mathmarm Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 My son is being raised Bi-lingual and Bi-cultural in ASL/Deaf culture and English. He spends time every day with his Deaf grandparents and extended family, he signs as well as his Deaf cousins did/do at his age and he is on track for language development with spoken language as well. Since his language development is on track, so to speak, should we introduce a new language now, or wait until he is speaking sentences in English? His ASL is a little stronger than his English--as everyone in his life can sign, but not everyone can/does voice. We really want to introduce a couple more spoken languages--Should we wait until he is 2 and presumably stronger in his spoken language English, can we introduce a 2nd spoken language now or is it better to wait? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Lots of students study 3 languages simultaneously. A child I used to babysit is a native English speaker and is learning Spanish and Hebrew. I say go for it. The worst I can imagine happening is the 3rd doesn't get used enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 I'll tell you a true story, but i would like to say that it does depend on the child. I know someone born here and learned to speak both Chinese and English when he was a toddler. (His parents are Chinese). He is now a pharmacist. I think he did alright. :) Hth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renai Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 It is good to start another language now, even if only to have the child be familiar with the sounds of the language. We live in a bilingual English/Spanish household, but I also maintain an interest in Japanese. I don't speak it fluently, but I have a kids video tape I like to put on starting when young. I will also sing songs in Japanese, as well as other languages. The purpose at the time is exposure, not fluency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Are you introducing it as an immersion language for bilingual mastery? Like is this your native language? Or are you talking about as a subject matter, for functional fluency in an academic environment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
composr Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Concur with the others. Start it whenever you want. Just decide that when you start, you'll be able to maintain some consistency. If you're concerned about ability in a particular language, just be aware of both time and use. If you're spending a good amount of time immersed in the language, and doing some formal education in that language, ability won't suffer too much. Keep in mind that it's not particularly realistic to maintain academic fluency between 3 or more languages. This is okay. It's also okay to be less fluent in one than the others. Or to rotate on some subjects for variety. Studies I read from SIL on multilingual households showed a huge variety of approaches and environments. The two things held in common with successful households: commitment (consistency) and time (adequate exposure and use). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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