaks Greek (I am fluent in both languages but we live in Greece)

In many things, given two alternatives, I think one or the other will tend to dominate, so an equal balance may not occur until a child is much older, and can control the choice for himself.

We have the same situation with my DD (3.5 years). Much prefers German to English. I'm taking her to my English speaking relatives for six weeks to try and break this. I'm on mat leave though, so I realise this isn't an option for most!

I think it would help to persevere with Russian. If she answers in English, don't carry on with conversation. Just say 'Sorry?'/other cues In Russian until she answers in Russian. I'd also read only in Russian with her and leave the English stories to your husband and babysitters.

similar set up. though DC is now 6 and really only speaks English but understands the other language very well. things got worse for the 2nd language once she started nursery and school as she was exposed to English all day.

Once dc get older, having certain days when only 1 language is spoken is a great way of developing multiple languages - but it really does mean that each parent needs to speak/be willing to learn the other language(s).

Dear parents thank you for the advice once again! Points you made about starting nursery, exposure to only Russian for a block of time and having Russian only days. All very very useful tips. It also helps me to know we are not alone in this situation and other tots and parents see the same pattern of development. I would love to know how this changes when kids become older!