At roughly what age can you start distinguishing two languages?

[LasMeninas]

What I mean is, my two year old knows two words for lots of things, but I don't suppose he really has any idea why everything has two words. At what age do you think you should start teaching that one set of words can be grouped as "English" and the other as "Spanish"? I've been tempted to say "say it in English" when he speaks Spanish to me, but then I realise he doesn't really know what that means yet. At the moment it's more like he says it in Spanish, I repeat in English, then he repeats in English.

Give it a year yet. Always have one parent, one language. It will happen miraculously!

DD is 10 and completely bilingual with no accent in both Spanish and English. But stick at it, I think DD was about 3 or 4, there is a delay with bilingual children as obviously alot more going on up there! Plus the brain is building different pathways.

0/5 years is the key time for them to learn to be totally bilingual (as opposed to just speaking two languages)

I live in Spain and talked always in English, DH in Spanish. What is your setup?

I think this is why people recommend One Parent One Language (apologies if this does not fit your situation). The idea is that parent A speaks exclusively language A to the child and parent B speaks exclusively language B. However, I wouldn't worry about it - the child may mix them up at the beginning (certainly at age 2), but will very soon work it out (probably by age 5?), and the benefits to his intellectual development from having two languages from birth are enormous.

Yeah, we do OPOL, so what I mean is, when he speaks to me in the other language, I'm wondering when I can start asking to repeat in English. As in, when he will understand that all of what he says to me can be classed as "English" and all of what he says to other people is "Spanish". At the moment it's just an abstract thing where he knows two words for everything and sometimes says one and sometimes says the other.

We don't stick with one parent one language, speak mostly English at home (and live here) but DP reads lots of French books to DD and since the summer he tries more now to speak to her in french, and at 2.5 if we say "and what is it in French" she does answer correctly but not always! So it might start soon, but I'm no expert!
But we do sometimes also ask her to talk French and she speaks gobbledygook which really upsets DP 🤣

I think my ds started really getting this at around 4 or 5. Before that people would ask him to translate something from Italian to English and he couldn't (even though he knew the words).

I live in Spain and talked always in English, DH in Spanish. What is your setup?

Similar, although not in Spain. English is our minority language, and we do OPOL, except that my OH also speaks English when we are all together as a family (since it is the minority language). When I'm not around, they speak Spanish.

Before that people would ask him to translate something from Italian to English and he couldn't

Yeah it certainly seems like quite an advanced concept.

Research suggests that they can start to distinguish at about 2 years old, but this may not be evident to the parents yet:

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/life-style/bilingual-babies-distinguish-between-languages-before-age-two-listen-proceedings-of-the-national-a7883666.html%3famp

Mine have both separated them out at 18 months to two years old (early talkers)

My ds was able to translate words from English to Swedish and vice versa by the age of 2 and I don't think he was particularly bright. But we always talked a lot about language.

Both him and his sister had a very clear sense of who you could only speak one language to and who you could use both with. (we didn't do strict OPOL)

Ds was 3. 5 when he returned home after a holiday in Sweden and decided he was not going to speak English any more. He held out for half a year until he started school. First he said he had forgotten his English. Then he said "If you speak English trolls come and eat you up". And finally he said "It is not my language". It was the last one that really hit the nail on the head: ds has always struggled with split identities.

Depends a lot on the child; my dd was far more linguistically aware than ds. (I think in our case he got his language skills from his dad and she got hers from me.) Ds was born a week before dd's 2nd birthday and the gps from the UK came to visit. DD pointed out of the window in the hospital and said "Guck, die Bahn!" to gd. He said "I'm sorry, dgd, I don't understand what you're saying!" She stared at him a second and then said "Look, a tram!" - the direct translation.

Over that year I remember saying things like "X is German, and in English it's Y", and by maybe 2.5 you could ask her what a word was in the other language, or who spoke what language. Ds grew up hearing this kind of conversation, and knew the difference but has never been good at translating.

Meanwhile, dd's monolingual best friend at kindergarten spoke in single words until he was 3. They have both ended up at university .

My husband speaks English only and I speak English and another language, but I don’t use this other language regularly. I keep asking myself if I should try to introduce this other language to the twins we are expecting. It’s probably good for brain development. But there will be a lot of hassle with twins and I’m trying to avoid more hassle like making them take weekend classes to maintain a certain level. Really, we are an English speaking household and I don’t want to use OPOL. They can spend some time every year in the country where this language is spoken though. I’m scratching my head. Do I just start to use this other language with them - after the third birthday (as I’m reading somewhere)? Or right after birth? In the morning, this foreign language, and in the evening English perhaps? Or is it all a waste of time unless I go on a mission of teaching them this foreign language? Buy books, hire teachers? (Don’t want to go on any missions really).

