Raising Thai Children Multilingual Wise.

[tartempion]

I have an 18 months young baby girl and she starts talking using more than one word now.

Usually she speaks some Thai but starts to add English words.

She spilled some water, took a towel, wiped it off and said "dry leaw"

When she wants to come out of the bath she says "come out"

She uses the word "more" quite often etc etc

I often use terminology in some other language because I find them "more suitable" to a situation than some others, she begins to understand them and copy/use the word in similar events, I find it often very funny.

I don't mind if she speaks a mixture of Thai and English.

I do intend to learn her to speak/understand German, French and Dutch later on, but as soon as possible.

I was bilingual at 10, trilingual at 15, quadrilingual? at 18 and learned some more later on.

As of age 8 I was an avid visitor of my town library, borrowed books 2x week, at 15 I was reading books in 4 languages, far from understanding some of it, but I learned from each book.

I wonder if most children here with mixed parents do master the mother language of both their parents.

How do they cope with other language?

I hardly meet Thai children who can speak an other language.

[daftpunker]

i know a mixed thai american girl she speaks fluent in both and was brought up in thailand.Other than that i dont know.

[slapout]

Your native language and (assuming the mother is Thai) ,Thai are the languages to bring her up with. International schools teach courses in several languages, as well as their primary teaching language. I have one daughter who reads/writes and speaks English, Thai, Spanish, Chinese, and German. The first 2 she learned intially at home, and the others, attending International school. At University she has/is taking Greek, Latin, Russian and follow up on Chinese and German.

The younger speaks/reads English and Thai and has taken Spanish and Chinese but was not interested in either of the latter two.

If the children are interested, give them the oppurnity to experience what they are interested in, no matter the field of study. As parents we can nudge them a little but as they get older, let them find their own field of interest.

[Rsquared]

Tartempion........I am so jealous of you being multilingual as you are.

I don't have kids but if I did I would do my utmost to get them to learn more than one language.

As everyone knows, the young brain of a child is like a sponge and readily absorbs all new information, so that is the best time to learn multiple languages.

Go for it......teach your daughter the languages you intend to, I'm sure later in her life she will come to appreciate the effort you spend in doing this.

Cheers.

[tinfoilhat]

my daughter is 5 and fluent in both english and thai.

pretty much all the "experts" are in agreement -- you should focus on the languages you speak well. ie english and german, and let the native speakers focus on thai.

the thing is to pick your language(s) and stick to them. crap thai and pidgin english will not do your child any favours.

Also, don't hurry it. multi-lingual children tend to take longer before they start speaking, it takes them a while sort the different languages out, but once they have it down, you would wish they shut up.

Edited September 9, 2012 by tinfoilhat

[evadgib]

The internet & IPADs have proved a great help, indeed as I type my eldest son (7) is watching Tommy Cooper's legendary "Bottle & Glass" routine on youtube, having purposely looked for "Funny man - Red Hat".

[brit1984]

With regards to children learning languages, I think it is better (if possible) to learn from native speakers. Therefore, I speak mostly English and my wife speaks mostly Thai to our kids.

Later we want them to learn Mandarin (from my brother's Chinese wife) but beyond that we will probably leave it to their own interests (unless we settle in a country where another language is needed).

Sent from iPhone; please forgive any typos or violations of forum rules

[tombkk]

From personal experience, I can say that a language is associated with a person. This means that if one language is spoken by the father and the other by the mother, when speaking with the child, the child knows which language is which.

If you mix languages when speaking to your child, how can the child ever know which word belongs to which language? I grew up with one language being the mother's language and the other the father's language, so it was always clear to me. Uncle X speak mother's language, the other guy we just met speaks father's language, easy.

My parents had friends with the same mixed nationalities. Those parents weren't so strict with separating the languages, and the children ended up speaking both languages with grammar mistakes and mixed-up vocabulary.

So, if you find it cute if your child speaks a mixture of Thai and English, you are not doing her a favour.

[billd766]

My son is now 8 and most of the time I speak English with him and my wife speaks Thai.

