Bilingual children?

Question

I was always wondering how can children whose parents are from different countries easily speak both languages? Do parents use a special technique to teach them? And how the kids do not get confused and do not mix up both languages?

Answer 1

They learn each language a little slower and mix up the words but by the time they are 5 or 6 years old they are really good at both. Its quite amazing and is wonderful for the kid.

Answer 2

I come from a bilingual country Canada. We have two official languages - both English and French. Both are also printed on everything we purchase and majority of advertising. Here children are taught both very early in school and it is very helpful to have both languages not only for cultural reasons but for employment also as many employers (all government agencies) require that people be fluent in both languages. So learning to speak different languages in the home would be much the same. I have a good friend who came to our country when he was 9 from Italy. Whenever he is with his parents he speaks to them in Italian but speaks perfect English also. It is a lot like everything else in life the more that you use a language the better you will become at speaking and understanding it. But if you don't use it you will lose it eventually. My son is capable of speaking 5 languages and this will be very helpful for him once he enters into the world for a career as he can pretty well go anywhere on the planet and speak to people.

Answer 3

I am bilingual, and have several friends who are tri-lingual (if there is such a word). they learned their parents language at home, and English outside, and they didn't have a problem. Children learn much faster, without getting confused. People think that they become confused and it's not true at all. I have a friend who lives here and his parents are one Chinese, and the other Guatemalan, he speaks 3 languages, no confusions. The other one is Hispanic and Filipino, she speaks 3 languages no problem. People in Europe can speak multiple languages they learned while they were children and it only made it easier for them. They will be able to identify the differences of each language, and simply expose them to it, like in every day situations. You can alternate days, one day this language the next day the other language.

Answer 4

Gerda, I came to the U.S. when I was 4 and my father new english however we spoke italian at home and had to speak english at school so I would focus on never losing my italian since we were bound to speak english everywhere we went outside of the home. In this regard you will be surprised but children have the ability to know two languages at an early age. I remember my english never really was that well until 2nd grade however, it is possible.

Answer 5

well, usually they DO mix up the 2 languages, I´ve seen it a lot of times, but when they get like 4 they start to realise the concept of a langauage and know which language to use with each parent...
the parents don´t have to use a special tecnique, but should always stick to 1 language and never mix 2 lanuages up themselves..

Answer 6

This is because the biligual kids are tought for example spanish when they are born untill when ever they start chool.The correct spanish so that is where they get there first language and then when they start school they learn inlish so that then when they are in school they are learning Inglish and then when they get home they are spoken to in only inglish.That is how kids learn both languages.

Answer 7

If you speak a diffrent language and you want your children to speak the language that most spoken. By Watching t.v. kids tend to memorize words and use them. For Instance let them watch DIsney channel or Nick.

Answer 8

Kids learn language when they are very little. They do mix up the languages when they are little. Kids learn what they hear and it starts by simply associating sounds with objects.