Does it take Thai/farang kids longer to learn how to talk?

[pinkpanther99]

My daughter is approaching two years old and my wife and I starting to become a little concerned with regards to the development of her speaking skills.

I can't speak Thai so only speak English to my daughter but my wife speaks both Thai and English to her.

I read somewhere that it takes kids from bi-lingual households longer to get to grips with speaking as they are essentially learning two languages but as they get older they obviously compensate for this by becoming fluent in two languages from a young age.

Someone did suggest to me that my daughter could be deaf but I don't think that is the case and it certainly doesn't seem like that when I say her name or she is listening to something.

Maybe I'm worrying unnecessarily, I mean how much can a 2 year old speak anyway?

Also, she isn't at Kindergarten full time yet so I guess when she starts she will have more interaction with people and her language skills will improve also.

Does anyone else have any experience of something similar with their kids learning how to talk?

[TobiasML]

In my experience and talking to other bilingual families yes they will start talking at a later age but then mostly in complete sentences. As long as your daughter reacts to what both of you are saying then it should be fine and nothing to be worried about. A friend of mine grew up with 5 different languages spoken to her and she turned out fine. Starting speaking at the age of 4 but then in all languages and was able to switch between them without any issues.

[FritsSikkink]

2-3 years Babbling disappears, real talk

The ruling improves, especially when consonants

In 2.5 years, the vocabulary approximately 400-500 words

Double consonants are used more slowly, but often in the wrong order

More linguistic forms are used, such as prepositions

Pronouns me, you, etc.

Many ask what and why; not so much for knowledge, but rather for attention

But dual language kids can take a bit longer but will be ok after a while in both languages.

[bkkjames]

Not to worry - my just turned 2 yr old babbles but can speak a few words - Chockie (chocolate) and Ice Crs##%% (Ice Cream).

[Thai at Heart]

A little. Just stay disciplined and keep talking. Once it starts you will be begging for quiet.

Lol

[bkkjames]

A little. Just stay disciplined and keep talking. Once it starts you will be begging for quiet.

Lol

Very true - my 5 year old can curse better than me now f.f.s

[frimu]

Don't be discouraged!

The time, when they start speaking can differ half a year between different kids.

Bilingual kids start speaking half a year later in average.

So the delay can be up to a year.

I was raised Swiss German / Dutch and started speaking at 3.5 years of age. Unfortunately just Swiss German, because my mother panicked and stopped talking Dutch to me. That's why I always encourage everyone, not to panic and not to make that mistake with their own kids.

Luckily I understand Dutch almost completely (but don't speak it actively) without any problems and am skilled with languages above average. So I still profit from my earliest years in life.

[quicky]

I have found that my bilingual kids started talking later than others but once they started they were like wiz kids between the two languages. Sometimes I long for the days of silence

Two years is very late for no speaking, unless you meant she is speaking just not fluently then it is ok.

As for the deaf, why would you not know? If you suspect it then go to a local place and have her tested I mean what's the point in guessing?

Wait till she is sitting on the floor and come up behind her making sure not to make the floor vibrate, hearing impared are more in tune to other things such as vibrations. then softly call her name, If she looks then your fears are just that

Edited July 23, 2014 by quicky

[pinkpanther99]

Thanks for the reassurance and advice so far, much appreciated.

My daughter is saying the odd word. She can say "bye" and "Dad" quite clearly in English and she says "Mum" in Thai and "meow" when she sees a cat, oh and she can "nom" too. But that's it.

I read that native English speaking kids can be putting three or four words together at two years old and that got me panicking a bit. Obviously, many native English kids are not learning two languages at age two but still, my daughter is well off being able to put two or three words together.

Speaking will come with time I guess

Edited July 23, 2014 by pinkpanther99

[bkkjames]

Yes it will - give it more time - I thought the same with mine but he's getting there more (a little) every day. Enjoy the silly talking now - once its gone its gone.

[Mr00Farang]

My Thai-farang boy started talking at 2 in Thai mostly. Some Englsih words but Thai sentences.

I spent a lot of time with my son from 1 to 3 - like a full-time Mr. Mom. We started speaking Thai together. English words were just names for things.

Everything was named and explained, talking to him as though he understood. Like you would talk to a 6 year old, that's how I talked to a baby. No gibberish and no half-watered down English.

And at 3 or 3 1/2 we switched to all English and hit the books: Richard Scarry, Dr Seuss, etc. Now the boy is almost 6 and is totally bilingual; he can function as a playground translator, after more than two years of bilingual kindergarten.