It is getting to the stage now that if other children are here or his 16 year old cousin and I want them to do something I jsut say it in English and he will translate to them for me.

[thenervoussurgeon]

Our boy speaks ,reads and writes english and thai ,so does his mum , my wifes sister doesnt speak english but all her children do , our lad did have the advantage of spending his younger years in England though.

[cdnvic]

In my experience by the time they are three or four they are better able to sort the languages out and keep them seperate. Often better than their parents.

[bkkjames]

In my experience by the time they are three or four they are better able to sort the languages out and keep them seperate. Often better than their parents.

isnt that the truth. My sentences are half English, part Thai. Thankfully my first son speaks reasonably fluently in Thai with the mrs (and English sometimes when I am around with mom) and mostly English when alone with me.

Problem I have is when we go down to the pool and there are other kids around, he refuses to speak Thai to them in my presence even though he can.

He is only 3.

Edited September 14, 2012 by bkkjames

[Nepal4me]

From personal experience, I can say that a language is associated with a person. This means that if one language is spoken by the father and the other by the mother, when speaking with the child, the child knows which language is which.

If you mix languages when speaking to your child, how can the child ever know which word belongs to which language? I grew up with one language being the mother's language and the other the father's language, so it was always clear to me. Uncle X speak mother's language, the other guy we just met speaks father's language, easy.

My parents had friends with the same mixed nationalities. Those parents weren't so strict with separating the languages, and the children ended up speaking both languages with grammar mistakes and mixed-up vocabulary.

So, if you find it cute if your child speaks a mixture of Thai and English, you are not doing her a favour.

isnt that the truth. My sentences are half English, part Thai. Thankfully my first son speaks reasonably fluently in Thai with the mrs (and English sometimes when I am around with mom) and mostly English when alone with me.

Problem I have is when we go down to the pool and there are other kids around, he refuses to speak Thai to them in my presence even though he can.

He is only 3.

Here is a perfect example by BKKJames about how not to do it. No offense intended BKKJ. If you speak for example Native English and non native Thai and your wife is native Thai and non-native English, then do the "2 speakers, 2 languages" system.

I researched this extensively before my kids were born and continued to as they grew. I can speak Thai (poorly) and my wife can speak English (well, but non-natively). We never ever mixed them. My kids go to an English school but never ever say a word in English to their mother (unless they don't know the Thai word, which we then teach them) and never ever speak Thai to me. They know this is the system in our family and it works perfectly.

Most often in a situation like mine, English becomes more dominant, English at school, English with dad, English usually spoken between mom and dad, whereas Thai is spoken to only mom and mom's family and when out with local people. If you mix, the problem arises as the kids get older. If they know they are allowed to speak English to mom, for example if mom speaks English to them even 20% of the time, English will then start to take over. If they know they are not allowed to speak English to mom at all, they will simply not do so and will learn Thai properly and fluently.

BKKJames example is a cautionary tale. Please follow the 2 parent, 2 language rule strictly.... for the good of the kids.

[swlondonmum]

I can only agree with what has been written already - I'm a British woman with a Thai husband and we brought up our 4 year old son in the UK until recently. I suggested to my husband to speak only Thai to him from birth which he found really strange but fair play to him he did. Once our son started speaking it was clearly Thai with dad and English with mum as that's what he'd learned. I think he assumed that most people spoke English to him (because they did) then when he met Thai people it took him a day or so to register that they spoke 'dad's language' and start responding to their Thai. It paid off as we have recently moved to Thailand (he was 3.5 yrs) and within a few months was the same level as the Thai kids. My husband also taught him the alphabet (found the Thai song on You Tube - he loves it) when he started learning the English alphabet - also started teaching him to write it at the same time he started writing the English one.

We are planning to move back to the UK so I wonder if it will be hard to maintain as he gets older - would be interesting to know how anyone in the UK has found this. Family we know with half Thai kids - some can speak great Thai, others can't (when the Thai parent has spoken mainly English to them) and none can read or write Thai (even ones with both Thai parents).

