How long til 5yo at ecole maternelle understands whats going on?

[bigshopper]

He's a quick learner and was an early talker in 2 other languages. How long do you think it will take to get the hang of things? He's a bit miffed at not being able to join in properly, but at least has no trouble making friends as most of the kids are bilingual.

my children took about 3 months at that age. But a year to become fluent.

bilingual not such good news though, will he keep talking in a language that he knows?

Maybe, it's definitely not total immersion. But it's only been 4 days, and he already knows all his colours and can ask where things are, and a few other things. Fingers crossed it's going OK. I'm glad he can talk to the other kids, otherwise he'd be miserable.

My son at 3 took 1 year before he started speaking and another 9 months before he started chatting. The little one who just started petite section at the beginning of september is already starting to use lots of French words. I think it depends upon the nature and confidence of the individual child.