my mother tongue is different to that of my husband, and we speak in english to each other, but when speaking to the baby we use all three languages. will this confuse him?
2006-08-25 21:25:55 · 29 answers · asked by thabi 1 in Family & Relationships ➔ Family
Not at all. I grew up in a household where people spoke 3 languages. I turned out fine ( I think).
Don't underestimate children's ability to learn. The problem lies is when we use baby talk and they get confused about what the heck we're talking about.
My sister was a pre-school teacher and the weirdest thing she ever encountered in a multilingual household is that children sometimes tend to associate one person with a language. Like Grandma speaks in spanish so that's the only language the kid uses when speaking to grandma although the grandma could also speak in English, Filipino and German (So could the kid). The kid outgrew this eventually.
Being multilingual is a huge advantage. Don't pass up the chance to give your kid that advantage too.
Oh, and what some people said about learning other languages later on is true. I've also noticed that polyglots tended to display better critcal thinking skills in my class.
:)
2006-08-25 21:33:30 · answer #1 · answered by spindoccc 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your baby's mind right now is like a sponge. It will figure out what is going on faster than a 10 year old. So keep it up. Schools are recently introducing different languages earlier. The older we get the more difficult it can be to learn different languages. Kids are learing french and spainish in elementary schools now. I took french in college and had a difficult time. I had wished of learning it earlier.
2006-08-26 04:37:28 · answer #2 · answered by deltazeta_mary 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. I think the child will have a huge advantage to be exposed to 3 different languages. I grew up speaking both spanish and english and I was always able to easily transition from using english and spanish and then as a teenager I found it very easy to learn italian and french.
2006-08-26 04:30:59 · answer #3 · answered by DVSKITTEN 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Those people who say it's brilliant, don't know what they are talking about. It will absolutely confuse him/her. Two languages will confuse him....three even more. This is how we did it with our younger sister: my parents talked to her only in our mother tongue. Us older kids talked to her only in German....but she would hear us communicating with our parents in our mother tongue. We decided to do it that way, because we witnessed other kids speaking German poorly by the time they started school. It worked out great that way. In fact my younger sis did just fine in our native country, when she decided to move there at the age of thirteen...although she was born in Germany, she spoke our mother tongue perfectly....My parents made a wise decision to never speak in German to all of us at home. Sis hated Germany and was determined to make it on her own in a country that she didn't even grow up in....but she spoke the language....She is now a teacher- teaching German ...and has two kids. We both left Germany, but we still communicate in German.
2006-08-26 05:15:39 · answer #4 · answered by justmemimi 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, it will not confuse him. It is wonderful that you are a family with 3 languages. Each of you should speak with your baby in his own language without fear of overwhelming the baby. It should come so naturally. The baby's brain is like a sponge absorbing everything . And he will be able to communicate with all of you from his heart.
2006-08-26 04:42:57 · answer #5 · answered by jbernz16 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, it will confuse your child. I know of many households where kids did not know what to speak, so they gave up on speaking alltogether.
Speak one to him, English if you have to, and when your child is about three or four, start teaching him the others. Having a backup language is helpful to keep adult conversations private (up to a certain age) but try teaching him all the languages before he is 7, because that is when it starts getting harder to learn new languages. Be thorough.
2006-08-26 04:31:12 · answer #6 · answered by kruiskryger 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
That all depends on the learning skills of the child you have. Since your child is just a baby you don't know what he/her strength and weaknesses are just yet, Best just to use one language at a time so your child won't get a speach delay disorder.
Other languages can come later.
2006-08-26 04:30:16 · answer #7 · answered by LVieau 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Studies have found that the child will have some difficulty while learning other topics than language, but the lag in learning will get less as the child goes through life.
2006-08-26 04:29:58 · answer #8 · answered by Teacher 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No it should make him or her able to help people and to get a better job in the future.Start them off learning the languages as soon as they are able to talk. my friend is serbian she taught her kids both languages at the same time . she say mom then said mom in a diffrent language. its a little difficult but they will learn them don't give up with the others helping you might find a diffrent way to teach in to them. Like have each person talk to them in a seprate language.
2006-08-26 04:36:33 · answer #9 · answered by joyce 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
HI,,,, sounds like a great way to get the baby geared up for the world... so it can speak in 3 languages ....
good luck
2006-08-26 04:29:36 · answer #10 · answered by eejonesaux 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