Can babies learn both Thai and English at the same time?

[715]

My wife and I are thinking about having a baby soon and we're wondering if the baby brain can learn both languages at the same time? I guess they probably can and this might be a silly question.. Tell me, you grizzled Mom and Pop veterans, what's your experience?

[FiftyTwo]

yes, no problem at all.

But slightly slower to start talking.

[Gsxrnz]

Yes - as easy as falling off a log. Their brains are like sponges and will soak it up. They will generally be stronger in the one language they hear the most (usually Thai), but will understand English and generally vocalise it a little later than Thai.

[pinkpanther99]

My baby is doing exactly this at the moment. Some words are quite clearly spoken in Thai, with others in English. For what it's worth I've read about both the positives and negatives of this very subject. One article I read spoke of how beneficial it is to introduce a child to another language as early as possible. Whereas another article I read said that learning two languages so early in life can in fact have a detrimental effect on the child as they pick up their native language much slower because of the use of an additional langauge.

So to be honest, I'm none the wiser if it is good or not but I'd also be interested to hear about anyone elses experience in this.

[wooloomooloo]

They will generally be stronger in the one language they hear the most (usually Thai), but will understand English and generally vocalise it a little later than Thai.

Obviously dependent on where the family is based.

[Gsxrnz]

My baby is doing exactly this at the moment. Some words are quite clearly spoken in Thai, with others in English. For what it's worth I've read about both the positives and negatives of this very subject. One article I read spoke of how beneficial it is to introduce a child to another language as early as possible. Whereas another article I read said that learning two languages so early in life can in fact have a detrimental effect on the child as they pick up their native language much slower because of the use of an additional langauge.

So to be honest, I'm none the wiser if it is good or not but I'd also be interested to hear about anyone elses experience in this.

Got a 41/2 year old. She was a slow developer in speaking Thai compared to her peers. Understood instructions in both Thai and English but didn't begin to speak Thai beyond basic words until 3 years old. When she did, it was like a waterfall - almost like she'd bottled it up. Now my wife tells me she speaks better than any of her peers, with a better accent and much wider vocabulary.

Probably started to verbalise English with some level of confidence at 3 1/2. Good accent, especially on the hard consonants and final aspiration of consonants (slightly Kiwi), but grammar is limited, although I suspect that's lack of confidence rather than lack of knowledge. I'm expecting a floodgate to open in the next 6 months.

She is learning Chinese at Kindergarten and they have Chinese kids there. She also has some Russian playmates. She can say a lot of basic stuff in Russian and Chinese - hello, how are you, don't do that, this is mine, leave me alone, let's play, go faster, let's go, etc etc. Her Chinese teacher is Thai doing it by rote but daughter picks it up in the playground. The teacher confessed to being outdone by her. An unexpected benefit of a multi-lingual kindergarten is that the kids teach each other different languages in the playground more than the teachers can ever hope to do.

She can read and write the English alphabet perfectly, recite the alphabet, spell three and a few four letter words. She can read and write and recite the Thai Alphabet and also write down basic words.

I was confused as hell one day when she was singing a Korean song (which I initially thought was Chinese) she learned from some computer game.

Pink Panther - if my experience is any indication then I'd expect nothing other than benefits from learning multiple languages.

[DiamondKing]

My 5 year old speak Thai and English and different dialects such as Southern thai which is different to normal thai so yes they can pick up multiple languages although slower than a kid just learning one.

Her english is not as good as it might be she understand everything but struggles to find the right words however my son who was in the same position corrected everything as he got older and is now fluent in several languages

It all falls into place the older they get.

[Falcon]

Our son is now 8 years old and speaks very good thai and English. Up until he was 4 years old he only spoke to me in thai and I would only speak to him in English in order to get him used to hearing English being spoken. Just turned 4 and he suddenly was speaking very good English without being pushed or coerced in. To speaking it. He now has no problem conversing with anyone if any age in either English or thai.

[mrbojangles]

My daughter is just over 5 and has lived in Saudi for most of that time. We speak to her in both English and Thai and she can speak both (including a little Issan). I would probably say she was a tad behind her English speaking mates earlier on but not now and due to the British school where she goes, she has a lovely neutral accent.

Thinking about introducing her to Spanish lessons soon.

