Bilingual/trilingual

[x-pat]

My daughter is seven months old now and gradually beginning language acquisition. Since many of the posters here are in a bicultural partnership, I’d like to ask what your experience is with kids learning two or three languages. I would imagine it’s quite a challenge for the little ones. My wife speaks Thai with our daughter, I speak German with her. My wife and I speak English to each other and occasionally we also speak English with our daughter. Her environment is thus trilingual. How can we make it easier for her to learn three languages?

Cheers, X-Pat

[the scouser]

If you fancy a bit of light reading, then you check out this university student's thoughts on language acquisition. However, bearing in mind that your child's mind is effectively a blank page and that she will learn language in context, my belief is that she will come to be able to distinguish words in the different languages meaning the same thing; e.g. ma/dog/Huind. In other words, over time your daughter will realise that she is speaking different languages and will use the correct one depending upon to whom she is addressing herself.

What does perplex me is how anyone, even a native German, can accurately learn the case structure in the German language.

Scouse.

[Maestro]

My daughter is seven months old now and gradually beginning language acquisition. Since many of the posters here are in a bicultural partnership, I’d like to ask what your experience is with kids learning two or three languages. I would imagine it’s quite a challenge for the little ones. My wife speaks Thai with our daughter, I speak German with her. My wife and I speak English to each other and occasionally we also speak English with our daughter. Her environment is thus trilingual. How can we make it easier for her to learn three languages?

My son, when a baby, had trouble with three languages simultaneously. On the paediatrician’s advice, we reduced it to two languages: English and Thai.

[Goldenbead]

IMO you should continue as you have been. Your daughter will acquire all three languages in time. It is a great gift that you can give her. I am a preschool teacher and I have come into contact with many children who are fluent in three languages. Keep it up.

[Wolfie]

Theres a very similar subject going just here

I'll close this for now, if you'd like to continue this discussion over there.