They just forget how to say words!

We use English at home. But I do sing Vietnamese songs to them. And my family speaks Vietnamese to them. They used to spend alot of time with my families (daily) but now they go there 1-2x/week....I wonder if they will have speech delay if they have to deal with 2 languages...

They talked alot before turned 1. They could say hi, mama, dada, baba (bottle), na-na (no),.. Now they dont say those anymore. They say alot of 2 sound words, 3 sound words. But they make no sense. I swear they say something in vnetnamese too. But I am sure they dont know what it means. Nolan calls Michelle chiii (older sis) sometimes. But I never taught him that. And I dont think he knows what it means. And when they are happy and excited, they scream 'troi' (GOD). I never taught them that either. I try to teach them say like ball, dog,.. I cant tell they try hard but still cant say anything. What makes me worried is that they just forget what they learnt/could say before!!!!! I am wondering that their speech regression is because they have been focusing on walking. Michelle has been walking for a month. And Nolan just started. Is it because we introduced 2 languages? Or because they have so much fun now. They love going out. And we go out everyday. And they always have a blast...

However, they do understand pretty much 90% what we say to them: no dont do that, sit, lets go out, let's put shoes on, bath time, brushing time,bring that to mommy,...And when we ask 'Who is Nolan/Michelle/mommy/daddy?? they point correctly. I show them pictures of cow, sheep, horse and tell them 'its a cow/sheep..' then I ask them 'which one is the cow..?' they point to correct ones. They just dont say the word. They love story time too. I just dont understand why they just stop talking (i mean real words)!!! Oh they do chit chat to each other or to us, but they dont say real words. I do one on one time and teach them the word. But it doesnt go well. They are not patient enough. They constantly on the move and try to discover something new ((sigh))

Any mama experiences this?? Their 15 check up is next month. I know they are supposed to say few words. But now they dont say any word with intent like they used to......

 

I have read that verbal expression may be delayed slightly when toddlers are learning more than one language at a time - but I think the benefits of being multi-lingual far out weigh that.

It's definitely possible that with learning to walk they've put speech on the back burner.

But also, your LOs are only 14 months old! Don't sweat it. Definitely mention your concerns to your doc at their appointment, but I bet he'll reassure you that they're developing just fine (especially since it sounds like their receptive language is great). My girls barely had 5 words at their 18 month appointment (and they were only learning English) & my doc wasn't worried. Now they talk up a storm. It will come in time. And don't stress yourself out too much trying to "teach" them language - they're learning it every time you open your mouth. They're absolute sponges at this age & when they're ready they'll start sharing all of their thoughts with you. All of the time. Whether you want them to or not. :good:

 

Just read and chat with them about things you see and are doing. Narrate your daily activities. I bet they'll get proficient in walking and start up with a new skill- like talking.

 

We have a bilingual house. DH and my ILs speak only French to the kids and I speak mostly English (some French now when I speak to my son which the girls obviously hear).

I just had my girls assessed by a speech pathologist last week since I was getting conflicting reports as to whether growing up in a bilingual house delays speech and as to whether being a twin delays speech. The speech pathologist that I saw said that BOTH can slow speech development so my girls have a double whammy (which is why they are just starting to use 1-2 words now at 17 months). Interestingly enough, ID twins are supposed to be even more delayed than fraternal twins so I guess they kind of have a triple whammy, lol.

The speech pathologist said that while my girls were delayed with speech they were on tract socially and developmentally so not to worry, they would catch up. She also told me to keep doing what I'm doing...repeat, repeat, repeat and talk to them all day. Another suggestion she had was to talk to them face-to-face as they need to see you say the word. I don't know if this is true of other twin Moms but I find I am usually playing with, reading books to them, etc while they are sitting on my lap with their backs to me and not when they are in front of me face-to-face so I thought this was a good point.

I know with my son, who will be starting French school this fall, he would pick and choose his words early on and learn each word in only one language. Now he knows almost everything in both although sometimes he will get stuck and ask for the translation. I think there are huge advantages to learning more than one language and while they might be a little slower now they will be ahead of other kids later.

 

Nothing that you wrote would concern me in the least. It is absolutely normal for children to have a bit of regression or plateau in progress with speech/language when they are learning to do anything gross motor (e.g., walking). Like PP's said.. their receptive language sounds wonderful and definitely keep talking to them as much as you can. The current research on bilingual children says that there really is no evidence that children who grow up learning a second language in the home will have a language delay. Your kiddos may also go through periods of time where they seem to not be speaking as much.. they may just be taking the time to absorb/understand what is being spoken. One thing I would make sure of so that your LO's do have success learning both languages.. make sure that you are consistent with when you speak each language.. for instance..

-you might have your husband only speak English to them and you speak your native language to them
-speak only to them in your native language when doing a specific activity (e.g., taking a bath).. etc etc..
-when they are around your families make sure that they are hearing mainly/only your native language

This is so that they start to differentiate between languages and it will help them improve with both understanding and use of both languages. Here is a great article that you might get some use from:

http://www.brainy-child.com/article/bilingual.shtml

Also wanted to mention.. as PP said.. do not hesitate to mention your concerns to your pediatrician.. there is nothing wrong with erring on the side of caution with speech/language screenings and assessments.

 

Your kids sound pretty normal to me. Actually, did you know that more people in the world are bilingual than monolingual--so more normal than you imagine. Like others have said just keep talking to them in context--what you are doing. My son is learning 3 languages, he also seemed to speak more at a fairly young age than he does now. But he understands great in all the languages he hears. He also knows signs and is very good at making himself understood.

I want to recommend a blog to you for multilingual parents http://www.multilingualliving.com/
They also have a facebook page you can like. There you can meet a lot of other parents who also have children learning more than one language.

 

Thank you so much Ladies! I feel much better now. I thought about the bilingual thing. And I wasnt sure if I should let the kids explore to vietnamese much. But my parents really love them to be able to speak vietnamese. I havent spoken vietnamese to them that much. But I am going to use it when we bathe and play outside from now.

They are in help me grow program here in ohio because they were born premature. We have a nurse come over every month to track their developments. She told me yesterday that they were growing very well. But she concerned that they didnt talk much when she was there. So we did have speech therapist came out last month to evaluate them. They're a bit behind. The nurse told me yesterday that its normal for bilingual kids blah blah blah... made me worried lol. Im ok now.

yes, I do know many people are bilingual. I belive vietnamese kids start learning second language from high school or earlier....

yeah I am going to speak vietnamese to them and read read read to them. But I wont force them to learn new words. I should let them have fun hehe.

Thanks again for great advices and websites. You mamas always give me great sulotions and supports hehe

 

I'm going to echo that this is totally normal. My impression as a pediatrician is that bilingual children are initially delayed in expressive speech, mainly because they are processing multiple language structures, but when they do start speaking they are well ahead of us simpletons who only know one language (and not always well!). They usually do better in school as well Definitely continue to immerse them in your family's language and culture!

As for the "regression", I think it is also normal and not so much a regression but them focusing on more complex language. The fact that they are babbling multi-syllable words means they are learning conversation and sentence structure and the vocabulary will follow. Many children will learn a word and then stop using words they had mastered in order to use new words. They didn't lose their old words, they just tucked them away for later use.

I think we all worry about our kids in one way or another. I was worried mine would be delayed because their articulation of words was so bad, but all of a sudden their speech exploded and now they repeat so much and already know numbers and alphabet! Keep up the good work!