Bilingual Kids

[swlondonmum]

I find it fascinating to watch my son grow up bilingually and have learnt a lot about how language develops. He was born in England (English mum and a Thai dad) and has always been brought up bilingually eg all English speakers speak English to him and all Thai people speak Thai (and he to them) and this has always worked very well and he completely separates the languages. His Thai was good enough that when we moved to Thailand at 3.5 yrs he could speak well enough to get by and without much of an accent and within a few months was speaking Thai as well as the other kids at school. Credit to my husband as it is hard to teach a kid your language when there are not many other people around speaking the language (and I have always been the main carer for our son).

We've now been here nearly a year and recently he has picked up a third language - Thai-English. I'm not too concerned as he still speaks perfect British English to me. But I am fascinated by this new third language and where it has come from! I first heard him speak it when he started singing the ABC song and thai version of Happy Birthday with a Thai accent. More recently he has been speaking to another European kid with this accent as they speak English together. His American teacher at school has just told me he has started to speak like this to her. I guess he is picking it up when the kids are learning English at school as he goes to a school with a 50% English program where most of the kids are Thai ( it is not an international school but a Thai private school with an English program). The English teaching is mainly done by the US teacher but I imagine the Thai teachers teach a fair bit of English too. There are only 3 other half Thai/half English speaking kids (approx 16 Thai kids). I always thought that's just the language he speaks to people who have English as a second language so I was surprised he spoke like that to the US teacher. My guess is that he hears the other kids speak English with a Thai accent and he does the same to fit in and is embarrassed to speak his 'normal' English in front of them . I used to teach English as a second language in uk secondary schools and knew of a lot of foreign kids who started to deny they spoke another language started refusing to speak it at home - wanting to fit in again - and I know it can be a problem as kids get older and more aware of being different. I don't know how good the other half Thai kids' English - I have never heard them speak English though I have heard an English-speaking dad speak Thai English to his kid (and have heard Thai mums speak English (with a Thai accent) to their kids too) and I am wondering if their English is not necessarily as good? He doesn't seem to have a problem with the American language as he knew from Dora and Mickey mouse that they have a different accent and different words though I wonder how he would speak to another Brit (not many here - we are in Isaan though in a pretty big city)

So.... Has anyone else experienced anything like this. Are there many people who have brought up their kids in English speaking countries and moved here and did the same thing happen (age makes a big difference of course). For those with half Thai half English speaking kids here do they have good accents when they speak English? Is it a different experience at an international school or one where there are more English speaking kids?And has it made any difference who spends the most time with the kid? Most of the half Thai kids here have Thai mums and English speaking dads - in some but not all cases they will have spent more time with the mum and her family. I am quite unusual being an English mum and having spent a lot of time with my so so I think it has helped maintain his English here - it would be hard of I couldn't spend much time with him. It is not a big issue for us as we are moving back to the uk this year - my husband also feels it is more important for him to learn English (though we are both keen for him to maintain his Thai as it is an important part of his culture and he may want to live in Thailand one day, or we may move back). My husband's cousin was brought up in the uk (half Thai half English and is near perfect bilingual though only speaking/listening but she can't read/write Thai but hopefully it can be done)

Sorry for the massive post but I look forward to hearing your experiences!

[diddums]

Expat kids will pick up whatever is around them.

My 2 speak Thai and English fluently and what you call the thia/english stuff also.

They also pick up accents from other kids and teachers.

They have an american accent for water for example and several english accented words....but the most interesting is my sons friend when they talk, he is full Thai but for whatever reason has a bit of a singaporean sound to his english speaking....so they have this Singaporean chat lar.

[swlondonmum]

Expat kids will pick up whatever is around them.

My 2 speak Thai and English fluently and what you call the thia/english stuff also.

They also pick up accents from other kids and teachers.

They have an american accent for water for example and several english accented words....but the most interesting is my sons friend when they talk, he is full Thai but for whatever reason has a bit of a singaporean sound to his english speaking....so they have this Singaporean chat lar.