My feeling is that even if we move back to the UK, we never know when we might move back to Thailand so if we can keep his Thai to a good level we will have more choices (the Thai family I mentioned with the kid that can't read and write want to move back but can't until she has finished school in 10 years' time). And I know how hard it is to learn Thai as an adult so would love him to learn as a child.

[tombkk]

I can only agree with what has been written already - I'm a British woman with a Thai husband and we brought up our 4 year old son in the UK until recently. I suggested to my husband to speak only Thai to him from birth which he found really strange but fair play to him he did. Once our son started speaking it was clearly Thai with dad and English with mum as that's what he'd learned. I think he assumed that most people spoke English to him (because they did) then when he met Thai people it took him a day or so to register that they spoke 'dad's language' and start responding to their Thai. It paid off as we have recently moved to Thailand (he was 3.5 yrs) and within a few months was the same level as the Thai kids. My husband also taught him the alphabet (found the Thai song on You Tube - he loves it) when he started learning the English alphabet - also started teaching him to write it at the same time he started writing the English one.

We are planning to move back to the UK so I wonder if it will be hard to maintain as he gets older - would be interesting to know how anyone in the UK has found this. Family we know with half Thai kids - some can speak great Thai, others can't (when the Thai parent has spoken mainly English to them) and none can read or write Thai (even ones with both Thai parents).

My feeling is that even if we move back to the UK, we never know when we might move back to Thailand so if we can keep his Thai to a good level we will have more choices (the Thai family I mentioned with the kid that can't read and write want to move back but can't until she has finished school in 10 years' time). And I know how hard it is to learn Thai as an adult so would love him to learn as a child.

Great story. If you move back to the UK and want your kid to not forget the Thai writing, he needs to keep practicing. Otherwise he will forget.

I used to write Arabic when I was 20, but that's 30 years ago. Hence, I am speaking from my own experience. Other people's experience may differ.

[scotsdude]

I have been living in Thailand now for 2 and a half years since our daughter was born. I'm Scottish and my partner is Thai. I can't speak Thai (pure laziness on my part) and speak English to her all the time. I work offshore so I'm not there 365 days of the year. What worries me is she won't be as bi-lingual as the other kids whose Father is with them everyday. On average I spend 5 weeks away working and 3 weeks at home. She's only 2 yrs 7 months old but starting to distinguish between the two languages. She speaks only Thai to her mother and tries to speak English to myself with the odd Thai word thrown in. The question is will she still pick up English even though I'm away every second month? Obviously I do realise her first language is going to be Thai. But will I have to hire a translator to communicate with my daughter in later years?

[tombkk]

I have been living in Thailand now for 2 and a half years since our daughter was born. I'm Scottish and my partner is Thai. I can't speak Thai (pure laziness on my part) and speak English to her all the time. I work offshore so I'm not there 365 days of the year. What worries me is she won't be as bi-lingual as the other kids whose Father is with them everyday. On average I spend 5 weeks away working and 3 weeks at home. She's only 2 yrs 7 months old but starting to distinguish between the two languages. She speaks only Thai to her mother and tries to speak English to myself with the odd Thai word thrown in. The question is will she still pick up English even though I'm away every second month? Obviously I do realise her first language is going to be Thai. But will I have to hire a translator to communicate with my daughter in later years?

You won't have to hire a translator if you see her regularly as you describe. But it would be a good idea to send her to an international school (for more reasons than just the language), I'd say.

[scotsdude]

I have been living in Thailand now for 2 and a half years since our daughter was born. I'm Scottish and my partner is Thai. I can't speak Thai (pure laziness on my part) and speak English to her all the time. I work offshore so I'm not there 365 days of the year. What worries me is she won't be as bi-lingual as the other kids whose Father is with them everyday. On average I spend 5 weeks away working and 3 weeks at home. She's only 2 yrs 7 months old but starting to distinguish between the two languages. She speaks only Thai to her mother and tries to speak English to myself with the odd Thai word thrown in. The question is will she still pick up English even though I'm away every second month? Obviously I do realise her first language is going to be Thai. But will I have to hire a translator to communicate with my daughter in later years?

