Should I and have I left it too late?

[Lollypolly]

We live in Singapore and DCs are 6 and 2. They are both English mother tongue, as are DH and I. I am bilingual French / English (speaking since I was 7 and working as a translator, lived in France for years and years, have French mother tongue friends here so level is maintained etc). I have never tried to teach / speak to DCs in French apart from a few words here and there.

However, they are both learning Mandarin at school / childcare. Even DD2 at 2 years old recognises words and can follow commands in Mandarin.

I am wondering whether it's worth me speaking to the DCs in French at all. I would love them to grow up with another language but can't help feeling that Mandarin would probably be more "useful" than French.

Should I just let them concentrate on Mandarin or should I start speaking to them in French? Hmm, maybe I should just take Mandarin lessons

If you feel you would like to there's no reason not to. You may meet some resistance from your DC1 because 6 is getting a little late - more from a point of view of habits becoming entrenched and change being seen as A Bad Thing than from the language acquisition perspective.

However, to prevent too much confusion it's probably better to start gradually, maybe by getting a doll or some playmobil that only speak French and playing with them. Your DCs have figured out that peole speak different languages so introducing another isn't going to be intellectually confusing.

That by itself won't make them fully bilingual because that would require a significant shift in the proportion of time you spend talking to them in French but it will introduce them to it and you can ramp it up later if you want to.

I started talking French to my son when he was 2 years 2 months. My French isn't perfect. We are now 6 months in and he understands everything I say to him, sings French nursery rhymes, chooses French books for me to read to him and sometimes says things in French. He translates things I say to him from French to English for his dad. We have started attending a French singing group and he understands the French native speaker who runs the group and sometimes responds to her in French. I don't religiously practice OPOL as I don't think we are going to get true bilingualism and sometimes I just want to speak English! Instead I talk French to him all the time that we are alone or with his dad, but speak English when we are with other children or families. I don't mix languages in one sentence. He doesn't seem confused by this and has started to comment 'c'est francais' or 'c'est anglais'. I have been amazed at how much he has learnt, particularly in relation to understanding native speakers. I would definitely say do it if you can, it will only get harder the later you leave it.