Yeah my son gets that American English is another 'language' thanks to Dora and Mickey mouse and came home saying what I thought was Argos last summer when in fact it was August with a US accent! I guess bilingual kids pick up languages and accents more easily as well. I just jealous as I had to actively learn languages - must be amazing to be bilingual!

[SNGLIFE]

Hi! Our daughter is full-Thai and has been speaking English since age 3 (she's now 11). Early on, we would speak English, Thai, and Isaan in the home to age 4. Since then, we've been speaking only English at home yet she still speaks with a Thai accent and repeatedly makes a lot of the typical grammar mistakes. It drives me nuts because I would think by now her English should be as fluent as mine; or at least she should not be making repeated basic mistakes (for example: "I go keep book upstair" rather than "I am going to put my books upstairs."). Note also that ages 4-6 were spent in the USA full-time.

So, our son (American/Thai) will be 3 in April. So far, with that past experience in mind, we have been teaching him English-only. He picks up a little Thai/Isaan from music videos or my wife, but we try to ensure he is primarily exposed to English. 85% of his video entertainment is NetFlix on X-Box or YouTube on iPad. 5% is Thai music videos. The other 10% is UltraMan in Thai or Japanese. He is progressing very well in English. I intend to home-school him to age 7 as I did our daughter (who is tops in her class, btw) and continue to home school them both as they attend the public schools. However, this time I will be around full-time instead of being away occassionally as was the case with our daughter [and by occasionally, I mean not often or long enough for her not to have kept up with English]. I hope to completely eliminate the possibility of a repeat experience. His English needs to be PERFECT as I expect him to attend a university in the USA. Because of visa and distance, I expect my daughter to attend university in Singapore.

Oops, sorry for shot-gunning my post.

Anyway, what I want to know from the board is: Do you find it helpful or unnecessary to focus on a particular core language, first? I have researched it extensively and find conflicting answers. There are studies which say it doesn't matter. There are studies that say it helps to learn English first because the best learning materials are written in English, so mastering English early allows the child to access far more learning materials at a faster pace.

Not knowing Thai is frustrating to those trying to communicate with him, but not vice-versa. Those wanting to speak Thai with him don't really have much to say, anyway. I'm more concerned with ensuring he first learns English to allow more options for learning at a high standard (not this b/s Thai standard). Socializing in Thai will come just by living here, and Thai academics should be a breeze when he is tested and enters the school system at age 7. Likely public as we have learned the difference between public and [most] private schools is whether we want to pay for a substandard education or get a substandard education for free. (Ha!)

For those with M6 or older bilingual children, what are your experiences with focusing on English or Thai as a core language. How did that choice affect learning later on?

[diddums]

We did not focus on either...it just came natural and they do not have the that accents at all.

[scorpio]

my daughter ( now 3 years old, 4 in april ) spoke fluent thai and english at around 2.4 years old they pick it up pretty easilly. i know 1 thai kid ( 10 years old ) learnt perfect english in about 1 year. another kid spoke a little english before she came to uk but after 1 year she had a very broad local accent, i remember being shocked at this because she had only been in uk 1 year, amazing

[Deserted]

As long as your child has regular exposure to both languages, they will learn accordingly. Language acquisition will take longer, and it will take time before your child can differentiate between both languages, so even at the age of 5 you would still be likely to get some utterances that are a mix of L1 and L2.

[candypants]

As long as your child has regular exposure to both languages, they will learn accordingly. Language acquisition will take longer, and it will take time before your child can differentiate between both languages, so even at the age of 5 you would still be likely to get some utterances that are a mix of L1 and L2.

not so sure about that, my daughter certainly has never mixed languages and at 6 becomes quite irritated of i do so, usually to wind her up. If i ask her what are we ginning tonight, she will correct me.

