Raising A Multilingual Child

[Svenn]

I don't have children but was daydreaming that if I did, it might be cool to hire maids or babysitters that could teach the kid several languages so when he/she grows up, they'd already have a career or at least useful skill set up for them. What is the maximum number of languages a child can pick up? One site I found said 4... but does that mean like the kid would be fluent even without schooling, whereupon in school he could learn more? Also, I was wondering which languages are the most useful in today's world business environment- my guess is English (of course), Mandarin, Arabic, and Japanese or maybe Hindi (though can't most Indians speak English?).

[loong]

I knew a girl that was brought up with parents with different languages plus she learnt English. The family moved to Denamark when she was young and so she was brought up with 4 languages. She was fluent in none! She was most fluent in English but her writing skills were pretty bad in all 4 languages.

I believe that all children can grow up with and become fluent in 2 languages, but more than that different children will have different abilities.

[ThaiBasil]

I knew a girl that was brought up with parents with different languages plus she learnt English. The family moved to Denamark when she was young and so she was brought up with 4 languages. She was fluent in none! She was most fluent in English but her writing skills were pretty bad in all 4 languages.

I believe that all children can grow up with and become fluent in 2 languages, but more than that different children will have different abilities.

Good question, I hope someone reads this with experience. I am trying to raise my son: Thai, English, Dutch. As we live in Thailand, Thai will simply be the language he will hear the most, after that it will be English and as I am from Holland I want him to learn the language as well.

Hope somebody can give some advice or thoughts in here.

[g00dgirl]

Experts seem to generally agree that to make it least confusing for a bilingual child, each parent should stick to one language. So the Thai parent should only speak Thai to the child and the foreign parent should only speak their native language to the child. It makes it easier for the child to differentiate between the languages.

If the child is then exposed to a third language, for example in school, especially in the early years, it will also pick the language up with relative ease compared to learning it later in life.

It is common for the child to develop their active vocabulary in all languages slower than a child that only learns one language, but parents often report that the child still understands all languages perfectly.

The more the parents speak to the child, the more it can learn, so it would be beneficial to make an effort to speak a lot, speak clearly, and use many words. Some strategies to achieve this is narrating to the child what you are doing at the moment, speaking a lot with the child and reading books to the child.

[ThaiBasil]

Experts seem to generally agree that to make it least confusing for a bilingual child, each parent should stick to one language. So the Thai parent should only speak Thai to the child and the foreign parent should only speak their native language to the child. It makes it easier for the child to differentiate between the languages.

If the child is then exposed to a third language, for example in school, especially in the early years, it will also pick the language up with relative ease compared to learning it later in life.

It is common for the child to develop their active vocabulary in all languages slower than a child that only learns one language, but parents often report that the child still understands all languages perfectly.

The more the parents speak to the child, the more it can learn, so it would be beneficial to make an effort to speak a lot, speak clearly, and use many words. Some strategies to achieve this is narrating to the child what you are doing at the moment, speaking a lot with the child and reading books to the child.

the book reqading advice is a really good tip. Now I have to find out where to buy english books and thai books. Thanks g00dgirl!!

[chiangmaibruce]

Yes, it's fascinating to see this in action. Our little boy (3.5 yrs) is picking up Thai rapidly and converses mainly in this language, using just particular English words or phrases that he finds funny or likes the sound of. He goes to a bilingual school and lives in Thailand. He started speaking later than most kids. My wife and I speak in English at home, but he spends a fair bit of time with his Thai grandmother, who is a good and patient teacher of the language ... and apparently does a much better job than me

[p_brownstone]

My 5 yerar old Daughter speaks Thai as a first language and is learning English and Chinese (Mandarin) at school and by listening / being read to at home.

I agree that any Native language speaker should be the only one who uses that language with a child.

Patrick

Edit to add:

It's not a good idea to rely on Maids etc. to teach a child; my neighbours, a rich Chinese family who run a major Jewellry Export business, have little time to spend with their children so they are picking up Thai from the Issarn Maids - their accent is atrocious and their vocabulary would make a sailor blush.

Patrick

Edited July 20, 2009 by p_brownstone

[Sandstone Art]

I don't have children but was daydreaming that if I did, it might be cool to hire maids or babysitters that could teach the kid several languages so when he/she grows up, they'd already have a career or at least useful skill set up for them. What is the maximum number of languages a child can pick up? One site I found said 4... but does that mean like the kid would be fluent even without schooling, whereupon in school he could learn more? Also, I was wondering which languages are the most useful in today's world business environment- my guess is English (of course), Mandarin, Arabic, and Japanese or maybe Hindi (though can't most Indians speak English?).

It depends alot on indivdual.

Not every body can grow up to be a linguist.

Of course some can master more than others, still we should not 'force' onto the kids. Let them have fun and learn as much as they can manage.

