im keen for my boys to speak welsh, they are aged 2 n half and 13mths?

Question

any body else trying to teach a secound lanugage at the same time as a first??
is this the best time to do it?
or will i just confuse them????
if i give my boy a apple i say apple / afal
or good boy ( bachgen iawn)
any suggestions?
partically from welsh speakers please as im only learning my self
diolch yn fawr! (thank you very much)

to Angel
i wanna teach them welsh because we are all 9my family that is!) welsh born and still live in wales and we cant speak our lanuage!!!!!!!!!!!!
or spell it!

Answer 1

lots of people grow up bilingual. later in life they tend to be better at learning third (and fourth ...) languages. this is hardly surprising. they also seem to have a small advantage in general intellectual ability. (some very recent research has suggested that bilingualism helps delay the onset of alzheimers).

(i suspect it may already be too late for mr. zwink).

the sooner you introduce a second language the better, both from the point of view of acquiring the language and for reaping all the other benefits.

if you live in wales S4C has excellent children's programmes (and your children will also learn welsh at school when they start). two and a half is young enough to use some of the paent gwlyb books with your boy (there are special large format ones for the youngest children), and these are so good that they will also convince your boys that reading is fun.

learn some nursery rimes ('mi welais jac-y-do' is my favourite) and sing these to your children whenever they make you feel especially happy.

don't fret too much about making your children fluent. if you just give them a purchase on the language they will pick it up easily as soon as they have a reason to (when they make their first welsh-speaking friends, or when they find out just how good the super furry animals are).

having two languages around the house is a precious gift (and so many english speakers have to grow up without it).

Answer 2

Luckily children can learn any number of languages before they hit puberty. It's instinctive (really, it is - look up "nativism" and "innatism"). The best way to teach any child a language is immersion. With two languages this can be difficult, so perhaps the best way to do this would be for you to speak to your child only in Welsh and for someone else to speak to them in English. That way the child can learn both languages at the same time with ease.

Answer 3

I think it's very important to keep it fun at this stage, particularly as you are a learner yourself. It would be a good idea for you to watch children's programmes on TV together, as they will pick out words and phrases and then you can practise them together. There are also some good children's books which you could try reading to them. Children at that stage do not get as confused as one might think, as they are quite adept at slotting things into different mental compartments even to the extent of using different languages for different people. If you let them think of it as a fun language, they will be able more readily to fit into a Welsh playgroup, if there is one near you, and discover that it is a language which people speak naturally in ordinary everyday life. The big thing is not to force it. Let it come naturally!

Answer 4

the first few years are th best time to teach second (or third languages) but make sure that you are certain of the words before trying to teach them. Arrange for them to speak regualrly with someone who speaks Welsh fluently

Answer 5

no it is not the best time to do it. studies have shown that children that are raised bilingually tend to not do very well in either language. the best way to teach a child more than 1 language is starting with 1 early age, and kicking in the second language around 5 years of age.

and keep in mind there is a difference between teaching a child a 'trick' and teaching him a language. the first is easy the second is hard.

Answer 6

Okay im answering this being half danish/half italian, hearing my parents talk english to each other.
A child mind is so fragile and absorbing. What they hear in their first 3 years is what will stick with them forever.
So if you communicate with them in welsh, they will automatically learn it trough you. Dont worry about teaching it to them, just talk it as much as you can.

Answer 7

Shwmae!
I think it is great what you are doing. But as you are still learning it, you must put a bigger effort in it. When they grow up and start asking more complex things, you'll want to be able to keep them learning both languages.
http://www.phrasebase.com/blog/celebs-drive-to-learn-welsh.html
http://www.phrasebase.com/blog/balloons-go-up-for-welsh-language.html
Pob lwc!

Answer 8

Its good that you want to teach your children another language and starting young is definitely the right way to go, however as much as you may be proud of your heritage is it really worth learning a language that has very little use in the world?

Mandarin or Spanish would far more useful to them when they are older.

Answer 9

Teach a second lanugage, great idea, but why Welsh? no one speaks this, only the welsh, and you all speak English, why bother, teach him French, spainish somthing useful

Answer 10

Just speak to them in the two languages:children can learn as many languages as they are exposed to .