[Colonel_Mustard]

my daughter ( now 3 years old, 4 in april ) spoke fluent thai and english at around 2.4 years old they pick it up pretty easilly. i know 1 thai kid ( 10 years old ) learnt perfect english in about 1 year. another kid spoke a little english before she came to uk but after 1 year she had a very broad local accent, i remember being shocked at this because she had only been in uk 1 year, amazing

I'm sorry but no child is fluent in any language by 2.4 and nobody learns perfect English within 1 year. I'm sure they are both competent for their ages but that's not the same as being fluent or perfect in a language.

[Mickey Cohen]

Interesting topic, Im going to have a son in 3 months with my thai gf.

Im french but my mum is english witch makes me almost bilingual. I speak thai with my gf now but when my son will be here I will try to only stick to my language.....was thinking of english then changed my mind because my most natural language is french. Now im not sure if I should speak english or french to my son. I wish I could do both but wouldnt it be confusing if we also add thai..

[scorpio]

my daughter ( now 3 years old, 4 in april ) spoke fluent thai and english at around 2.4 years old they pick it up pretty easilly. i know 1 thai kid ( 10 years old ) learnt perfect english in about 1 year. another kid spoke a little english before she came to uk but after 1 year she had a very broad local accent, i remember being shocked at this because she had only been in uk 1 year, amazing

I'm sorry but no child is fluent in any language by 2.4 and nobody learns perfect English within 1 year. I'm sure they are both competent for their ages but that's not the same as being fluent or perfect in a language.

ok i stand corrected, maybe not fluent at just over 2 years old but certainly very very good english and thai , i remember a swedish kid ( 4 years old ) was standing next to my daughter in a hotel and he was just learning to speak thai and wasnt speaking thai on the level my daughter was, i remember all the hotel staff were amazed at how well our child could speak both languages being so young, i have just asked my wife sitting beside me that someone on internet not believe me that our kid speak good english and thai when she was only 2 years old , wife replies " ok when him not believe tell him come look and test himself " haha ..

[Colonel_Mustard]

my daughter ( now 3 years old, 4 in april ) spoke fluent thai and english at around 2.4 years old they pick it up pretty easilly. i know 1 thai kid ( 10 years old ) learnt perfect english in about 1 year. another kid spoke a little english before she came to uk but after 1 year she had a very broad local accent, i remember being shocked at this because she had only been in uk 1 year, amazing

I'm sorry but no child is fluent in any language by 2.4 and nobody learns perfect English within 1 year. I'm sure they are both competent for their ages but that's not the same as being fluent or perfect in a language.

ok i stand corrected, maybe not fluent at just over 2 years old but certainly very very good english and thai , i remember a swedish kid ( 4 years old ) was standing next to my daughter in a hotel and he was just learning to speak thai and wasnt speaking thai on the level my daughter was, i remember all the hotel staff were amazed at how well our child could speak both languages being so young, i have just asked my wife sitting beside me that someone on internet not believe me that our kid speak good english and thai when she was only 2 years old , wife replies " ok when him not believe tell him come look and test himself " haha ..

I didn't say that I didn't believe she could speak English or Thai well for her age. I said I didn't believe she was fluent at that age.

Edited February 11, 2013 by Colonel_Mustard

[Trembly]

During middle school I 'test-drove' the standard American accent spoken by most of the kids in BPS for a while. I would speak it in the school only, reverting to my English accent or Kam-Mueang when I got home, and of course Thai for anywhere else.

I did it for nearly 2 years until I got bored of it and put it away. It was fun and interesting to immerse myself in that perspective for that time though.

Languages and accents come naturally to me, in fact I still have to stop myself from copying the accents of people I speak to.

From my experience in international schools, kids never had a problem with other people's accents once they'd reached the stage where they actually 'owned' an accent themselves (if English wasn't already their native tongue).

In most of the large international schools such as BPS, ISB, RIS, NIST even kids from UK / Aus / NZ / South Africa tended would follow the other kids in homogenizing their accents into what I called 'standard television American' for their whole educational careers. There were some who retained their accents, but they were rare. At Harrow International School the neutral southern English accent prevailed.

My advice to anyone worried about their kids' accents is to take the bull by the horns and engage them in language and accents. Kids are observant. The synapse building facilities of kids' brains are more agile and thorough, the mental pathways built more lasting, making the next language or dialect even easier to learn than the last.