You won't have to hire a translator if you see her regularly as you describe. But it would be a good idea to send her to an international school (for more reasons than just the language), I'd say.

Thanks for the response... I am hoping to get them back to the UK in the next 2-3 years. Purely for my daughter's sake. I feel she'll get a better education back in the UK and Patts isn't exactly an ideal place for raising kids for a number of reasons. From what I've been hearing so far you pay through the nose for an International School and the level of education isn't the same..

[thenervoussurgeon]

I can only agree with what has been written already - I'm a British woman with a Thai husband and we brought up our 4 year old son in the UK until recently. I suggested to my husband to speak only Thai to him from birth which he found really strange but fair play to him he did. Once our son started speaking it was clearly Thai with dad and English with mum as that's what he'd learned. I think he assumed that most people spoke English to him (because they did) then when he met Thai people it took him a day or so to register that they spoke 'dad's language' and start responding to their Thai. It paid off as we have recently moved to Thailand (he was 3.5 yrs) and within a few months was the same level as the Thai kids. My husband also taught him the alphabet (found the Thai song on You Tube - he loves it) when he started learning the English alphabet - also started teaching him to write it at the same time he started writing the English one.

We are planning to move back to the UK so I wonder if it will be hard to maintain as he gets older - would be interesting to know how anyone in the UK has found this. Family we know with half Thai kids - some can speak great Thai, others can't (when the Thai parent has spoken mainly English to them) and none can read or write Thai (even ones with both Thai parents).

My feeling is that even if we move back to the UK, we never know when we might move back to Thailand so if we can keep his Thai to a good level we will have more choices (the Thai family I mentioned with the kid that can't read and write want to move back but can't until she has finished school in 10 years' time). And I know how hard it is to learn Thai as an adult so would love him to learn as a child.

we have lived in the uk and here ,his mum has always spoken Thai to him and i speak english ,in the uk his friends spoke english ,now in Thailand he is in uni ,many of his mates here speak thai and english so when they are in our home its a real mish mash, but if he goes to an international school he keeps up his readin and writing here as well ,i do notice that on facebook he writes in both languages.

[Somtamnication]

My 6 year old switches languages without thought when talking to either of us. He also uses a bit of thaiglish, which I am guilty of using as well. Like, "full leaow".

He takes additional classes for Chinese and on occasion I will pull out a Spanish phrase here or there. Still not decided on that language for him, though.

These kids are amazing at learning languages and do not stop speaking them at home. Ipads are great for these kids, language app-wise.

[tinfoilhat]

In my experience by the time they are three or four they are better able to sort the languages out and keep them seperate. Often better than their parents.

isnt that the truth. My sentences are half English, part Thai. Thankfully my first son speaks reasonably fluently in Thai with the mrs (and English sometimes when I am around with mom) and mostly English when alone with me.

Problem I have is when we go down to the pool and there are other kids around, he refuses to speak Thai to them in my presence even though he can.

He is only 3.

my kid does this too!! she will not speak thai to a stranger if she is alone with me. If there is a thai freind or family member on hand, no problem

[rijb]

I think kids in a multilingual environment don't think about different languages. They're not learning languages sequentially. It's not L1, L2, etc. It's all just L1 to them.

I get a kick when very young Thai kids dumb down their language for me (in a respectful way). All they care about is communication. It's very refreshing.

[swlondonmum]

In my experience by the time they are three or four they are better able to sort the languages out and keep them seperate. Often better than their parents.

isnt that the truth. My sentences are half English, part Thai. Thankfully my first son speaks reasonably fluently in Thai with the mrs (and English sometimes when I am around with mom) and mostly English when alone with me.

Problem I have is when we go down to the pool and there are other kids around, he refuses to speak Thai to them in my presence even though he can.