[p_brownstone]

Just as a perhaps interesting note:

Sir Richard Burton spoke 25 languages - 40 if you include dialects.

I still get confused speaking onlly 3!

Patrick

[bails]

I don't have children but was daydreaming that if I did, it might be cool to hire maids or babysitters that could teach the kid several languages so when he/she grows up, they'd already have a career or at least useful skill set up for them. What is the maximum number of languages a child can pick up? One site I found said 4... but does that mean like the kid would be fluent even without schooling, whereupon in school he could learn more? Also, I was wondering which languages are the most useful in today's world business environment- my guess is English (of course), Mandarin, Arabic, and Japanese or maybe Hindi (though can't most Indians speak English?).

I have friends that live in Beijing.They have a 4 year old who is fluent in 3 languages,English,Thai and Mandarin.I am always amazed by this little girl and she is continually expanding her vocabulary in all three languages.We only see them about twice a year and the progress this girl is making is astounding.

After seeing this girl i could not think of a limit as to the number of languages a child might be able to learn

[Svenn]

It's interesting that it's suggested each parent should speak only one language. That's why I was considering having like 2 seperate rooms in the house for the respective babysitters- a Mandarin room and an Arabic room, where the kid would spend their time in, being careful not to mix them.

My 5 yerar old Daughter speaks Thai as a first language and is learning English and Chinese (Mandarin) at school and by listening / being read to at home.

I agree that any Native language speaker should be the only one who uses that language with a child.

Patrick

Edit to add:

It's not a good idea to rely on Maids etc. to teach a child; my neighbours, a rich Chinese family who run a major Jewellry Export business, have little time to spend with their children so they are picking up Thai from the Issarn Maids - their accent is atrocious and their vocabulary would make a sailor blush.

Patrick

c'mon there now , are you talking about the maids' particular accent or the Isaan accent in general?? To kohn Lao or kohn Kmane, Thai is likewise "atrocious" sounding I'm a bit prejudiced myself, but I find most rich chinese-thais too conservative and status-oriented to respect any of their opinions, especially on linguistics.

[maccaroni man]

I don't have children but was daydreaming that if I did, it might be cool to hire maids or babysitters that could teach the kid several languages so when he/she grows up, they'd already have a career or at least useful skill set up for them. What is the maximum number of languages a child can pick up? One site I found said 4... but does that mean like the kid would be fluent even without schooling, whereupon in school he could learn more? Also, I was wondering which languages are the most useful in today's world business environment- my guess is English (of course), Mandarin, Arabic, and Japanese or maybe Hindi (though can't most Indians speak English?).

I have friends that live in Beijing.They have a 4 year old who is fluent in 3 languages,English,Thai and Mandarin.I am always amazed by this little girl and she is continually expanding her vocabulary in all three languages.We only see them about twice a year and the progress this girl is making is astounding.

After seeing this girl i could not think of a limit as to the number of languages a child might be able to learn

my oldest age 10 is fluent in English and Thai, his English skills are better than his Thai but when he took Chinese lessons he picked it easly and said it is very close to Thai.

my youngest age 4 can parrot almost any language that is spoken to him.

[torrenova]

Experts seem to generally agree that to make it least confusing for a bilingual child, each parent should stick to one language. So the Thai parent should only speak Thai to the child and the foreign parent should only speak their native language to the child. It makes it easier for the child to differentiate between the languages.

If the child is then exposed to a third language, for example in school, especially in the early years, it will also pick the language up with relative ease compared to learning it later in life.

It is common for the child to develop their active vocabulary in all languages slower than a child that only learns one language, but parents often report that the child still understands all languages perfectly.

The more the parents speak to the child, the more it can learn, so it would be beneficial to make an effort to speak a lot, speak clearly, and use many words. Some strategies to achieve this is narrating to the child what you are doing at the moment, speaking a lot with the child and reading books to the child.

I wholeheartedly concur. I speak English and the mother Thai. The baby does understand far more than she is able or wants to speak and I will leave German for later.

[CTO]

Our two kids "speak" 4 languages.

Laos (not Isaan) within the family - Thai and sometimes Laos with their mother - English and sometimes Thai with me - and the Fourth - Thai Sign Language. We have a deaf Mute Maid - so they both learnt sign language - my son especially as he has had her as the maid since he was born.

The wife also signs - I rarely sign - only a few important things - like "Beer Chang"

Interesting effects from sign language is that the kids are more visibly expressive. Down side is that I am half deaf - and hence my son tends to scream loudly in my ear

It was great watching a toddler "ask" for things in signing.

No one in the family deaf by the way but three people in the village of 1000 are - quite high incidence I think.

[Svenn]

Our two kids "speak" 4 languages.

Laos (not Isaan) within the family - Thai and sometimes Laos with their mother - English and sometimes Thai with me - and the Fourth - Thai Sign Language. We have a deaf Mute Maid - so they both learnt sign language - my son especially as he has had her as the maid since he was born.