[Irishrogue]

My daughter is 4 years old and speaks both Thai and English very well. As another poster stated until around 2 her vocabulary was not as developed based solely on the fact that she was dealing with 2 languages. My son who is coming up to 2 years old seems to be following a similar pattern.

[stickylies]

as said above: yes they can (easily).

ideally you should be consistent in the language you speak, as in:

you always EN, your wife always TH.

[memkuk]

Our "children" are now 29 and 26 years old. They were raised speaking Thai and English. No problem at all. Just make sure one parent always speaks one language only to the child.

Both children picked up French along the way and now speak 3 languages perfectly: they never had a problem finding good paying jobs here in Thailand.

[Alwyn]

Yes

[Baerboxer]

My wife taught both alpha bets, numbers in both languages and spoke with the children in Thai. When I was there we spoke English. This was pre-school. Both are fluent in Thai and English, picked up some Arabic whilst living in UAE and my daughter practices French and German now. They think learning a language is easy.

[sailor59]

My baby is doing exactly this at the moment. Some words are quite clearly spoken in Thai, with others in English. For what it's worth I've read about both the positives and negatives of this very subject. One article I read spoke of how beneficial it is to introduce a child to another language as early as possible. Whereas another article I read said that learning two languages so early in life can in fact have a detrimental effect on the child as they pick up their native language much slower because of the use of an additional langauge.

So to be honest, I'm none the wiser if it is good or not but I'd also be interested to hear about anyone elses experience in this.

Our son is now three and understands well English, Greek and Thai but he speaks only in English and Greek.

The doctor said that by the age of four he will be able to speak them all and know who he will talk to in each language (me, the mother, the grandmother...)

[Loles]

YES, of course. You have to take a rule, you speak to baby only in English, and your wife only in Thai. This much easier than you thought.

[khunPer]

Yes

[FiftyTwo]

Don't see why the rule.

We all mix English and Thai, doesn't seem to bother baby.

[biggles45]

My son has 2 boys, is married to a Japanese girl and they live in Australia. He was a Japanese interpreter and is fluent in Japanese, even at a technical level. They were both keen that the boys don't lose their Japanese heritage. For the first few years they only spoke Japanese in the home and supplemented this with japanese lessons from books. About a year before the eldest boy started kinder they taught him some english,but his english skills were certainly wanting when he began school.

He is now eight, he is the top student in the class. His English, and Japanese language (and writing) is excellent and he jumps from one language to the other with ease. As someone said, they are like a sponge at that age and his english leapt ahead. The six year old got the same treatment, but obviously he was exposed to more english due to his elder brother, 2 years older. He also chatters away, fluently in both languages.

I am the first to admit that I had strong doubts about this approach, I was afraid that their english skills would be inadequate.

I am also happy to admit that I was wrong but would emphasise that both parents put in a lot of work to achieve the standard that the boys have.

[wooloomooloo]

It helps when the parents don't speak Thai/English.

That's a rather broad statement.

Edited November 15, 2013 by wooloomooloo

[lubbkis]

Children of mixed parentage are fitted with two brains just for this purpose, which is why they turn out much smarter than everyone else.

I know this because my mother is English and my father Scottish.

[milys]

Yes, why not..? When I was about 2 years old i spoke three languages fluent; swedish, finnish and greek

Totally different languages but when you are a child you pick up languages very fast.

Of course you must here it around you constantly to learn.

Edited November 15, 2013 by milys

[natas]

Don't see why the rule.

We all mix English and Thai, doesn't seem to bother baby.

One of the only risks of teaching children 2 languages is that they get two broken languages and not one or two whole. Zero risk if you follow the "rule".

If both parents are bilingual 100% fluent in both languages then the only problem would be when the child begins to try to separate the two languages

If either parent isn't 100% fluent and have a foreign accent then you are making problems for the child by speaking the "wrong" language. Your native language should be used so the child gets it 100% correct with all the colors and shades, will be able to read between the lines and some day be a poet or what ever they wish. Give them two broken languages and they will never understand either perfectly.

For the child, in the long run, better an uneducated ghetto parent give a child his/her language than an educated one give them one they don't fully comprehend.

