Just how much should 28-month-olds be talking?

Hi, everyone,

my twins are 28 months old and just not talking the way I think they should - they know and use a lot of words, but don't speak in sentences much (although sometimes they will say something surprising, especially dd). For instance, when they would like a snack, they will usually just say "Milk, cookies!" (Not: "I would like milk and cookies.")

The pediatrician wasn't concerned at the 2-year checkup, but I just worry (have heard too much about 2-year-old superkids who speak in full sentences with correct grammar...) I suspect raising them biliingual (I speak mostly German with them, dh English) is slowing things down. In other areas they seem fine, can name many items in books and even count to 10 or so in both languages (they do get mixed up sometimes ).

Should I worry? Is the second language delaying them (I read this can happen)? Does anyone have experience with bilingual toddlers?

Thanks,

DeLana

 

My mom is German and many of her friends speak German to their children all day then it's mixed English/German when daddy is home. None of these kids seem to be delayed at all. I interviewed the newly 4 yo daughter of a friend for a grad school project and she exceeded the standards for her age in both languages! From studies that I've read, you are actually helping to make your children's brain's more flexible by "wiring" their brains for two languages. It will be easier for them to learn yet another language as an adult. My parents watch the girls for us 1-2 days a week and I've asked mom to speak German to them so they get this benefit. Luckily, my English dad speaks German fluently.

Just remember that everyone is different! Raised by the same mother, I was talking in complete sentences with good grammar just past 11 months old ("Mommy, I want a dolly like Maria's dolly" being the sentence mom noted) while both my brothers were closer to 3.

 

I wouldn't worry too much!! I'm talking German to my kids all the time and Jaden is a little slower with speech than Aaron. Just keep talking and modeling they will talk when ready!

Echt, mach Dir keine Sorgen! Jedenfalls, noch nicht jetzt!

 

Hab noch ein wenig Geduld !

I thought ours were never going to make it. They seemed so far behind compared to their German friends here. They've gone from really simple two word sentences to five word sentences in the last few months ! Stick at it. I just keep thinking how long it took me to learn German and I know it's well worth the effort.

Eske's favourite saying at the moment is Darf ich auch mal !

Let us know how you're doing.

 

QUOTE(Ange2k25 @ Jul 30 2007, 04:54 AM) [snapback]349210[/snapback]
My mom is German and many of her friends speak German to their children all day then it's mixed English/German when daddy is home.


Thank you for the reassurance. I'm curious, are you now fluent in German? Or did you reject speaking in a "foreign" language (it's very common; I once had a coworker - born in '69 - with a German mother who didn't even try to teach him German. He doesn't speak any German today, but regrets this very much).

DeLana

 

QUOTE(Monika @ Jul 30 2007, 03:45 PM) [snapback]349635[/snapback]
I wouldn't worry too much!! I'm talking German to my kids all the time and Jaden is a little slower with speech than Aaron. Just keep talking and modeling they will talk when ready!

Echt, mach Dir keine Sorgen! Jedenfalls, noch nicht jetzt!


Thanks, we first-time mothers (no matter how old) just have to worry about something

I have to admit that they do speak more English than German (yes, the TV/DVDs have something to do with it, although they don't get to watch it much)... but sometimes they seem to choose the easier word, such as "helicopter" (pronounced helikater) instead of Hubschrauber. One of their favorite German words, BTW, is Kleiderbuegel. Go figure

DeLana

 

QUOTE(hellybelly @ Jul 30 2007, 08:05 PM) [snapback]350062[/snapback]
Hab noch ein wenig Geduld !

I thought ours were never going to make it. They seemed so far behind compared to their German friends here. They've gone from really simple two word sentences to five word sentences in the last few months ! Stick at it. I just keep thinking how long it took me to learn German and I know it's well worth the effort.

Eske's favourite saying at the moment is Darf ich auch mal !

Let us know how you're doing.


Thank you for the reassurance. I'm curious, do yours prefer German to English? Or mix everything up real good sometimes (mine may say, "eins, zwei, drei... four, five, nine" (no, they don't count correctly yet )

Nochmals vielen Dank,

DeLana

 

QUOTE(DeLana @ Jul 31 2007, 03:46 AM) [snapback]350664[/snapback]
Thank you for the reassurance. I'm curious, do yours prefer German to English? Or mix everything up real good sometimes (mine may say, "eins, zwei, drei... four, five, nine" (no, they don't count correctly yet )

Nochmals vielen Dank,

DeLana



They seem to use longer sentences in German than in English, but I don't think they prefer it. They speak a mixture of English and German together although probably a bit more German. They speak almost only English with me.

