what is the best way to teach my 2 year old three languages at the same time??

Question

and i am single mother so i will not have two other native speakers.It will be just me speaking and teaching the 3 languages.How can i do this without confusing my son to much

thank you guys for all your input...well yes in a way i am thinking as a must because i am from Europe and i have two different native speakers in my family.I would want my son to be able to communicate well with his family members on either side,since none of them speaks English. Not to mention the benefits he will get later on in life. Some of you guys are little overreacting by the idea of teaching 3 languages at the same time.I would like to mention people in Europe at least speak 2 languages, one mother language and second the language of the country they live in.And they learn the third language at school for the most part.

Answer 1

You can't. In children, there is a part of the brain designed to pick up languages relatively quickly. This part atrophies as we reach our teens. However, it works by immersion. Children will pickup the languages used by adults to communicate with eachother, and rather easily. They won't pick up the language because they are taught (this is an adult strategy for learning languages).

Let's say you were living with a partner who also spoke all three languages. That would be different. In that case, you could teach your child the languages by simply spending a significant amount of time speaking to you partner in each language when your child is around. Typically, this is what goes on in bilingual homes. Although it is quite rare for it to be three languages, it can and does happen. Absent a person you spend day in and day out speaking the other languages to, this isn't going to happen and you should not even try.

As far as confusion goes, that doesn't happen. What is going on with language development at a young age is that the part of the brain that makes it easy for them to learn the language actually builds new areas of the brain....a geographically distinct and different area for each one. Native speakers of multiple languages do not confuse them because they have separate areas of the brain for each language. It's non-native speakers that get confused. Adults lose the ability to create these new language centers so we use the same one no matter what language we are speaking. Since it is specialized for one, it doesn't work so well with another. In the beginning, we tend to think in the native language and translate into the new one. As we get more proficient, we no longer do this but are prone to mixing the languages up. This never happens with the native language but only the new one(s) where we might be speaking it but ignoring the rules for that language, instead using the rules for the native one. This is why non-native english speakers often sound a little off even though they are fluent and why their writing doesn't usually match the cadence and flow of native english writing, so something seems a bit off about it even if the writing is sophisticated.

Answer 2

Why three languages? Is this a must? If so, why aren't there other native speakers who you can turn to?

Children are able to learn languages much more quickly than adults. The best age is before age 7.

If your primary language is English, make sure your child speaks it well.

Answer 3

On a particular day, speak only one language. Maybe make it a regular thing. Monday's and Wednesday's one language, Tuesday's and Thursday's another. Young children have an incredible ability to learn language and this is the best time to do it. Many children have grown up learning two languages at the same time and seem to be able to distinguish. I don't think three should be much harder.

Answer 4

Conversation is the best way to learn any language. Perhaps spend a different day on each language. Ie: Monday's- Thai, Tuesday's- Spanish, Wednesday- English, and then repeat. Toddler's minds are like sponges.

Answer 5

My oldest (a lady) used to be speakme in complete conversations, counting to ten, sing the alphabet through 18 mos. My little man might slightly speak through two.five years. He is four now and will depend, however the alphabet is shaky, however he's a smarty. Every baby develops at their possess velocity. SOme children throw out what they be trained immediately whilst others soak up it, and permit is simmer of their minds until they suppose they've it mastered then they've a developmental explosion. Keep the counting and letters going since he's listening. The mimic of the sounds is a signal of that. One of at the moment it'll all pop out and you'll be able to marvel why you concerned.

Answer 6

Don't push it on him. But it is possible for him to know 2 (I wouldn't try 3). Talk to him in only one language, whichever your most comfortable with. Then whenever he listens to music or watches videos, have these things in a second language.

For example, my psychology professor speaks English and cannot even speak Spanish. But she had her toddler watch only Spanish tv and videos, and only listen to Spanish versions of kid's songs. And I'm not saying she sat him in front of the tv for countless hours. She had tv viewing time very limited as all parents should. Anyways, he picked up a lot of it and a few years later, there was another woman in her apartment building who spoke Spanish and he could converse with her very smoothly.

Answer 7

We are currently teaching our 2 year olds (twins) two languages...I do not think that another would be overwhelming at all...they, as you know, are sponges. I would recommend speaking to them in just one language at a time...that is do not mix words in several languages in on sentence or interaction. Try to be consistent. My daughter, who is hearing impaired is getting speech therapy in both English and Spanish. Both professional therapists see absolutely no problem with teaching languages simultaneously. I did ask about a third language and they said it would be fine and actually encouraged us to teach our daughter sign language. Since she hears with correction (hearing aids) we decided not to pursue the sign language, but it is considered a language.

Answer 8

Teach them the two other languages and let them learn English in school.

Answer 9

LOL!!!!!

You have to be kidding.

teaching three languages at the same time to a two year old is one of the stupidest things I have heard on here today.

Grow up........better yet, let your son grow up enough to speak one language first.

Answer 10

do teach them 3 language at once. Teach them one by one