Could a child grow up learning to speak 2 languages fluently?

Question

If a child had, for example, a Dutch mother and a French father, could he/she learn to speak both languages as easily as just one simply by the parents interacting with the child in both languages from birth? Also taking into account that an even split of both languages would be spoken by other members of family, friends etc as the child is growing up.

Answer 1

the younger a language is taught, the easier it is for someone to learn it.

Answer 2

The child could easily do that. With no problem, without even realising! Is such a gift to the child. If Dutch and French were spoken at home, and perhaps the child went to an English speaking school, the child could grow up to speak these three languages fluently. Plus, it gives the child so many more options in the future, whilst giving them the opportunity to be part oft heir heritage.

Answer 3

It all has to do with the child's exposure to language. Most adults don't realize it; but even newborn babies are listening to language. Just because the mom and dad may only talk to the baby in cooing, childish tones and use very limited vocabulary, the baby still hears regular conversation amongst adults. Humans are born with the innate ability to learn language, but it doesn't have to be just one. The baby has to, above all, hear the language being used. But hearing isn't enough. He or she must apply the language just as often as the other language he or she is learning. Otherwise, the language will not stick. Take, for instance, a Mexican family whose kid is born in America. If the parents were to speak nothing but Spanish and then put their kid into an English-speaking school, the kid would be almost perfectly fluent in Spanish and English. The only thing is that the kid will not know the intricate grammar of Spanish like he will know of English. Rather, he will be able to speak Spanish fluently, but may still have a hard time later on in a Spanish class where grammar is heavily worked on.

Answer 4

Yes, the child can learn to speak both the languages. I my case my son speaks and understand more than 2 languages

Answer 5

Of course! Many of my friends come from bilingual homes and can speak both languages fluently. A friend right across the street speaks French, German, Cherokee, and English perfectly as they were all spoken within his family. (Holidays must have been interesting)

Answer 6

My daughter was 14 when we moved to France. She spoke, wrote, read, thought and dreamt in english. At the age of 17 she could do all this in french too simply by attending a french school and interacting with french people so its possible at an even later age.

Answer 7

Of course she or he could it happens many times in fact my daughter was on MSN to a friend in Spain who has a Spanish father and an English mother and speaks both languages perfectly

Answer 8

My German teacher learned five languages from birth. She grew up in an area where French and German were both common languages, and I don't remember the details, but she also spoke Italian, English, and...oh, now I can't remember the fifth one. But she was fluent in all five of them from a very young age.

Answer 9

My grandchildren live in Norway with their Norwegian mother and English father. Both languages were (are) spoken at home and the children are fluent in both. They speak Norwegian with the appropriate accent and English with no trace of it. Furthermore they can switch between languages mid sentence at will.

Answer 10

I grew up speaking Chinese Teochew and Indonesian. Started speaking English and Mandarin during my primary school-days.

Kind of fluent in all those languages by now.
My parents use Chinese Teochew mostly. I speak Indonesian to my school friends. English and Mandarin ? Either from environment or because I kept thinking in other languages

Answer 11

of course i grew up speaking 3, my mother is spanish and my father is italian and i was born in united states. it was very beneficial for me to speak 3 languages as a child cause i was considered someone special. plus in the future most of my jobs that i have had only hired me because of the many languages that i spoke.