Those doing 2 languages

Now that the twins are in a French daycare, they seem to be loosing some of their english understanding for asking them to do stuff. Like if you ask William to sit, he looks at you like you are from another planet, if you say it in French, he sits so fast his teeth clank together. Friday when I picked them up from daycare I asked Nathaniel to get his coat. He stood there clueless, so I asked in French and off he went to get it. I don't know if I should be concerned or not. I find myself speaking to them more in French now then in English. I dont know if this is normal or not? I know they may call behind some with learning 2 languages, but I wasn't aware that they may loose the little English that they had.

 

I'm no real help...but I remember the story about my dh. His parents are from Italy, and they would go there every few years when they were younger(even now really). He went I think the year before K...and came back and only spoke Italian. He spoke no English! I think for him(this was in the 80's), he had to stay back in preschool and relearn the language! His parents spoke it at home, but he got the English at school. So then he went to Italy and was immersed in the language, he forgot his English.

I would talk to the teachers and voice your concerns. I think it could just be something they need to get used to? ardon:

 

Possibly. They will be 2 in December so I am not overly concerned for when they start school yet, as that is 2 yrs away still. We do speak English at home, as I wanted to keep daycare for French and home for English, but I find myself speaking in French more and more to get them to do certain things.

 

My SIL's husband is from Spain, so they are a bilingual household. She was a SAHM until the kids went back to school, though, so it's a bit of a different situation. I don't really remember her kids having that issue, but they were basically only hearing the Spanish at home some, and the rest of their lives are in English.

I would say in your situation, either stick with the English at home or say it in both English and French.....I really think they will adjust. I have heard that kids learning two languages often have a language delay, and my SIL did see that with both her kids the first couple of years, but by the time they went to preschool at 3 or 4, they had no problems.

 

I m french, my husband is Irish.We speak to each other in english.We live in Hong Kong. I speak to my kids in french

With my first son , untill he was 2 he only spoke in french.I was the main care giver.I m not working. Now he s almost 5 and can flip between the 2 without any problem and more importantly never mixes the 2 languages up.

With the twins, they re only 16 months so just starting to say a few words. it s a different story. I have a nanny now that comes everyday and she speaks english to them. I m a bit worried because they re already mixing up words in english and french.

I m worried because living in an expatriate community I have met a lot of couple with 2 languages and it s always the english that takes over. I have french friends married to american or english guys, and their kids don t speak french at ALL. they understand but don t speak it.

I don t know for me, french is more difficult than english to learn so I wouldn't be concerned if they seem to have forgotten their english. it will come back easily.

 

Our kids are bilingual as well. My husband and I are native English speakers, but we live in a French speaking African country with our twins and our nanny/housekeeper speaks only French and we speak French as well when she is here Monday through Friday, and obviously when we are out and about as well. When our nanny cares for our children it's all in French. My twins are 22 months old and easily flip back and forth unless it's a word or phrase that they only know in one language. I will even catch them saying something to us in French on the weekend and then having a realization that we speak English on the weekends and they'll stop and say it again in English. I think your kids will adjust, but I would just make sure that you keep on speaking to them in English when you're with them even if it means having to re-teach them some things. For example, don't just give up and tell them to get their coats in French, but you might want to say it in French and then in English a few times so that he understands that the meanings are the same.

 

Thanks. I do say things in both languages. My guys are also 22 months, but they already had a language delay, and this is putting them furth back, however I don't want to take them out of the french program, as living in Canada, it is beneficial to have both languages.

 

My girls will be 3 on the 14th. They have spoken to in Spanish exclusively (M-F, 9-5) by their daycare provider since they were 3 months old. I had the same concerns you do, as we only speak English at home and at times they seemed completely confused by me, however had absolutely no problem understanding what they were being asked to do when asked in Spanish.

Now my girls completely get it and switch between the languages very, very easily. I was told that them being in this kind of situation would cause them some delays, but overall, I am finding that the benefits clearly outweigh the negatives. Honestly, my girls seemed somewhat clueless in general when it came to understanding things and following directions (in English and Spanish) when they were your twins age. Certainly, for us at least, around 2 and by 2.5 things seemed to register for them alot more quickly.

Now they are completely bilingual and actually choose to speak either language depending on who they are interacting with. But, no matter the circumstances, they definitely understand even if they aren't able to or choose not to respond in whichever language. Hopefully, that makes sense...I'm struggling to articulate what I am getting at.

 

We actually have four languages in our kids' lives and it works very well. I'm a linguist myself and just wanted to add my two cents. There are two approaches two bilingualism and I would strongly recommend sticking with one of those (as you started to, anyway). One is the "one person, one language" approach, the other one the "one environment, one language". The only situation where bi- (or multi-)lingualism gets confusing for a kid's brain is if one person is speaking multiple languages with them at all times. Even if for now it seems that the kids have trouble following your English, I would stick with it and reiterate or show what you want them to do in English. They will maybe need a few months to adjust, but, as other posters said, will soon enough figure out which language "belongs" to whom. I hope it all works out well!

