When did your child start talking? Do kids talk late when raised bi-lingual?

Question

I have a 15m old and she's perfectly well developed physically but she basically has a 3 word vocabulary, consisting of "Hi", "Baba" which means papa, baby AND bye-bye but NOT bottle, and "got" which means "milk" in Armenian. She rarely ever says "mama" but she uses jibberish constantly and often knods her head as though she is making a point. We speak English and Armenian at home so I wonder if she will take longer to start speaking actual words in either language. Or is she on the average for her age with the few words she does say? She seems to understand everything. I can't help comparing her to other babies which I know is wrong. As long as this is not abnormal I guess I am willing to be patient, but don't want to be irresponsible if I should be intervening.

Answer 1

I do research in raising children bilingual. YES, children usually start to speak later when being raised bilingual. They will also mix up the languages for a certain period of time. But continue to raise them that way, they will be fluent in both languages, even though you might get scared at moments.

Answer 2

My children started talking really early, before the first birthday, but development is different in everyone. It is not odd for a baby that age to use gibberish. We used to joke and say the little ones sounded as if they were speaking a foreign language.
The bi-lingual issue has nothing to do with it as human beings are born with the capability to learn all languages. I speak more than one language - my parents were bilingual and I see differences in development among multilingual babies as well as monolingual ones.
They say there's no need to panic unless you see one of these red flags:

Red flags for a speech or language delay include:

No babbling by 9 months.
No first words by 15 months.
No consistent words by 18 months.
No word combinations by 24 months.
Slowed or stagnant speech development.
Problems understanding your child's speech at 24 months of age; strangers having problems understanding your child's speech by 36 months of age.
Not showing an interest in communicating

Here are some resources:

Answer 3

It's not abnormal, my son is 16months old and barely talks too. He says his name, daddy, hi and baba......also a couple of other gibberish words. So don't be alarmed that your child is not talking that much, some children sometimes doesn't say anything until they are 2. Another thing my son doesn't say mama either, only sometimes when he's crying other than that its everything else that doesn't make sense. I do sometimes compare my son, which I shouldn't, he'll talk when he's ready and I am fine with that. So don't worry your daughter is just fine.

Answer 4

please do stop worrying .the baby is still 15 months and if she is healthy and active that is enough .he still has a lot of time to get a vocabulory by himself.some babies walk earlier and talk late and some talk earlier and walk late it all depends.talking bilingualy does not have anything to do with it.as i work in a peadiatricians office i see a lot of cases like this and the doctor never gets worried and sends the parents back saying it is absolutely normal.try teaching words using picture books regularly and he will catch up fast .cheers

Answer 5

I know 2 3 yr olds raised in a bilingual atmosphere and both developed normal speech. Each child learns at a different pace. Just keep working with her, she'll be okay.

Answer 6

i could prepare her to be bi-lingual in spite of if it particularly is something it particularly is spoken on your place usually. understanding different languages is quite effectual as quickly as you're an grownup and are interior the working international, plus it particularly is been shown that it particularly is lots less complicated to p.c.. up diverse languages at a youthful age than it particularly is for individuals who're older.

Answer 7

don't worry about it

its really okay :) some children starts to talk late that's all

i have a friend she has a 2 year old that talks partly Arabic partly English and partly Russian so don't worry about it , you just have to wait that's all
and she was a late talker too
may be till she manages what to say
:)

by the way when she starts talking your gonna remember those days that she wasn't and say those where the good days ;)

don't worry about it its not gonna happen over night just be patient and wishin you aaaaaaallll the luck