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Preschool education

Get advice from other Mumsnetters to find the best nursery for your child on our Preschool forum.

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Original poster

Bilingualism help

19 replies

Julenelle · 10/02/2011 14:07

Does anyone have any experience they could share with me?

My husband and I are both native English speakers, however, we are currently living in France. We both speak French fluently and also speak Spanish fairly fluently.

What is the current thinking about introducing languages to children at an early age? Would it be more detrimental if we did this ourselves? How would it work practically in the home?

My baby is due soon, and it's an area I've been thinking about.

Any help or good resources would be appreciated. Thanks.

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englishgirlintaipei · 10/02/2011 21:55

my kid is 4 and speak English and Chinese with out any problem. We live in Taiwan and thus she has a child minder that speaks Chinese as does everyone else really!
I have to say i wish i had a second language as her Chinese is fluent and mine is well ...British?!
I'm sure that your kid will be fine, and if you are living in France he will learn French at the park, trust me they just pick it up!

nbg22 · 11/02/2011 00:48

Kids do well with 2 languages from birth, 3 can create a problem. Our 4yo is being raised bilingual in the UK - she speaks Russian with mom and nanny and English with Dad and everybody else. Me and my husband speak English with each other. when she was very small I tried to only speak Russian to her, and translated for dad when he was around. We went to varios baby classes that were in English.

If French is not your native language, I'd not recommend you teaching it to your child yourself. The key to languages at home is that the child needs to associate a language with a person. If you sometimes speak French, sometimes English to the baby at home it will be very confusing for him/her.

If you live in France for a while, your child will pick up French with very little effort from you! Baby classes, playdates, nursery, TV, etc. will provide him/her with enough language environment.

As to 3 languages, our friends (a Russian/German couple) have two kids (4yo and 2yo) that are being raised with 3 languages here in the UK and both kids have severe language delays. So I won't recomend it.

Original poster

Julenelle · 11/02/2011 14:35

Thanks for these comments.

It sounds as though a good approach, therefore, is for us to speak english at home and french to be picked up outside the house (although we do speak French with friends)

OP posts:

mousymouse · 11/02/2011 14:42

we have a similar setup and speak only our native language with the dc and the rest of the environment is english. dc have been in nursery since they were 10 months old and are fluent in both languages.

Portofino · 11/02/2011 14:45

We moved to Belgium when dd was just 2. We speak English at home but she goes to a French speaking school which she started at 2.5. She didn't say much there for the first term or so, and then she was off - she now (7) speaks both languages fluently and is now starting on Dutch!

MmeLindt · 11/02/2011 14:49

You will find that this discussion splits into those who do OPOL and those who don't.

OPOL is One Person One Language - or in your case both of you. Some say that it is best to stick to your native language when talking to your DC, some are more relaxed about it.

I am in the relaxed camp.

Our DC are German/British, DH spoke German with them, I spoke mainly English but when with German friends switched to German. Our home language was German.

Both DC spoke German most of the time, but were fairly fluent in English, improving when we spent time with my parents.

When we moved to Switzerland we added French to the mix. Neither DH or I spoke French, so their exposure was limited to school. Their friends here are mainly English speakers. They have both really improved their English, learnt French and retained German, although they do not speak much German.

DH and I speak German at home and I speak German with the DC a lot of the time. My German is very fluent and accent is good so it is not a problem.

I would go with what feels comfortable for you. English at home, and French when out and about would work well.

Original poster

Julenelle · 11/02/2011 20:14

This is all very encouraging. Thank you for sharing.

It's good to hear what works in reality rather than getting bogged down in the theory books.

OP posts:

Portofino · 11/02/2011 20:31

I just wanted to add....we never pushed teaching dd to read (in English) though did some basic phonics stuff and followed her lead in what she wanted to do. 6 months after starting to learn in French though, she has transferred the technique, spells out the words and is going great guns. In fact - they are just up to sentences at this point at school, but she is reading whole books in English to me.

winnybella · 11/02/2011 20:43

We're a trilingial family in France. DS speaks English and French and a bit of Polish (as I never really kept up speaking it to him on regular basis), but DD(2) will have to speak all 3 languages as I speak exclusively Polish and DP English to her. DS- mixture of French and English. She'll be going to the creche next Sept. and hopefully will learn it there. She watches Oui Oui etc in French plus obv. hears it when we're out and people talk to her etc.

I'm sure your DD will pick it up very easily.

winnybella · 11/02/2011 20:43

er...trilingual, not trilingial

MmeLindt · 11/02/2011 21:33

That is interesting, Portofino. I have been feeling a bit guilty for not doing more with DD but she seems to be picking up the English reading very well.

Portofino · 11/02/2011 22:49

It really brings home what a difficult language English is to learn. How DO you explain all those irregular spellings to a 6 yo?

Luckily the school way seems to be learn the letters and word recognition as opposed to phonics. So all I need to do is point out the differences. So "ch" in french is "sh" in English etc

MmeLindt · 12/02/2011 10:01

Yes, I am finding that too. Our school doesn't do word recognition. She will sound out the word and often realises which word is meant. Obviously only works with words she has heard before.

englishgirlintaipei · 12/02/2011 21:41

As for me, Chinese and English are so far apart that i have to home school English reading and writing. French would be easier!

jubbi · 04/03/2011 22:06

in response to nbg22 who said "As to 3 languages, our friends (a Russian/German couple) have two kids (4yo and 2yo) that are being raised with 3 languages here in the UK and both kids have severe language delays. So I won't recomend it."
I don't think that the number of languages really influe on children's speech abilities. i know of a little boy aged 3yo who is currently attending a nursery for children with speech delays. His parents are both british and therefore he only has one language but he still has a severe speech delay. On an other hand i know another little girl whose dad speaks to her in german and hebrew whilst she has english from mum and everybody else. she has no speech problems at all and is fluent in all 3 languages.
So to sum up i think it is such young age is an ideal time for children to learn languages, it can only be very profitable later. I myself speak french to my children and am looking at introducing more languages.

AussieCelt · 05/03/2011 05:10

I disagree strongly with nbg22 - 3 languages shouldn't be a problem if exposure is consistent and the child doesn't have any organic speech issues. Our daughter (7) is being raised with 4 and has an appetite for more. She speaks all fluently and has never had any speech issues. A child who has language acquisition issues will have those issues regardless of whether 1 or 4 languages are involved.

That's not to say it happens automatically, raising DD with 4 languages has taken conscious effort and planning on our part - her education isn't confined to school hours and as parents we take a very active role in educating her.

gabid · 06/03/2011 20:12

AussieCelt - it works for you because I assume you are consistant and constantly encourage language learning in all languages. I know 2 families with 3 languages, in one it works in the other it doesn't. I think it doesn't work if you don't plan it and swap and change as you go along, especially with more than 2 languages.

We have just 2 languages but I am very consistant with OPOL and both my DC (6 and 2) are stronger in German, what should be the minority language here in the UK and they use it with each other.

BabyGiraffes · 16/03/2011 13:38

gabid interesting that you say your dc use the 'minority' language with each other. I have the opposite, my dd1 will only speak English to her baby sister, despite always speaking German to me at home. I thought it had to do with her only experience with other children being in English (playgroup, nursery etc).
Anyway, agree with others that two or more languages from birth are totally fine and if there is a speech delay (my own dd1 had glue ear for example) it is unlikely to be related.

EfiKrz · 16/03/2011 23:53

Hi, I'm looking for nurseries in East Finchley, London. I've been told that Scribbles and Fortis Green are good nurseries! Does anyone know any other in that area?

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