Will foreign langauges harm her speech development?

[alicemac83]

My 7 month old goes to a fantastic nursery. The staff are all lovely and caring so I know she's happy and that's the main thing. But none of the staff speak English as a first language and naturally I'm sure they speak to each other in their own language around the kids. I'm sure I'm worrying for nothing, but do you think it could harm her speech as she gets a bit older? A nanny I spoke to said she would be concerned, but I think maybe it's good for her to be around lots of different languages?
What do you think, Thanks! X

No, it won't harm her speech. If she continues there in all probability she'll end up bilingual. DD is trilingual at 2.4 thanks to the exposure to different languages at home and and at playgroup/outside home.

Ah, wait, sorry, I thought you said that the nursery stuff speak to the kids in a different language. But no, I don't think it'll have any negative impact on her speech development- I mean, it could possibly delay it by a tiny bit as she figures it all out, not sure. But definitely not in any significant way.

It'll be fantastic, as she'll be learning other languages at nursery right from the get go. Might slow her initially but not much. I think it's great.

That's great - I'm sure she will benefit - and she loves it there! It's hard when someone puts an idea in your head - it always makes me worry! Thanks for your advice! X

As it happens most people in the world grow up in multilingual environment. Belgium has three official languages, Canada has two, there are many dialects in Spain etc. Gaelic schools and nurseries are v. popular in Scotland as are Welsh in Wales. And then there are millions of migrants or expats (love the word, how could people from Britain be bog standard migrants). There's a whole world beyond English.

Mmmm 2 issues.

Consistent exposure to other languages is absolutely not a bad thing however the staff speaking both languages may initially be a bit confusing as they switch between the two. It's generally better if one person speaks the same language consistently or there are consistent rules regarding the situation eg one language at home and one out and about.

Secondly there's potential for delay/confusion if the staff speak 'bad' English and are modelling bad habits. But that's more likely with unregulated childcare than in a nursery where a proportion of the staff will have to have good enough English to complete childcare qualifications.

So I can see where the worry might arise but if there is any delay or confusion it'll probably be minimal - just keep a weather eye out.