Raising Bilingual Babies – Tips From A Speech-Language Pathologist

Families raising or considering raising a child who is multilingual are confronted with many questions. On this episode of Learn With Less, Ayelet delves into the topic of multilingualism and bilingualism. The research is clear (a child learning two or more languages will not be “stunted!”) and the methodology, though sometimes not so clear-cut, is basically a “one way or the other” approach. Below is the transcript of this week’s “Developmental Thought,” an excerpt from the full episode. For additional information, music, play ideas and the complete interactive family experience, please listen to the entire episode. There is a long history of misconceptions when it comes to raising multilingual children, and these are primarily related to the false belief that exposing young children to multiple languages will somehow cause or contribute to a language delay or disorder. >>Don’t Miss Our Corresponding Blog Post!<< While it may be true that an infant or toddler who is learning two or more languages simultaneously sometimes demonstrates a slight delay in expressive language (or, what they are able to say), this is not generally what we as speech-language pathologists would consider in clinical terms to be a true “language delay.” Think about how much more auditory information a baby exposed to multiple languages is processing… how much more information he must measure and sort, and store for later. The most important thing to consider here is that if a child has true difficulty acquiring speech and language in one language, that problem will show up in both languages… and is unrelated to the exposure to multiple languages. Simultaneous and Sequential Learning So, what are the best ways to expose a child to multiple languages. Like anything else when it comes to raising children, there’s no “single best solution” for EVERY family; however, there are a few ways that are considered best practice, and from which you can choose depending on your family’s unique situation. Essentially, these can be split into two major camps, known as Simultaneous or Sequential learning. Simultaneous language learning refers to the use of two or more languages from birth or shortly thereafter, and sequential language learning refers to the use of only one language in the home, followed by exposure to another language (or often, the community language) when your little one starts school. Since we live in the “real world,” and not in a vacuum, life doesn’t always work in these clean categories. Try not to fret too much about the details, and remember that the more exposure you give your baby to listen to and practice using each language in everyday situations (especially during daily routines and rituals), the more opportunities you are giving him to learn! How Bilingual Language Development Happens What does bilingual language development look like compared to monolingual language development in an infant or toddler? Obviously, there are variations and no two children are exposed to exactly the same amount of one language versus another (even, sometimes, in the same family!), but in general a young child’s developing skills in two or more languages will depend on the quality of the experience that child has with each, and, of course, the amount of experience hearing and using both languages.