The only experience I have with kids is my own child and his Thai cousins and the few neighbors in my condo. If any conclusion can be reached, anecdotal as it may be, kids who develop verbal skills are the kids whose parents spend time talking and reading to them. My son's Thai grandmother could not engage the boy in attentive listening. His mother was always too entranced by the TV or the iPhone. The cartoons compete too. Just make sure the cartoons are English. I downloaded every Disney feature for kids and spent time together watching and talking about them. Mom and granny watch Thai and Korean soaps - nothing there for kids.

PM me if you want the cartoon and video collection.

There is no reason to believe that a kid is developing slower based on some inherited trait. They all develop at their own pace to be sure, but it is up to you to maximize the pace.

Edited July 23, 2014 by Mr00Farang

[Cheops]

Don't worry. She will do fine. I have a 7 year old daughter who started to speak her first words when she was 1.5 and now can speak, read and write in Thai and English and some Dutch as well.

I have also a son who started talking his first words when he was 2 years and 1 month old. Mostly boys are a bit slower to start talking. Now he's 4 and speaks both Thai and English and also some Dutch words. He can't read or write yet, except his own name

During my daughter learned to speak she was a bit slower than her same aged friends, but she already catched op AND is indeed now capable of speaking more languages. Oh she also knows quite a lot in Chinese, which she picks up at school.

They both prefer English when looking a DVD or Blu-ray.

[jimky]

My son is 3-years and 5 months. We speak mostly English at home, and mostly Isaan out and about. He watches a lot of YouTube in English and cartoons on TV in Thai. He is very slow at talking. He was able to recognize and name when shown all letters of the English alphabet, could sing Thai alphabet, count to 29 in English, 10 in Thai showing fingers etc. knew colors, animals etc. before age 2. But his development since has been slow and this isn't due to lack of effort.

His formulating sentences is almost non existent other than what I've specifically taught him (and his speech isn't very clear either when saying words). Asked what is this, in English or Thai to about 100 different things, he does respond and say them, will repeat or try to repeat anything he asks "what is this?" and gets a response to. The sentences he does say are things I spent a lot of time teaching him. Like: what is your name? How old are you? Close the door? (all of which he says and understands). His conversation skills though are much more like that of just turned two and would expect he would be well ahead of that by now as he's 3y and 5m but has been a struggle.

Edit: I guess I should add that he doesn't seem challenged in any other way. He can operate video games, actually play them. Can turn on the computer, use DVD player, load up Youtube, navigate, knows where to X out, where to cancel. He even says "no, don't save" .. "man, try again" (when he dies in a game) etc. I told him who was coming to visit in a few days (who he hasn't seen in two years) but knows from photos and couple days later he woke up and was repeating their names to ask when coming etc. He is very attentive, just very slow to talk in real sentences but tries hard to communicate what he wants to say using mostly just single words.

Edited July 23, 2014 by jimky

[Pungdo]

My 2 1/2 year old daughter speaks English, Thai and Esaan and switches between them very easily and is often complimented on how well she does speak, occasionally someone who doesn't know how old she is, asks her age and then looks surprised when I say she is only 2 1/2.

She speaks to me in English with the odd Thai word like Chang thrown in there, but automatically speaks Thai and Esaan with my wife or other Thais.

She also seems very inquisitive and is always asking what things are and when she is told what something is she normally will remember it first time she is told.

[Cheops]

My son is 3-years and 5 months. We speak mostly English at home, and mostly Isaan out and about. He watches a lot of YouTube in English and cartoons on TV in Thai. He is very slow at talking. He was able to recognize and name when shown all letters of the English alphabet, could sing Thai alphabet, count to 29 in English, 10 in Thai showing fingers etc. knew colors, animals etc. before age 2. But his development since has been slow and this isn't due to lack of effort.

His formulating sentences is almost non existent other than what I've specifically taught him (and his speech isn't very clear either when saying words). Asked what is this, in English or Thai to about 100 different things, he does respond and say them, will repeat or try to repeat anything he asks "what is this?" and gets a response to. The sentences he does say are things I spent a lot of time teaching him. Like: what is your name? How old are you? Close the door? (all of which he says and understands). His conversation skills though are much more like that of just turned two and would expect he would be well ahead of that by now as he's 3y and 5m but has been a struggle.

When a kid can do all that what you say your son could do before turning 2, he is a wonder kid! For sure that is not normal. I don't say that he couldn't, but I have never seen any kid in person who could do all that before the age of 2.

My son started his first words after he's 2, but now at just turned 4 he can speak quite a lot in 2 languages. My daughter started at 1.5 but could not sing the complete Thai alphabet yet at 2.