 

Thanks everyone for responding. I feel much better now, and you have reduced my concerns quite a bit. I was thinking of removing them, but the benefits to them being bilingual are too great for me to do it. Hopefully by the new yr they will have adjusted more and won't look at me like I have 3 heads when I speak in English to them. Their older brother is also ina french program all day french at school and then daycare, he seems to be adjusting better, but he was in a french daycare as a baby, started younger then his brothers, so I know I shouldnt but I was comparing them to Donevan.

 

Really interesting topic. My boys are 14 months and just starting to talk. My husband and I only speak English but we have a Spanish-speaking nanny who cares for them 4 days out of the week. She speaks English too but primarily Spanish, and she usually sings, plays, talks to them in Spanish. I wss starting to notice that on the weekends after spending 3 straight days with us (we speak only English) they usually add a few new words to their vocabulary and communicate verbally so much more. Then we go back to weeekdays with the nanny and the new words trail off and they don't speak as often. I was beginning to wonder if we should encourage our nanny to speak English to them more to help soilidify their English vocabulary. Based on what I read here, I'm not going to worry about it. I would love for them to be bilingual, even if we don't speak much Spanish. I know some basics, but maybe they could teach us in a couple of years!

 

You've already recieved a lot of advice and it sounds like you're a lot less worried now.

So I'll just invite you to join the community at http://www.multilingualliving.com/ There are a lot more children in the world in the same situation as your boys then there are monolinguals. So don't worry. They'll be fine.

 

We are bilingual as well. I speak English and Vietnamese. Everyday I speak vnese and English to them. My husband only speaks English. My parents speak vnese and English to them as well. They watch vnese kids music DVDs. I really don't know whats going anymore. My kids say 20 and some English words and only 1 vnese word. They understand 90% or more what we say in English but very little in vnese. I'm not worried at all. They will pick up Vietnamese later. At least I hope.

 

Thanks. I'll check it out.

 

You already have some great advice. We do English and French too as you know and I know my DH would often get frustrated with Dannik when he was younger as he would come home in the evening, say something to him in French and he would not respond after spending all day in English with me. This has gotten much better as he's gotten older. He's now started French JK and easily slips between French and English although sometimes has to ask for translation. For some reason the girls seem to be less affected by the languages even though I feel they are even less verbal than Dannik was at this age. DH comes home and speaks in French and they just carry on so I also think it has to do with the child too. Keep doing what you're doing and they will adjust .

 

Can I just say WOW! BRAVO. I worry about my kids just speaking ENGLISH LOL If I had any advice it would be if you ask them to do something like sit down in English and they look at you like your nuts maybe say it again in English then in French then again in English so they can start putting it back together

 

lol Thanks! I speak both so it was just natural for me to want them to as well.

E's 3 - Donevan is in a French JK as well. He seems to enjoy it. How is Dannik doing now? Is he liking it better?

 

Dannik is doing much better, thanks! The first couple of weeks were ROUGH. It's full day so it's hard on him...he is now often in bed before the girls (between 6pm and 6:30pm) and sleeps until 6:30am or 7am (used to be up at 5 or 5:30) so that part is better for me . We're all adjusting to the new routine...the girls naps are cut short now since we have to pick him up off the bus at 2:30 but they are sleeping more at night now too so I guess even though the days are a little longer and crazier the nights have been longer too which is awesome!

How is school going for you? I'm in awe that you're managing to do everything you're doing .

 

[quote name='E's 3' date='05 October 2011 - 06:24 AM' timestamp='1317810296' post='1825502']
Dannik is doing much better, thanks! The first couple of weeks were ROUGH. It's full day so it's hard on him...he is now often in bed before the girls (between 6pm and 6:30pm) and sleeps until 6:30am or 7am (used to be up at 5 or 5:30) so that part is better for me . We're all adjusting to the new routine...the girls naps are cut short now since we have to pick him up off the bus at 2:30 but they are sleeping more at night now too so I guess even though the days are a little longer and crazier the nights have been longer too which is awesome!

How is school going for you? I'm in awe that you're managing to do everything you're doing .
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Donevan is in all day everyday JK too. The boys have long days, so the twins are usually in bed by 6:30-6:45 and Donevan around 7. I usually have to wake them up at 6:15 to get them ready for daycare. I drop them off at 7:15, D gets on the bus at 8:15, he gets dropped back at daycare at 4:30 and I pick them up around 5:15ish. School for me is going good. I am enjoying it. I did have to drop my biology class though, it was making me neurotic.