At what point do you think your 2 year old bilingual child needs to see a speech therapist?

Question

Our son is being brought up bilingual in English and French. He just turned 2 a couple of months ago, and we noticed some problems with his pronounciation and vocabulary. For example, at 2 they should have a 50 word vocab, and I dont think he's close. We live in the U.S. now for over a year, and he was born in France. My husband speaks in French and myself in English, and we speak to each other in English. I notice that he speaks more in English but understands what his father says in french. He sometimes combines the french and english into his vocab and phrases. For example, he'll say "auto truck". Should I be concerned in any way with his speech developement? I appreciate any feedback. Thank you

Answer 1

He probably is ok at this point. It is expected that a bilingual child will appear to learn 2 languages at once slower than just one. When you add up the words he knows in both languages, I bet he's on target.

By about age 4, he should be able to use the languages separately. It is entirely normal for him to use both in the same sentence up to age 4!

By the time he is school aged, he may catch up with his monolingual friends in both languages. Before then, his vocabulary is split between the two languages, so his vocab is the same size as others, but it's split between French and English. Maybe now through early elemantary school, you could read alot to him in both languages, have him read to you when he can, go to story times at libraries, play games that involve language, etc.

Some warning signs perhaps would be:
* No sounds by 2-6 months of age;
* Less than one new word per week for 6- to 15-month-old children;
* Less than 20 words (in the two languages combined) by 20 months; and
* No use of word combinations and a very limited vocabulary by age 2-3 years.

Some suggestions:
1. Be consistent in how and with whom each language is used,
2. Speak the language that you are more comfortable with
3. Keep the grammar of each language suitable for the child's age
4. Keep your child interested and motivated.

Answer 2

Your child doesn't need a speech therapist at all! Bilingual children will continue to mix the two languages until they are about six, when their brains are able to separate each language into its own grammar and vocabulary. You have nothing to worry about; your child has a wonderful advantage. Just keep doing what you're doing. Just read any book written by a linguist on bilingualism. It will say the same as I did, but give you the detailed theory/research etc. behind it. The book will also list all the advantages of being bilingual (the latest I heard was that they are less likely to get Alzheimer's because of the way they are using their brains). Studying the language acquisition of bilingual children is the most fascinating thing I have ever done.

Answer 3

Yes you should. Why wait till he or she is four or five to "catch up". First of all don't think for a second that there is something "wrong" with your child. Like anything the younger they start the better off they will be. Also the longer you go the harder it is to break bad habits.
I was in the same situation. My daughter was watched by her grand parents who speak Spanish and in our house we speak English. People gave me the same advice about waiting then I found this out. Where I live(NY state) the County helps till age three, then the School District takes over. This is important because the School District does not have the budget or resources that the County does. Don't get wrong the School wants to help but cant do everything the County does. The County provided us with a speech therapist that came to our house and worked around our schedule. She came twice a week for an hour and she was awesome. My daughter actually got excited for for the lessons. It was a learning experience for me and my wife to, when we started orientation for Kindergarten we knew 95% of what they told us!
When we started meeting with the school not only did the speech therapist come, her supervisor did as well. The best part was this, anything that was in place or that the County suggested the School had to go along with. My daughter was out of the program before she started school, was above the recommend levels and has never looked back.

Answer 4

First of all, don't forget that the 50-word vocabulary is not only pretty arbitrary, but also based on any combination of words and languages. I mean, if he says both "truck" and "camion", that's two words, not just one, and even if he says "ba" with the "a" from "balle" and also "ba" with the "a" from "ball", and also "ba" with the "a" from "bath", that's still three words, and not too badly pronounced for a 2-year-old.

However, I suspect from your post that your first language is also French, and I think that his overall language development might be better if you switched to speaking French with him and let the rest of the world teach him English.

But the speech therapist, I wouldn't worry for at least another year.

Answer 5

Some kids I know are also bilingual, and since you are using two language at home, this might confuse him/her or delay his speech, but at this point I do not think you have to worry, wait for another 3-6 months, by then he should have additional vocabulary. My baby is 3 months, we plan to speak our dialect at home, and English only when he is outside or when he get to school.

Answer 6

No!!!!!
Children develop at their own pace. There is no strict age at which children should know a certain amount of words. They are just very broad guidelines.
Your child doesn't need a therapist. Just keep communicating, reading and nurturing your child sensibly and s/he will develop perfect language skills like every other baby does!!!!

Answer 7

I couldn't even speak ONE language right until i was like 10

Answer 8

I don't think he needs a speech therapist. Just keep talking to him.

Answer 9

awww its ok if he still talks like that for another yr. than you should be worried

Answer 10

i don't know! It's your decison!