should I teach my baby Spanish?

[alita7]

I'm only 9 weeks pregnant but have considered this, I am mostly fluent in Spanish though it's a bit rusty and I have family in Spain.

I'm not sure as my DP and dsd don't speak Spanish so It may be confusing. I would intend to speak Spanish however much feels natural and put on cds and dvd's in Spanish, I don't think this would bother dsd as she has ld and will watch anything even if the sound doesn't work. However it might put a wedge between the family as DP doesn't want to learn a language and I don't know how much dsd will pick up.
so do you think it's worth it, would it be beneficial? my thoughts are that I wouldn't mind If it didn't work very well as it I've heard being exposed to a language as a baby/ toddler can make it easier to learn that and even other languages later in life.
But could it just confuse them and end up delaying their language development?
thanks :)

It won't confuse your child, that is just a myth. Your dsd might end up learning some Spanish. Is Spanish your first language?

No English is, but I was fluent but have lost a bit as I no longer spend much time with any Spanish speakers.

dsd sometimes knows what i mean, and doesn't notice I've changed language but I think that's due to facial expressions and situation as if I make it obvious I'm speaking another language she doesn't understand.

I have no idea if she'd pick it up, she struggles a lot with English due to ld, but Spanish has more logical rules so you never know!

Thanks for your reply, I think I'll give it ago and see how it goes.

Alita, although my first language is English, my parents and I speak another language fluently from the country where I was born/raised as a child. I fully intend to speak to our baby in both English and my other language, as do my parents. DH speaks very little of it, and it is an African language so not of much use in the UK but I am a strong believer that raising a child with exposure to other languages from an early age can only be good for them. Friends little ones who have been raised in a similar environment have thrived and enjoy language at school now.

Although I can 't relate to how it would impact your dad, I would speak to your baby in Spanish and let them absorb it. It can only add to their development I think.

Ive read that in order to ensure tptal bilingual learning, one parent should speak exclusively in one language and the other parent in the other, until the child is able to speak both and differentiate.

Am no expert though!!

Sorry, my post should have read your dsd Alita, not your Dad! Stupid autocorrect on my phone!

That does make sense about speaking one language each. I wonder how that works when you need to speak one language to each other if you don't both speak both languages. Interesting how it all works.

Thanks guys.

dp and I will have to speak English to each other and while occasionally I speak Spanish to dsd (and she doesn't notice 70% of the time as it's small commands and I think with some of her salt problems sometimes she doesn't actually hear words but gets the meaning from other indicators) most of the time ill have to speak Eglish to her. so it will only be me speaking Spanish some of the time. but I guess every little helps :)