Edited February 12, 2013 by Trembly

[Trembly]

Interesting topic, Im going to have a son in 3 months with my thai gf.

Im french but my mum is english witch makes me almost bilingual. I speak thai with my gf now but when my son will be here I will try to only stick to my language.....was thinking of english then changed my mind because my most natural language is french. Now im not sure if I should speak english or french to my son. I wish I could do both but wouldnt it be confusing if we also add thai..

Not confusing at all.

Speak to him in whatever language you feel like, but don't water any of it down. It could be interesting to send him to a French school as French speakers are harder to find than English speakers in Thailand.

For the first few years of my life I understood and absorbed everything that my father said to me in English, but I refused to speak it. Apparently he was starting to get concerned about this so I was enrolled into Bangkok Patana School at the age of 3+ and according to sources who remember the English just jumped out of my mouth. I think I must have thought "ohhhh so this is where is where they keep all the other people who talk like that". It was already there in my brain.

Edited February 12, 2013 by Trembly

[Radar501]

Im french but my mum is english witch makes me almost bilingual.

555. Not quite bilingual yet.

[Mickey Cohen]

Im french but my mum is english witch makes me almost bilingual.

555. Not quite bilingual yet.

LoL i cant spell in any language tho

[diddums]

my daughter ( now 3 years old, 4 in april ) spoke fluent thai and english at around 2.4 years old they pick it up pretty easilly. i know 1 thai kid ( 10 years old ) learnt perfect english in about 1 year. another kid spoke a little english before she came to uk but after 1 year she had a very broad local accent, i remember being shocked at this because she had only been in uk 1 year, amazing

I'm sorry but no child is fluent in any language by 2.4 and nobody learns perfect English within 1 year. I'm sure they are both competent for their ages but that's not the same as being fluent or perfect in a language.

ok i stand corrected, maybe not fluent at just over 2 years old but certainly very very good english and thai , i remember a swedish kid ( 4 years old ) was standing next to my daughter in a hotel and he was just learning to speak thai and wasnt speaking thai on the level my daughter was, i remember all the hotel staff were amazed at how well our child could speak both languages being so young, i have just asked my wife sitting beside me that someone on internet not believe me that our kid speak good english and thai when she was only 2 years old , wife replies " ok when him not believe tell him come look and test himself " haha ..

I didn't say that I didn't believe she could speak English or Thai well for her age. I said I didn't believe she was fluent at that age.

Disagree.

They can be fluent for the words that they know....ie....100% fluent ....mine were, particulalry my son at 2yo.

Fluent does not mean you have to know every word of the language...if that was the case nobody would be.

[Colonel_Mustard]

Disagree.

They can be fluent for the words that they know....ie....100% fluent ....mine were, particulalry my son at 2yo.

Fluent does not mean you have to know every word of the language...if that was the case nobody would be.

Then it would be fluent for a given age, No child would be considered fluent in any language at that age. Your son may be very gifted but there is no way he was fluent in any languages (other than baby speak) at age 2.

[diddums]

Disagree.

They can be fluent for the words that they know....ie....100% fluent ....mine were, particulalry my son at 2yo.

Fluent does not mean you have to know every word of the language...if that was the case nobody would be.

Then it would be fluent for a given age, No child would be considered fluent in any language at that age. Your son may be very gifted but there is no way he was fluent in any languages (other than baby speak) at age 2.

He was fluent for all the words he knew at that age...so he was 100% fluent.

[Colonel_Mustard]

Disagree.

They can be fluent for the words that they know....ie....100% fluent ....mine were, particulalry my son at 2yo.

Fluent does not mean you have to know every word of the language...if that was the case nobody would be.

Then it would be fluent for a given age, No child would be considered fluent in any language at that age. Your son may be very gifted but there is no way he was fluent in any languages (other than baby speak) at age 2.

He was fluent for all the words he knew at that age...so he was 100% fluent.

So he was 100% fluent in a few words of baby speak. That doesn't equal fluency in any known language.