[Farfetched]

My son, who is now 6, is not bi-racial, but has lived with me since he was 18 months. We also worried about his language skills, as he didn't really start talking until about 3 1/2 years old. His mother is Thai. He seemed to understand most everything, but wouldn't speak. Today I wish we could go back to then, the house was much quieter. Keep in mind that Albert Einstein didn't start talking until he was almost 5, and he turned out pretty good.

Edited July 23, 2014 by Farfetched

[smileplur]

Our 15 month old son is just beginning to speak now. He can say a few words now: bye bye, hi, daddy, mommy, etc. His understanding is what shocks me. I can speak to him like a normal person (no baby talk). I tell him "Open the door and throw it in the trash can by the door" and he does just that. He stands up, picks up the item, opens the door, throws away the item (dirty diaper), and then closes the door and returns as if nothing happened. I can tell him to do all kinds of things. "Go get the phone", "put the driver back in the truck", "Where's Elmo?", "What does the cow say?" and he responds appropriately. He doesn't need to acknowledge me verbally, so he doesn't. The cutest one is when I ask him for a kiss or when I ask him to give his mother a kiss. He just goes and does it which is adorable. Kisses always come with a smile from the little guy which melts my heart. Just give it time. I test his understanding often. We only speak English with him when we are in the confines of our home (wife is fluent). He gets a lot of exposure outside because we spend quite a bit of time with him interacting with the neighbors who all speak to him in Thai because they can't speak English. A child will learn in their own time. I was expecting it to take my son longer. I didn't expect him to start walking at 7 months either, but he did! Children are full of surprises!

[amse]

May I suggest that only you speak English and your wife only speak Thai to your child. Your wife's English possibly like most Thai's is more Asian/English, than true English spoken in 1st English speaking countries. I'm a retired teacher and when I was teaching at a bilingual school in Phuket, I met a 2 year old girl who eventually became my foster daughter, living with me on weekends. She is now 13 years old and speaks the most perfect English in her bilingual school. While living with her grandma during the 5 day week, she only speaks Thai with her.

[smileplur]

PM me if you want the cartoon and video collection.

Where are you located? I would be interested in this cartoon and video collection. I have a Roku Player with a lot of content, but we are always looking for new things that he can watch that will entertain and engage him while he is learning.

[DrTuner]

It depends. My son is also almost two and speaks a few words of English, combined with some Isaan. He's just now learning how to string words together. To me it looks like he'll speak if he wants to get something, but otherwise doesn't much bother with the small talk. Didn't fall far from the tree

Daughter-in-law who was 1y when I stepped into the picture however remained quiet until almost three but once it started, we'll be lucky if there's a 5min break. Different personalities.

[Mr00Farang]

The piece below is from the website of the my son's bilnigual school.

Bilingual education has thrived for a long time in multilingual countries. Its premise is that children taught in two languages will learn in both of those languages fluently, and rather than translating from language to language, will actually learn to think in more than one language. Modern linguists purport that in the brain, a ‘black box' called the language acquisition device opens around the age of two, when children begin to acquire language. If that box is, in a sense, propped open at that time by learning more than one language, the learning is real. Languages will be actually acquired rather than memorized and true bilingualism will be achieved. Educators saw the potential for learning (that actually is enhanced in all areas by multilingualism) and the bilingual school movement began.

So keep that black box propped open.

Edited July 23, 2014 by Mr00Farang

[smileplur]

May I suggest that only you speak English and your wife only speak Thai to your child. Your wife's English possibly like most Thai's is more Asian/English, than true English spoken in 1st English speaking countries. I'm a retired teacher and when I was teaching at a bilingual school in Phuket, I met a 2 year old girl who eventually became my foster daughter, living with me on weekends. She is now 13 years old and speaks the most perfect English in her bilingual school. While living with her grandma during the 5 day week, she only speaks Thai with her.

Personally, we don't speak Thai at home. English is the language of the household. It always has been, and it always will be. So, our son should know that and adjust to it accordingly. Since his mother had to quit work to stay home with him, we lost her income. As a result, I often work more than one job to make ends meet. I don't get to see him and interact with him as much as I would like. My wife is fluent in English, and she doesn't make the typical mistakes I often hear. If she did, I would ask her to speak Thai with him.

Furthermore, we intend to move him to the states for his education. As a teacher here, I am not too thrilled with the education system. I work in a supposedly very good school. Nonetheless, I am still less than pleased. He will go through Anuban here. He may even do a couple of years of Prathom, but I haven't decided on that yet. Ideally, he would begin grade one back in the states. As much as I love Thailand and want to stay here, I feel it would be selfish of me to allow him to get his education here. I can't afford the top notch international schools. He will learn the Thai, but it is critical that he learns the English naturally.

