I Want My 4Month Old Son to Speak My Native Language.

I was raised the same way and of 5 siblings I am the only that still speaks Spanish. My father didnt speak any spanish but learned as we did lol He does ok now! I think you should do it!

Hi Angie,

My first language is Spanish, and I only talk to my daughter in Spanish. When she was one I put her into daycare and they talked to her in Armenian, I ask the pediatrician if this will not confuse her and he said that probably she will start speaking later than most kids but she would be fluent in both languages.
Fast forward to today my daughter is a healthy 5 year old that is completely bilingual in English and Spanish and still remembers some armenian from her early days (she was in care of an armenian family from 1 year old to 3 years old) then she entered preschool in English and now she is in Kindergarden.
I only talk to her in Spanish and if she replies in English I pretend I do not understand. We also read in Spanish everynight.
Kids are like a sponge, they can absorbe a lot and this is the best time to stimulate their brains, so I suggest you to go for it!

When my daughter was in pre K, the director's 1st language was Spanish, her husband's was French. They spoke to their son in Spanish, French & English, depending on the circumstances. He understood and was spoke 3 languages.

I wish I had learned when I was younger, my ex tried to teach me Spanish as a mother teaches babies (his words), he would say the words and motion, but not tell me in English and though I learned to understand some, I never could really speak it well,

Spanish only !! If your husband speaks Spanish too ....
If not, well your the primary caregiver..my DD is 7 and she went to preschool at 3, I told the teacher that she did not speak any English and to please be kind and patience with her....when I went to pick her up that first day of school her teacher told that she didn't have any problem at all communicating with her and that she does Speak English LOL! The only thing that comes to me is that tv and cousins where very good teachers....

They say the best way to teach a child two languages is to have one parent speak one language and another speak the other...so with you Spanish and your husband English your son should EASILY learn both, with no confusion. My niece learned both English and Turkish the same way, and she was well spoken at a young age and fluent in both languages, although her English was stronger because she was around more English speaking people.

Congratulations for knowing two languages, by the way...I have been "learning" Spanish for four years so I can better communicate with a group of ladies at my church. I have struggled with it and can finally have a conversation, but not very well...it's so hard to learn as an adult, I think.

So, total side question (and could you mail me the answer?) these women keep asking me if I am still breastfeeding, but they do it in a form of sign language because I am obviously not understanding the word for breastfeeding. Can you tell me the verb "to breastfeed" in Spanish? Thanks!

Good luck...teach him both! Good for you!

Speak to him in Spanish only-he won't get confused.

My neighbor is German. Her husband is American.
They tried this approach (your idea) where she only spoke German and he spoke English.
By 2 yrs of age the twins (the oldest 2) and the one yr. old would not speak. At all! People thought there was something wrong with them b/c they would not speak.
The pediatrician said they were confusing the kids and pick English since it was spoken here and teach German to them after age 3, so that they could grasp one language first. Their brains are very underdeveloped, Angie. You can't teach 2 languages to babies.

Teach him both!
What a lucky kid!
It doesn't have to be one or the other.
Younger kids pick up two languages easier while they are learning the everyday stuff.
Many kids come from bilingual families.
It's second nature to them.
They can learn colors and numbers in both as well as conversing.
Don't take this the wrong way, but you live in New Jersey. Your child needs to know how to speak English.
My kids have been to school with children straight from Mexico and they couldn't speak a word of English.
Me? I've made my kids take Spanish all through school.
German and French, if offered............
Hey, knowing more than one language is good for anyone, in my opinion.

teach your child both languages. my little niece is being taught french by my sil. my other niece is learning chinese. my kids only speak english.

well its the opposite here at home. My husband and i are both hispanics and he speaks to our son in spanish and i speak to him in english. But when daddy is at work (i'm a SAHM) i speak to my son in english and repeat the same thing in spanish , he's 14 months and understands everything. He's not speaking yet but if i tell him in spanish he knows what i'm talking about and vice versa.

Hello, I taught children English as a Second Language. When they came to me, I would encourage them to speak their first language at home and English at school. This way, they became bilingual. As much as I wanted them to learn English, I also wanted them to retain their native language. This was part of who they were.
I would think that having you speak Spanish, and your husband speak English, would have the same results.
Good luck with your precious little baby.
K. K.

I think is great for you to think like this, I also have two boys 13 and 9 and they are both bilingual due to the fact that I have always spoken to them in spanish, every other aspect of their lives like school, friends tv etc., is in english. This way I am giving them another oportunity in life, and eventually they can take another lenguage and this by it self becomes a carrear. It will not confuse them at all. What you can expect is to use both lenguages at the time, that you correct, is either one or the other. You will be ok and he will be also.

well, when teaching babies sign, you are supposed to pretty much name everything in both languages.. I imagine it would be the same with spanish. You might try getting some books on CD in spanish, so he is used to hearing it. Read him books in spanish, and read the same one in english. I figure that as long as he is exposed to both languages consistently, he will pick them up. When he starts getting old enough to talk, it will be easier to know which way he is leaning more, and work on the other as well.

There are studies on both sides saying that it is good and that it could be bad, casuing kids to have trouble talking. My daughter is almost 3. My husband's native tongue is Spanish. We talk to her in both English and Spanish. You have the right idea for one of you to talk in English and the other in Spanish. But don't worry about mixing things up a couple of times. As long as you do not constantly talk in mixed tongues, he will learn.