He is only 3.

my kid does this too!! she will not speak thai to a stranger if she is alone with me. If there is a thai freind or family member on hand, no problem

Our son does this a bit but i think it just takes him a bit of time to warm up and start speaking to strangers - it's faster with kids but takes a few meetings with adults before he starts speaking to them. I think it's an age (he's 4)/shyness thing - he doesn't exactly rush to speak English to English speakers he doesn't know well either. In England it's a bit easier to ignore but here people are a bit more 'demanding' that kids react/speak to them (especially if they are half foreign) - not criticising, just an observation and our son was brought up in England until 6 months ago so is a bit less used to the Thai way. He's got 2 Thai cousins around the same age and both act similarly so I think it's age more than a language issue.

With kids eg at the pool/playground I find that if I go away eg swim to the other side of the pool, he will start chatting in Thai to kids around his age within 10-20 mins.

[swlondonmum]

I think kids in a multilingual environment don't think about different languages. They're not learning languages sequentially. It's not L1, L2, etc. It's all just L1 to them.

I get a kick when very young Thai kids dumb down their language for me (in a respectful way). All they care about is communication. It's very refreshing.

I dont think they 'think' about it as it just seems to happen naturally but having watched our son learn Thai and English from birth he separated them as 'the language I speak to mummy' and 'the language I speak to daddy' which then extended to other English speakers (mummy's language) and Thai speakers (daddy's language). I guess that came from the first year where he couldn't really speak but was listening to us speak our own languages. We could see that he knew there were different words for the same thing etc from an early age (can't remember for the life of me what age that was though!). As he got older we explained how mummy was English and dadddy was Thai and mummy speaks English and daddy speaks Thai and now he is at the stage where we can ask him what something is in the other language eg I can ask him what a Thai word means in English or what an English word means in Thai and he can correct my pronunciation in Thai. It seems to match what studies say about how they learn so I've always assumed that's how it works. But I'm no expert so your experience and the kids you know may be different. Either way it's fascinating how it works.

[swlondonmum]

The most hilarious thing is that our son (age 4) now knows 3 versions of English. First he learnt British English (from me plus he was brought up in the UK until 3.5yrs). Then he learnt American English (from TV and English speaking teachers at school here) so he knows that a 'backpack' is a rucksack and a flashlight is a torch (thanks Dora and Handy Manny) plus he can say 'August' in an American accent so when I asked him what he'd learnt at school one day, I thought he was saying 'Argos' (only the Brits will get this one). He has now learnt Thai-English so he can sing the alphabet song/happy birthday song in English with a Thai accent. "Heppy bird-day tooo yooo'. He knows these as 3 separate 'languages!

[CTO]

Tartie, you've met my kids , my son was quadrilingual at age 4, daughter tri-lingual just placed in top 5 in Sakon Nakorn the written English competition for all schools and corrects my English (FARK) ,

It takes the parent to inspire them, I bought them a book a week from about 2 years on. They LOVE books, showing them off to their friends and explaining what adventures and knowledge is in them.

Mind you, I was travelling so much when my daughter was young I sent her to a school that taught in English when she was 2 and a bit. Her request.

Both kids like to study during holidays, but love Tai Kwan Do, Kick Boxing and the usual rougher sports.

Your the one who has to install the love in them of books and learning.

[tinfoilhat]

Tartie, you've met my kids , my son was quadrilingual at age 4, daughter tri-lingual just placed in top 5 in Sakon Nakorn the written English competition for all schools and corrects my English (FARK) ,

It takes the parent to inspire them, I bought them a book a week from about 2 years on. They LOVE books, showing them off to their friends and explaining what adventures and knowledge is in them.

Mind you, I was travelling so much when my daughter was young I sent her to a school that taught in English when she was 2 and a bit. Her request.

Both kids like to study during holidays, but love Tai Kwan Do, Kick Boxing and the usual rougher sports.

Your the one who has to install the love in them of books and learning.

excellent, advice where can i buy the chip?

shame the boy wasn't here to help you out with that last line.

As for instilling a love of books, i have been fortunate enough to work at home and have been reading my now six your old daughter a story almost every night since she was 2. I agree with you wholeheartedly on the matter