10 Replies
My son was exposed to 4-5 languages at home since young too - and I can tell you that he now understands them all very well! BUT, you have to make the effort to try and let one person use only one language with him - or at least NOT to mix them together during a certain activity. Meaning, the same person can talk to him in two languages - BUT only one at a time (eg. Reading activity in chinese, then when reading is over then use english for play time etc). I'm saying this because my son had isolated speech delay - and the two main reasons we could identify was 1) my parents liked speaking multiple languages to him at the same time = he got confused about which word he should use in what language to ask for what he wants and 2) my parents (main caregiver while I was finishing my studies) were always giving him the things he wanted without him even asking/pointing to them = he never really had the need to express himself. He took about 10 months of speech therapy and also been in childcare for 6 months now, I also took over looking after him as soon as I graduated, so he's currently having a 6-month interim break from speech therapy before another assessment - but it was a tough and long 2.5 years before he could catch up to his peers in terms of speaking.
I grew up with 4 different languages. But my parents consistently spoke to me in Hokkien, we used English and Mandarin in school and I spoke Tagalog with my friends. I learned to speak these languages quickly and fluently.
Woww that was coolππ»ππ»
Babiesβ language skills are very good! I think they pick up languages best before age of 3! Iβll be happy to expose my kids to more languages if I know how to speak them!
your LO can absorb languages like a sponge! Have a quick read here: https://sg.theasianparent.com/how-to-boost-your-babys-language-development
Wow.. thanks. It so helpful.. will read it π
No worries. Babies can absorb so much when they are young.. In fact they absorb the knowledge fastest when they are before 3...
He can understand what ever u talk .. just teach him as many languages as possible..
the more languages and even dialects they learn, better for their development
Your baby will be fine in such a multilingual evironment.
Don't worry the more languages the merrier!
more language is better
Melisa Melisa