They can count in both languages and don't seem to mix them up. They do miss out number though ! Eins zwei drei fünft sieben neun zehn ! At first they got confused with the number nine in English because of nein ! That really threw them !

Melde Dich, wenn Du noch Fragen hast !

 

QUOTE(hellybelly @ Jul 31 2007, 10:20 AM) [snapback]350833[/snapback]
They can count in both languages and don't seem to mix them up. They do miss out number though ! Eins zwei drei fünft sieben neun zehn ! At first they got confused with the number nine in English because of nein ! That really threw them !


I bet 9 is their favorite number :lol:

Nochmals danke, ich werde bestimmt in der Zunkunft noch Fragen haben!

DeLana

 

Ours are also bilingual, but it's English at home and Spanish at preschool/friends/housekeeper. Ours are also delayed, which IS common in bilingual kids. They absorb for longer, but usually catch up with peers by age 4. Jacob is caught up in English and slightly delayed in Spanish (expected since it's not a full-time language). Aaron is slightly delayed in English and more delayed in Spanish. I'm not worried because we did development tests at 36 months, and they are right on target. it's just now a matter of their language catching up to their brains.

As for mixing languages, in order to be successful, you need to establish clear boundaries. Speak ONLY your native language to your child. Your spouse should do the same. Neither mommy nor daddy should mix languages. If you make clear that you will only communicate in your language, your children will follow that lead. However, if you open the opportunity to speak in both, most children will reject the "foreign" language, especially after beginning school.

We speak only English to our kids. Daddy a few weeks ago said something in Spanish and was chatised by Jacob who insisted that Daddy speaks only English. When we return to the US, the boys will be enrolled in a bilingual English/Spanish public school.

 

Just after replying to my last post I asked Kelsey and Eske if they spoke German or English ! Eske said German and Kelsey said English !

I'm hoping to be able to interest them both in English a bit more as I'm now a freelance English teacher and translator. It's lovely when I hear them say "Mummy has to work" "English now !"

It's really interesting to see how they learn the language too. German seems to come more naturally to them at the moment and they didn't even say no until they were two ! All they said was nein !

No they say "I like it, no !" Is this something only bilinguals do, or is this the normal way to learn !?

It's so nice to find someone in the same situation. I have and English friend here, but her youngest son is already 8 and he refuses to speak English to her, so I have no-one to turn to for advice.

 

I was brought up bilingual (spanish english) and I was not delayed at all, in fact I was early in my speech development. My siblings were alright, although not clearly skilled in the art of talking non-stop.
I want to raise my children bilingual but I find it difficult, because their father doesn't speak any spanish (and I have become slightly more proficient in english than in spanish). I sing them songs in spanish and we try to talk some but knowing mummy knows english is enough for them to say: no not in spanish, english please!!
My ideal would be them going to a spanish school, so they would speak it there and then ebglish at home. This is however not doable.
One of their friends is bilingual portuguese/english and refuses to speak portuguese although he clearly understands it since his mom only speaks to him in portuguese. I guess it is sort of similar with my children because they follow orders in spanish, just almost never actually say a word in it themselves.

Ollie was an early very skilled talker (however he is not a good communicator as I posted last week), Al spoke terrible for a long time (he seemed to be unable to put his thoughts in the right order, he would babble: me go museum me museum me me me museum go go go me. At 3 he was still doing this. In the past months he has made a HUGE step forwards and he can actually talk almost completely normally!
Mllie

 

We're just like Cathy, Spanish/English, but in reverse here in the US. Totally agree with the language boundaries and consistency. And since I don't speak perfect Spanish, I guess I don't have a choice! :icon_biggrin:

I got nervous about one of my boys because his pronounciation was/is really garbled. The other one is a parrot that can switch back and forth at will. People have often commented that he sounds "advanced" for a male, bilingual twin.

I know we're not supposed to compare kids, but I couldn't help it since everyone kept pointing out the difference. I took him to a speech therapist just to check - more for my own peace of mind. Pedi reassured me that it's OK just to check and moms should follow their instincts. (Love her.)

Surprise, surprise - the therapist said he's doing really well and to - basically - chill out for another 6 months or so. And she said to make sure that WE were enunciating clearly to him and avoiding "Spanglish". (Oops)

Apparently language comprehension at this age is much more important than pronounciation. In our case, the one I worried about was also the one that made himself clearly understood nonverbally and followed complex instructions very early. Of course the therapist pointed out that clearly this meant he doesn't have a "delay" in using or understanding language. (Duh...what was I thinking.)

Oh, and their favorite number is NINE.