Bilingual Kids

[iancnx]

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

Good thread and very interesting, but for the somewhat pompous colonel mustard I find your interjections unhelpful and totally irrelevant! Parents here are seeking advice and sharing experiences about their children. No one has asked for your opinions on what is fluent, or for a spelling lesson!

[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

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.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Good to hear about your son. I appreciate the reply. I do keep telling myself there is going to be that "lightbulb" moment, and he has had a few for sure. Seeing as how Thai and English are in the top five for learning difficulty.(general consensus, nothing scientific) considering the huge differences in sentence structure, grammar and a few other things, I would think it will take time. For others in my situation I would suggest that part of the problem on my part was not really trying to get him going in English as my biggest concern was his Thai. I feared learning both at the same time would slow him down so I only used my Thai around him for quite a while and finally said I can't worry about it, if he speaks English first, so be it. Now he is progressing nicely and mom is getting frustrated as he has an obvious afinity for English and speaks English to her instead of Thai. I also would say dad does English and leave the Thai to the experts and as you said, in time it will come. I'd be happy to hear more from anyone else out there.

Cheers.