But if it makes you happy to think so...

[candypants]

my daughter ( now 3 years old, 4 in april ) spoke fluent thai and english at around 2.4 years old they pick it up pretty easilly. i know 1 thai kid ( 10 years old ) learnt perfect english in about 1 year. another kid spoke a little english before she came to uk but after 1 year she had a very broad local accent, i remember being shocked at this because she had only been in uk 1 year, amazing

I'm sorry but no child is fluent in any language by 2.4 and nobody learns perfect English within 1 year. I'm sure they are both competent for their ages but that's not the same as being fluent or perfect in a language.

ok i stand corrected, maybe not fluent at just over 2 years old but certainly very very good english and thai , i remember a swedish kid ( 4 years old ) was standing next to my daughter in a hotel and he was just learning to speak thai and wasnt speaking thai on the level my daughter was, i remember all the hotel staff were amazed at how well our child could speak both languages being so young, i have just asked my wife sitting beside me that someone on internet not believe me that our kid speak good english and thai when she was only 2 years old , wife replies " ok when him not believe tell him come look and test himself " haha ..

whats not to believe?

how could the child possibly fail with such excellent language models.

[candypants]

Interesting topic, Im going to have a son in 3 months with my thai gf.

Im french but my mum is english witch makes me almost bilingual. I speak thai with my gf now but when my son will be here I will try to only stick to my language.....was thinking of english then changed my mind because my most natural language is french. Now im not sure if I should speak english or french to my son. I wish I could do both but wouldnt it be confusing if we also add thai..

Not confusing at all.

Speak to him in whatever language you feel like, but don't water any of it down. It could be interesting to send him to a French school as French speakers are harder to find than English speakers in Thailand.

For the first few years of my life I understood and absorbed everything that my father said to me in English, but I refused to speak it. Apparently he was starting to get concerned about this so I was enrolled into Bangkok Patana School at the age of 3+ and according to sources who remember the English just jumped out of my mouth. I think I must have thought "ohhhh so this is where is where they keep all the other people who talk like that". It was already there in my brain.

multi lingual kids tend to begin truly speaking later in life.

my daughter was about 3 when fully formed sentences started falling out of her mouth in both english and thai. I remember she used to just sit and watch people talking for hours.

once they get them straight in their heads there is no stopping the flow however

[Trembly]

Interesting topic, Im going to have a son in 3 months with my thai gf.

Im french but my mum is english witch makes me almost bilingual. I speak thai with my gf now but when my son will be here I will try to only stick to my language.....was thinking of english then changed my mind because my most natural language is french. Now im not sure if I should speak english or french to my son. I wish I could do both but wouldnt it be confusing if we also add thai..

Not confusing at all.

Speak to him in whatever language you feel like, but don't water any of it down. It could be interesting to send him to a French school as French speakers are harder to find than English speakers in Thailand.

For the first few years of my life I understood and absorbed everything that my father said to me in English, but I refused to speak it. Apparently he was starting to get concerned about this so I was enrolled into Bangkok Patana School at the age of 3+ and according to sources who remember the English just jumped out of my mouth. I think I must have thought "ohhhh so this is where is where they keep all the other people who talk like that". It was already there in my brain.

multi lingual kids tend to begin truly speaking later in life.

my daughter was about 3 when fully formed sentences started falling out of her mouth in both english and thai. I remember she used to just sit and watch people talking for hours.

once they get them straight in their heads there is no stopping the flow however

I was already prattling away in Thai and Kam Mueang, just not English - probably because I couldn't see the point as I knew that my dad understood my Thai and he was the only person in the whole wide world who ever spoke English . . . until school.

Edited February 13, 2013 by Trembly

[diddums]

Disagree.

They can be fluent for the words that they know....ie....100% fluent ....mine were, particulalry my son at 2yo.

Fluent does not mean you have to know every word of the language...if that was the case nobody would be.

Then it would be fluent for a given age, No child would be considered fluent in any language at that age. Your son may be very gifted but there is no way he was fluent in any languages (other than baby speak) at age 2.