[SICA]

My son is 2 & 1/2 and i can't stop him speaking English (i don't speak Thai). He said his first word (daddy )at 11 months. His mum is Thai and talks to him in both English and Thai. His grandparents (her parents) look after him in the day time and they only speak Thai to him but he's chosen to speak English.

My brother is married to a Japanese girl and they have two boys. The eldest is now 9, the youngest 6. The eldest starting talking English immediately, whilst the youngest waited until he was 3. The youngest struggled with English from the start and had to have extra lessons. However they're both now fluent in English and Japanese. I'm sure my boy will start to speak Thai once he starts school next year.

I have also read that children in the developing years parented by a bilingual family, start to talk later in their development as they struggle to decide which language to speak but eventually they make a decision of one language, the other they have to work at.

I wouldn't worry too much at this stage. I'm sure your little one will start, and if he's anything like mine, won't stop, talking very soon and you'll be begging him for peace and quiet!

Edited July 23, 2014 by SICA

[laolover88]

Been through all this!

1. Have her hearing and eyesight tested..

2. Don't mix the languages up. English is what she speaks with Daddy. Thai is what she speaks with Mummy

Nothing much unusual about waiting a while to speak!!

[nithisa78]

Children and adults all develop at the pace they are most comfortable with. Relax, Dad.

[nithisa78]

Effort And Struggle: But you should not envisage the evolutionary worlds, even the most ideal, as spheres whereon life is a flowery bed of ease. The initial life of the mortal races is always attended by struggle. Effort and decision are an essential part of the acquirement of survival values.

ความพยายามและการต่อสู้ แต่คุณไม่ควรมองเห็นโลกวิวัฒนาการแม้ที่เหมาะที่สุดเป็นทรงกลมที่ซึ่งชีวิตเป็นเตียงดอกไม้ของความสะดวกชีวิตเริ่มต้นของเผ่าพันธุ์มนุษย์เข้าร่วมเสมอโดยการต่อสู้ ความพยายามและการตัดสินใจเป็นส่วนที่สำคัญของการได้มาของค่าความอยู่รอด

[Chicken George]

I have not tead all teplies so sorry if repeating anything.

First don't worry all kids learn at different speefs and as soon as some study gives an average it makes us judge by it.

I have 4 boys. Two my youngest are half Thai.

My eldest here learnt quickly. Could Parrot spell about 20 we ords at 2 and a half years old. Also new alphabet. do we thpught brilliant! Speak8ng Thai and English fluently by 3. But by say 6 to 7 his Thai wsd on the same level as his friends.

my youngest well we worried. Did not harly dpeak at all till 3 years old. Really worried. Yes check for hearing problems..for sure. We worti3d untill I tead something on the net. Someone else said they were in a similar position. They said foes the child understand what you dsy? foes the child fo what you say? Answer was yes. So our child was speech retarded. Now 4 years old and talks non stop. School helped. Englisg not as good as Thai yet but getting there.

Suggest also when say 4 years old only let child watch tv in English

They learn and speak Thai all day at school.

Hope this helps.

[franck1972]

Bilingual children definitely start to talk later than others, I know many other people facing the same problem.

My son is 2 years and 9 months old, he knows maybe 15 words, thai, french or english.

I was worrying too, but been told it's nothing that special for mixed kids.

At school, the few who don't talk are also mixed...so, that seems to be widespread.

One of my friend in Bangkok has a son who only started to talk at the age of 4, and now he's talking like the others.

One important thing though, is that he understands.

If your child doesn't understand what you say, then you might consider bringing him to a pediatrician.

They will check his hearing and also try to detect any sign of autism.

[Familyonthemove]

One tip I heard from a friend who had a bilingual child was to help the child make sense of the two languages by being consistent.

So Dad speaks one language to the child and Mum speaks the other language. And when speaking together they would say "Dad says it his way" and "Mum says it this way".

A child wont understand the context of two languages - but will more easily understand that Mum and Dad speak differently.

Your wife speaking Thai and English in the early years may not be helping?

Just a suggestion - but could be worth a try?

[chunktal]

Children and adults all develop at the pace they are most comfortable with. Relax, Dad.

This is the best advice, every kid is different and will get there when they are ready. I've got 12, 5 and a half and 2 and a half year olds and encouraged each without forcing them. The 5 and a half year old is good in both Thai and English and easily slips between them on the fly. The 2 and a half year old is putting sentences together now and you can see her concentrate as she sorts out what she wants to say, I just wait patiently, I love this age and watching them learn.

Toilet training is another, the 5 and a half year old was encouraged (but not forced) to use the potty we got her but preferred nappies until one day when she was around 3, she decided to use the toilet and that was that, never wore nappies again.

Like nithisa78 said, relax and enjoy your kid, they grow up too quick.