Speak from birth. Do OPOL ideally. Once you get into the swing of it there won’t be more hassle, you’re just talking. Buy a CD with or download nursery rhymes and songs. Buy bedtime stories in that language, get DVDs or download cartoons in the language. No need for weekend school, we certainly don’t have it here, plus if whole summers are being spent in the country of that language it should reinforce it enough.

Giving the gift of a second language is priceless, whatever the language is.

aster are you bilingual or mother tongue in the other language? Or just holiday conversant? I assume you are the former? Also if you have family who hail from the country where this language is from then it is a part of your cultural identity, so why wouldn’t you want to share that with your DC?

Thank you. It’s an interesting question - I’m really thinking about introducing that language as a tool to brain development rather than introducing the heritage. And I’m really reluctant to spend extra effort (not whole summers will be spent in that country, but perhaps a couple of weeks a year, I’m not sure about books and dvds). I think I know the answer to why I’m so reluctant. And I suspect that they will most certainly not be bilingual with that approach. Does it mean I should actually ban that other language from our household? As the benefit (bilingualism) will not be achieved and insufficient exposure to the other language will only delay their English language development?

My experience of bringing up bilingual kids:
Don't worry! With OPOL the children learn themselves, they don't need to be "taught" as such with enough input in both languages. They quickly work out which language to use with monolingual family members & tend to mix languages with other bilinguals - this is more of a creative tool than not knowing vocabulary.

I don't think you need to ask a child to repeat phrases as such in the language you want, more reflect back to them what they have said in the language you use with them. So they have more exposure to the vocabulary of that language but you're not "correcting" them in any way.

Translation is a skill apart from fluency in languages. I have come across many bilingual people who can NOT interpret. Drives me mad but it is a thing!

Aster, you don't have to "teach" a child your mother tongue (it isn't clear if you are talking about your mother tongue). A child picks up whatever language you speak to it it all the time! If you have negative feelings towards your other language perhaps it is better to only speak English - in the knowledge your children will be cut off completely from their extended family & heritage, and will not have the long term cognitive benefits of bilingualism. I know children who can't communicate at all with their grandparents and other extended family and it's very sad.

Also, English language development is not delayed by another language but enhanced!
Studies show this quite clearly but this advantage only shows up in tests etc. from c age 10.

Finally, being bilingual makes it MUCH easier to learn further languages. I have a teenager who can (and does) speak, read & write in FOUR languages, an extra 2 came with limited effort. This is a big advantage personally and professionally.

Aster if you are comfortable in the other language - fluent, and able to do nursery songs and similar, I'd speak the other language when its you and the kids, English with DH is about. It is much easier for kids to accept 2 languages when that is all they have ever known, rather than trying to change the medium communication when you have a terrible 2 ye old, or a tiresome 3 year old on your hands!
Yes, there may be a small delay in English aquisation, but the benefits of a second language totally outweigh this small delay.

My work is in this field. Each parent shd use the language most natural and normal to them. Try not to ask children to repeat words - just model back. Code switching between languages is normal, and children quickly work out which language is used by different people.

Thank you. Some food for thought. I would say 90% of my (and 100% of hubby’s) extended family speak English, so it’s not a question of being cut off from anyone’s extended family. The delay in the acquisition of English worries me - will social services be onto us then? And I have to learn some nursery rhymes in either language haha, am not well prepared here.

My DD’s development in both her languages was enhanced by the other. I myself speak 3 languages fluently and am “holiday conversant” in another 2 and each additional language has improved my English, and vice versa. There is now downside to learning another language, except perhaps in the odd case of learning disabilities.

To answer the original question, I don’t think there’s an active consciousness in a small child that there are 2 languages as such. That said, if a non native English speaker tried to address her in English, she would refuse to reply in English and speak local language instead. Ditto the other way around. Therefore there must have been some distinguishing factor in her brain. I got any old language flung at me, however, it wasn’t until she was around 3.5 that she spoke only English to me. There was a lot of repeating whatever she said in English until then.

Goodness no, I would imagine SS have more serious things to worry about!

Thecazelets - might I ask you what “model back” means - if it’s possible to explain this in broad strokes?

Melassa, thank you, you mentioned that “There was a lot of repeating whatever she said in English until then.” Might you share what this means? I’m not quite sure.

Aster - it just means accept what your child says and say it back to them. So the child asks for 'agua' in Spanish or English and you say 'here's your water' in English if that's your main language. No explicit teaching needed.

My parents mixed the languages at home. I learnt to group them quite well in the first year at school. Well...mostly... I'm 39 now and asked a zookeeper something about a Marmoset just last week, turns out it has a really different name in my countries language... this hasn't happened to me since primary school.