He was fluent for all the words he knew at that age...so he was 100% fluent.

So he was 100% fluent in a few words of baby speak. That doesn't equal fluency in any known language.

But if it makes you happy to think so...

If it makes you happy to think you are superior to a 2yo...go for it

[Colonel_Mustard]

Just trying to help you use the English language correctly . No thanks required.

[diddums]

Thanks

[wonder6281]

Our boy is 50/50 Aussie and Thai and 2 1/2, he speaks his own language which I nor my wife understand. he uses gestures rather than words of any kind and my wife is getting worried about his speech development. He is a clever little boy, just not communication with words yet? Should we be worried, I think it will just happen but she doesn't.

We live in Pattaya so if we need to seek advice is there any recommendations?

BTW - We speak to him in English mainly although he has older full Thai sisters who speak to him in Thai.

[Tacho De Lao]

Senior Member,

I am new here and came because I have the same concerns as you and was wondering if you have gotten any more information. Or are there any more comments out there. My son is almost 5. American dad and Thai mom. Our son is not putting phrases and sentences together yet. He knows both alphabets and talks more English than Thai. My suspicion is because my wife and I speak English together that is why he knows more and seems to prefer it But still, conversations don't really take place. He can read and write English, Dr Seuss books etc, but still no "conversations" per se. My worry has always been his Thai since we live in Thailand and had no plans on going to the US.(but with recent events......) So this is not about most of the previous posts who raised their kids in England or spent time in the US or who have insisted on English only. That doesn't make sense to me considering we live in Thailnd and we want him to be able to socialize with all kids and the ones who lives here speak Thai. He is in a school but we put him in the Thai program. It's private so he does have English there as well. Do people out there in my situation think its just a question of when it will happen. Or should I be concerned about the non conversation. it's been a year how are things for you Senior Member. All thoughts and comments are welcome. Kap kun mak kub

[Tacho De Lao]

Our boy is 50/50 Aussie and Thai and 2 1/2, he speaks his own language which I nor my wife understand. he uses gestures rather than words of any kind and my wife is getting worried about his speech development. He is a clever little boy, just not communication with words yet? Should we be worried, I think it will just happen but she doesn't.

We live in Pattaya so if we need to seek advice is there any recommendations?

BTW - We speak to him in English mainly although he has older full Thai sisters who speak to him in Thai.

Hi,

I am new and wanted to know how things have gone for you since I have the exact same concerns/problems you are having. I would love to hear back from you and hope everything is going well on your end. Thanks. I left a rather long post on here as well right after your post I didn't know how to reply directly LOL. Take care

[wonder6281]

Our boy is 50/50 Aussie and Thai and 2 1/2, he speaks his own language which I nor my wife understand. he uses gestures rather than words of any kind and my wife is getting worried about his speech development. He is a clever little boy, just not communication with words yet? Should we be worried, I think it will just happen but she doesn't.

We live in Pattaya so if we need to seek advice is there any recommendations?

BTW - We speak to him in English mainly although he has older full Thai sisters who speak to him in Thai.

Hi,

I am new and wanted to know how things have gone for you since I have the exact same concerns/problems you are having. I would love to hear back from you and hope everything is going well on your end. Thanks. I left a rather long post on here as well right after your post I didn't know how to reply directly LOL. Take care

Just got read your post and my young fella is now 3 1/2 and his language skills in both English and Thai are progressing well.

It is like the light has come on and while it is repetitious he is adding extra words to his sentences (with prompting) and his speech is becoming very clear in both languages.

He is in pre-school 5 days a week and his confidence to try and communicate is growing.

He too can cite the English alphabet and count to 20 and back, but I think sometimes an overload of information takes a while for them to sort it all out.

We have stated to yes more Thai in the house and this has helped.

I am confident he will adapt in time as I'm confident your child will also. My son does speak quickly and that is because he mirrors my accent I guess?

My only advice/suggestion is be patient, they will process when the light switches on and it will.

Cheers.

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