The wife also signs - I rarely sign - only a few important things - like "Beer Chang"

Interesting effects from sign language is that the kids are more visibly expressive. Down side is that I am half deaf - and hence my son tends to scream loudly in my ear

It was great watching a toddler "ask" for things in signing.

No one in the family deaf by the way but three people in the village of 1000 are - quite high incidence I think.

Interesting story. Not to be a nerd, but the "Isaan" dialect is one and the same with Lao, there's no difference. Isaan has several dialects of Lao just as Laos the country does, but Laos's, or perhaps Vientiane's, dialect is not the "real" Lao more than anything else. Linguists are even in disagreement if Lao is even its own separate language or just a dialect of Thai, I forget the percentage but a high number of words are exactly equivalent. Mind you it was only French colonialism and the errant misadventures of one King Laxan that even differentiated Laos from Thailand, without which they may have been a single Siam.

[CTO]

<<Interesting story. Not to be a nerd, but the "Isaan" dialect is one and the same with Lao, there's no difference.>>

Starting with "Hello" Laos - Sabie Dee - Isaan Sabie Dee Bo - and the list goes on - As you move closer to Bangkok "Isaan" gets more Thai and less "Vientianne Laos" if you will.

A large number of people in village still have Laos passports - not to be confused with day passes.

So I think I'll disagree with you.

Yes to be pedantic there are multiple dialects and languages in Laos - however the Government does have a prescribed "version" which while very common to northern Isaan - has many differences.

[slaninaj]

Experts seem to generally agree that to make it least confusing for a bilingual child, each parent should stick to one language. So the Thai parent should only speak Thai to the child and the foreign parent should only speak their native language to the child. It makes it easier for the child to differentiate between the languages.

If the child is then exposed to a third language, for example in school, especially in the early years, it will also pick the language up with relative ease compared to learning it later in life.

It is common for the child to develop their active vocabulary in all languages slower than a child that only learns one language, but parents often report that the child still understands all languages perfectly.

The more the parents speak to the child, the more it can learn, so it would be beneficial to make an effort to speak a lot, speak clearly, and use many words. Some strategies to achieve this is narrating to the child what you are doing at the moment, speaking a lot with the child and reading books to the child.

the book reqading advice is a really good tip. Now I have to find out where to buy english books and thai books. Thanks g00dgirl!!

We got many book at the book stores in Thailand that have both english and thai. so both Nan and me can read to Chase

[zzaa09]

This is all very encouraging. All seem to push the idea of multi-liguistic children. Good on ya!!!

[slaninaj]

This is all very encouraging. All seem to push the idea of multi-liguistic children. Good on ya!!!

Our plan is Nan with talk always to Chase in Thai and I will talk always in English. well haha I can not talk or understand Thai.

I been reading a lot about it, They have been studies that say kids that are Multilingual are smart.

[bina]

interesting about the sing.

my sister has been working with the deaf and hearing impaired in the states for years, so she sings automatically, including when speaking with me (in english), so her children have basically learned a large amount of sign language from her, intuitively.

unfurtunately, on kibbutz, one child here was taught only minor signing (different political movements among the deaf, off topic here), and no one here even thought of learning to sign (i can sign minimally in english sign language, cannot read hebrew sign language at all, and sister had to have a hebrew and english sign interpreter when speaking to a hebrew signing deaf person here once. )

my inlaws kids speak hebrew, and understand finnish; most kids learn english in school and from tv. my oldest speaks to me in english, the middle one doesnt reallys speak english unless its with the american school program girls (incentives are a great way to learn language!), the youngest doesnt speak read or understand english apart from brittney spears songs...... now the oldest is teaching herself a bit of thai since hubby cannot speak english or hebrew.

if u understood that, then u are --lingual.......

bina

israel

[CTO]

I hadn't noticed till recently - but my son makes apoint of holding my face and pointing it at him to Computer - which he wants me to look at.

He also when describing the movie he wants mimes out the main action part - no doubt a legacy of his signing and my mostly deaf head.

[geovalin]

Our experience:

Girl 1, 11 y o, Fluent Thai (oral and written, like a mother tongue), fluent Khmer (oral only, mother tongue), fluent English (oral and written but only like a second language), some words in French, learn Chinese at school (useless), wishes to learn Japanese.

Girl 2, 9 y o, Fluent Thai (oral and written, like a mother tongue), fluent Khmer (oral only, mother tongue), can understand and speak some English (oral), some words in French, learn Chinese at school (useless).

Girl 3, 4 y o, will be Fluent Thai (oral and written, like a mother tongue), fluent Khmer (oral only, mother tongue).

Boy 1, 2.5 y o. I speak only French to him, he has Thai at school and Khmer at home. He understand all but cannot really speak.

My advice of the day: It's in a school playground that a child learns a language.