One of the things I have dreamed of for my son is for him to learn a second language.
With a background in early childhood and studies into English as a new language learners, it is no surprise that I have a fascination with language development in general.
My son is 18 months old right now and my goal is to have him speaking two languages by the time he is two.
That gives me 6 months to make it happen.
The struggle for me is that I don’t know a second language nor does my husband. This makes things a bit trickier. I will be learning right beside my son as I hope to gain it as well.
How does one teach their child a second language when they don’t know one themselves?
I am not sure yet…but I will share my experiences in this series of posts!
The younger the better.
If you know multiple languages you can actually start from birth.
There are many ways families that already speak multiple languages do this from switching from one language to the other all the time, or having each parent speak a different language when around the child.
You should pick the method that works best for your family.
Yes. In many parts of the world children are taught multiple languages from birth.
No. Using multiple languages with a baby is just fine and can also have some benefits. Children pick up languages easily when they are young.
What is the Best Age to Learn a Second Language?
Some people shy away from teaching children a second language to their young even if they themselves speak two languages for fear that they will confuse their child.
However, the benefits of learning a second language are huge. According to an article from the Cornell Chronicle:
“Learning a second language does not cause language confusion, language delay or cognitive deficit, which have been concerns in the past. In fact, according to studies at the Cornell Language Acquisition Lab (CLAL), children who learn a second language can maintain attention despite outside stimuli better than children who know only one language.”
Wait.
Did I read that correctly?
Learning a second language can actually increase their attention span?
Please tell me more!
The article goes on to say that “And the earlier that a child learns a second language, they say, the more likely the child will more quickly attain nativelike language proficiency.”
I highly recommend anyone that is interested in having their little one become bilingual to read this perfectly titled article “Learning a Second Language is Good Childhood Mind Medicine, Studies Find“.
My own experience learning a second language has not been great. I took two years of French and two years of German in high school.
I currently can only speak a handful of phrases in German including: “The cat ran away, ” and “The boy is big.”
Neither of these phrases are very helpful and not sure why I remember them. I am hoping that my son will have a better experience than I hence why we are starting so early.
Need more motivation to teach your little one a second language?
Check out Kristina’s excellent reasons over at Planes and Balloons along with some helpful tips and tricks to get started.
For this experiment I will be attempting to learn Spanish myself as well as teach my son.
Strategies for Teaching a Child a Second Language
I am sure my husband will join in as well as he became fascinated with the language during our honeymoon to Punta Cana a few years back..
I do know that immersion can be a great way to learn a language so if someone wants to offer us a free trip to Punta Cana…that would be helpful!
The approaches we will be using to start off include:
- Songs: We will be listening to Spanish music that we have gotten from the library or YouTube to help us learn the language. Music and rhymes can be a wonderful tool for learning any language.
- Video: We will be watching short language learning videos that are aimed at young children. A maximum of 30 minutes a day will be allowed for this method.
- Books: Books will allow us to learn vocabulary as we have found some dual language books at our library.
If anyone has any suggestions or has previous experience with teaching their young child a second language I would love to hear about it.
Feel free to share in the comments below!
Click here to read the very exciting update!
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Kayla O’Neill has a master’s degree in education as well as a bachelor’s degree in special education with an emphasis in early childhood education. She has been working as a developmental therapist with babies and toddlers in early intervention since 2012. She is also a mom with two young children.
Laura
Thursday 18th of January 2018
I too have a fascination with Spanish. Coming from Canada we are taught some basterdized version of the French language...in no way does it sound like Parisian French. I can't speak spanish either ? but am also learning with the baby. I bought flashcards off Amazon with English and Spanish. So even when we are learning colours it's immediately in both languages. And she thinks it's so fun. I will turn our Netflix on to spanish however she doesn't get to much tv time. I also downloaded a album of nursery songs. First they sing it in English and then in spanish it's a bit annoying but I think it might help. I will be following this ??
The Messy Mommy
Tuesday 11th of July 2017
I'm really excited to read about your journey. I decided when I got pregnant that I wanted my daughter to be bilingual — but I only speak one language. She's almost 11 months old now, and we're starting at a really basic level — teaching her the alphabet in English and learning it together in Spanish. Many of the toys we've purchased for her are multilingual, and they'll hopefully teach her basic terms (colors, numbers, animals) in Spanish. Good luck with your journey!
Kayla ONeill
Wednesday 12th of July 2017
That is so exciting! I wish I would have started that early with my son. The update for this post is up...I would love to hear your thoughts! https://www.parentingexperttomom.com/taught-toddler-spanish-can/
shadesofgrey
Wednesday 12th of April 2017
Very informative post.My baby is 1 year old n learning 3 languages
Kayla ONeill
Tuesday 18th of April 2017
WOW! I am impressed! I would love to hear more about how you are doing this. You have inspired me! :)
Amila Wickramarachchi
Sunday 9th of April 2017
Learning more than 1 language is always beneficial.At our home,we only used English while our kid is small.When he picked up English and when he started his playgroup,we started talking in our mother tongue.Now he is picking that language and really good on it.And in his preschool,he also learns Chinese...
Kayla ONeill
Monday 10th of April 2017
Wow! That is awesome! It is exciting to hear from someone who has felt the great benefits of learning multiple languages while young. Thank you for sharing this...you are inspiring!
absolutelycheri
Saturday 8th of April 2017
We have been learning sign language since my first was a baby and I can see the benefits you mentioned. I want to introduce another spoken language soon as well.
Kayla ONeill
Sunday 9th of April 2017
That is great! There are so many benefits to learning a second language and starting while your little one is young. I think you should go for another if you know one or are excited about learning another one!:)