Continue to speak to him in Spanish. The worst thing that can happen is that he might start to talk a bit later than other children. Don't worry about him being confused - he might mix the 2 languages together at first but baby brains are exceptionally good at learning multiple languages! The older he gets the more difficult it will be for him to learn another language and be able to speak it as fluently as a "mother tongue". Your son will be very grateful to you one day. Speaking multiple languages is a great gift! My husband's mother is Spanish and his father Italian (and we grew up in South Africa speaking English!). To this day my husband is upset that his mother never taught him Spanish, even though he still speaks Italian and English fluently. I also made the mistake of waiting and my two children (although they can understand a lot of Italian) are struggling to learn to speak, read and write it. I now have to employ a teacher to teach them! Don't make my same mistake I did! Good Luck!! :)

Hola,
I have 2 children a beautiful 5 year old daughter (mi princesa) and a 2 1/2 year old little boy (mi travieso). My husband and I both feel that it is very important that our kids grow up speaking both languages and have been been doing so (my husband and I speak to our kids in both languages). Speaking to your little boy in the two languages is not going to confuse him at all, right now he is a little sponge and he will soak it all in. Some people are of the opinion that if you speak to young children/babies in two languages that it will actually delay the childs development but I have never found that to be the case. Both of my little ones started speaking before their first birthday and they both speak very clearly. My daughter does speak more Spanish (she will respond in Spanish when spoken to in Spanish) then my son does right now but they both understand everything that is said to them in Spanish (both sets of Grandparents only speak Spanish).

I think that it is important to teach your kids about their heritage and language is a huge part of that. Continue on with what you are doing! Buena Suerte

knowing 2 languages will only help. I would do it. i]when your son starts speaking he will probably mix up the 2 languages-so what! He'll figure it out.

Good Job mommy!! keep it up.
I speak English and my bf's parents speaks Filipino (Tagalog) to my 8 month old daughter. My bf understands but can't speak. They sometimes speak tagalog to me but I don't understand trying to learn :) maybe my daughter can teach me.
I would love it if she knew how to speak in both languages.

You are so lucky that you can raise your kids in a bilingual environment! An additional language, especially, Spanish will give your kids an advantage in the work world and will make it easier for him to learn more languages. Speaking another language improves brain functioning. I speak only English and a little French to my kids and they take a French class. My nanny speaks to them mostly in Spanish. You can either speak to your son exclusively in Spanish at home and let him pick up English outside the home or split the Spanish/English with your husband as you described. I'd probably split the Spanish/English at home. This is how most kids become bilingual.

Bless you for giving your child such an amazing advantage!!!! I believe you and your husband should both speak your native languages...and continue to do so while your child is growing up ALL THE TIME. The more languages and cultures they are exposed to at a young age the easier it will be for them to learn these things as they are older...and they will have a HUGE advantage being bi-lingual! He will learn both as long as you both continue to provide both regularly.

On the comment that children get confused by multiple languages...How? A child cannot discern there are two languages being spoken...they learn both as one. They learn that blue is also azul. The younger they learn these things the easier it is. It isn't like a child can discern that they are learning two languages at once. They just learn that is the way it is. If that theory were true, we would all be teaching our children things one word at a time, and speaking to them with vocabularies of 5 words or less until they were about 1 so as to not confuse them with too many words. That pediatrician's theory is completely illogical.

It's exactly what we do.. My husband is Swedish and speaks Swedish with the girls and I speak English with the girls.. so far so good.. My 4 year old has a pretty good grasp on both languages.. My husband was raised in the same kinda household and both his Swedish and English are very good.

Just speak to your child in your language.

My Husband spoke to our kids, in his native language since birth.
(I speak English).
They are now 4 and 8 years old, and are FLUENT in that language.
In speaking and hearing it. My daughter also in reading it and can write some.

Kids are sponges, and will learn.
They do NOT get 'confused." My kids NEVER got 'confused.'
Just keep speaking to him in YOUR language.

My kids, even when I speak my Husband's language.. .THEY will 'correct' ME... in pronunciation and wording. And again, they are only 4 and 8 years old.

My kids are totally bi-lingual.
They are more fluent than I am.
My daughter also knows some Hawaiian and Japanese, which is taught in school.

all the best,
Susan

speak in spanish to him as long and as much as you possibly can! If your husband could support you and speak spanish to him as well, that would help. My husband's mom spoke cantonese with her kids only until the eldest went to school and then she switched to speaking (broken) english to them because she said "they would not answer me in cantonese, so I gave up." He has never forgiven her for that - as a businessman, cantonese would come in handy these days! It is a true gift that you give your children when you give them another language!

Don't stop speaking Spanish to your son. My first language is Portuguese, and I try to speak only Portuguese to them. They are 3 and 1 and understand everything I say. The speaking part is more difficult because dad speaks English and everything around them is in English, so they want to speak English. I, sometimes tell them that mommy doesn't understand English, and ask them to repeat what they want in Portuguese. Good luck!

I think your idea is great. Let your husband speak english and you spanish. My best friend growing up had her parents speaking mostly Vietnamese to her but her older sisters spoke English. She has no problem understanding both.

Well my fist language is Spanish (my husband's too) and we only speak Spanish to our daughter (she is 16 months old), she understands and the few words that she says are in Spanish, but when she goes to daycare (1 or 2 days a week) they speak to her in English, also all the cartoons that she watches are in English, and I think it's great like that and I am pretty sure she'll learn both perfectly by the time she is a little older. So yes, it would be great if you spoke to him in Spanish and yous hubby in English, he'll learn both and would be able to communicate with his grandparents with no problem when he is older, which is a great plus.

I know a few couples who did exactly that (one parent speaks a foreign language exclusivity, the other speaks English) and it worked perfectly to raise a bilingual child.
The key is consistency and always sticking with your language and your children learn which one to use and when.
Great idea and good luck!

what a lucky little fellow! he will grow up seamlessly understanding two languages instead of struggling with it when he's older. he won't be confused. this is a great thing.
khairete
S.