( father of 5. 20 year span all bilingual 3 different languages and I've studied the subject at University level )

[dao16]

Yes, they can. All those theories from the 1970's were bogus--it won't "confuse" the kid or anything. They can handle it. Their progress in both languages will vary over time depending on where they are and how much they speak, but they will be fine. Just make sure not to let them lag in both. Lagging a little in one isn't really a problem...but if they reach 7 or 8 and still don't quite have a native language, you are getting into problem territory.

Anyway, lots about it online. Shouldn't be a problem. One way I have seen it done is, for example, when living in Thailand, only have both parents speak English at home and Thai outside or viceversa if you are in an English speaking country. Not saying that is the only way...just a way I have seen work.

[Dennisdob]

If I can give you my personal observations through experience and research doing my master's degree and when I was a principal in the US. I also did a survey on this particular topic during my PhD.

My conclusion was depending on the age of the child. The child should be near the fourth grade or 8 to 9 years old before teaching and additional language. They had a tendency of being the most receptive to any foreign language is during those years. Prior to those years they had a tendency to display mass confusion.

Parents have a tendency to promote an education at times way too early. The readiness level depends on the individual child. However, if promoting a foreign language to a child I would walk very cautiously at doing this at a very early age.

If seeking any additional information I would be happy to honor any questions that you may have.

[Neeranam]

One of my kids speaks Thai, Isarn, Korean, English and is learning Chinese. ^The other is fluent in English, Thai and speaks Isarn and Chinese. The more languages the better IMO as early as possible but they didn't start catching up until about 7 years old.

[slipperylobster]

A few years short on my Psychology degree...but, from what I remember in my Child/Developmental Psychology course, the best thing you can do is utilize both languages. My son had no problem whatsover, Filipino, and was fluent in both English and Tagalog before entering Kinder 1 (Preschool at 4 yrs of age). He is now leaps and bounds ahead of his classmates.

Another pointer.... Children begin lose their ability to pickup a second language at a very early age...I am remembering by the age of six or seven.

The possibility of confusing your kid is non existant. They pick it up. You might have mom speak one language (Thai) and you another (English) as you are each best at your own.

You don't want him speaking "Tinglish"...so do away with the baby talk / mixed thai english. That goes for both you and your wife.

[Neeranam]

If I can give you my personal observations through experience and research doing my master's degree and when I was a principal in the US. I also did a survey on this particular topic during my PhD.

My conclusion was depending on the age of the child. The child should be near the fourth grade or 8 to 9 years old before teaching and additional language. They had a tendency of being the most receptive to any foreign language is during those years. Prior to those years they had a tendency to display mass confusion.

Parents have a tendency to promote an education at times way too early. The readiness level depends on the individual child. However, if promoting a foreign language to a child I would walk very cautiously at doing this at a very early age.

If seeking any additional information I would be happy to honor any questions that you may have.

There is a difference if you want bilingual kids.

I have a couple of Thai friends who both have PhDs in Language Aquisitionfrom English unis. They both recommended I always speak English to my kids from birth and my wife to speak only Thai. This is the best way for truely bilingual children.

[JoeLing]

Absolute no problem, contrary. Growing up multilingual is a lot easier and lasts longer than having to
learn languages in school!

I had an "international" up-bringing with 4 languages, English, German, Italian and my Mother's language.
As far back as I remember, I never had a problem communicating. Although, occasionally when we talk in
my family we use all four languages in the same sentence.

In college I had to learn an other two but forgot all about writing or grammar. (I never liked French anyway)

Through travelling I picked up several more languages but mostly, only spoken and easy forgotten again.

I used to be told:
"Learn languages and learn to play an instrument and the whole world opens up to you".
Looking today how I feel about it, I would say: "Spot on "

[slipperylobster]

Many references to this subject matter. They all are pretty consistant on this.

For example:

Simultaneous Acquisition occurs when a child is raised bilingually from birth, or when the second language is introduced before the age of three (10). Children learning two languages simultaneously go through the same developmental stages as children learning one language. While bilingual children may start talking slightly later than monolingual children, they still begin talking within the normal range (11). From the very beginning of language learning, simultaneous bilinguals seem to acquire two separate languages (10). Early on, they are able to differentiate their two languages and have been shown to switch languages according to their conversation partner (e.g. speak French to a French-speaking parent, then switch to English with an English-speaking parent)

Courtesy of.... http://www.hanen.org/Helpful-Info/Articles/Bilingualism-in-Young-Children--Separating-Fact-fr.aspx