Questions regarding adopting an older child & language acquisition...

[TwinMominTX]

Hi All,

 

My husband and I were recently blessed to be able to add to our family by adopting a 4-year old boy from Haiti. He has been with us for about two weeks and things are going exceedingly well. Our entire family is thrilled and it's been amazing how easily we've all adapted.

 

In the 2 weeks he's been here, our Haitian Creole and his English have each gotten better and we are able to easily communicate all our wants, needs and desires. Throw in a bit of charades and we're all doing great. He already easily understands commands in English and is turning into a little parrot. He mimics just about everything we say and I can see the connections starting to happen within his sweet brain!

 

I am curious if anyone has adopted an older child that did not have English as their primary language? I feel like we're doing fine, but I would love to find some resources - possibly online - that might tell me about the different stages he'll go through in the coming months as he learns more English. I can make some good guesses at the process, but I figure there has got to be something out there that will give me some more information on the entire process.

 

I'm finding it all very fascinating! Last night when he was falling asleep I overheard him whispering words in English to himself - like he was trying the words out in private! Very cute. He is from all appearances a very intelligent little guy - very curious and FULL OF ENERGY! Oh my...everyone always told me that girls and boys were very different. I didn't believe them until now! I have learned that daily outside play time is an absolute must for a house with a 4-year old boy!

 

Anyway, I would love to hear of any resources that you all might know.

 

Thanks!

[plansrme]

No ideas, but I just wanted to say "awwwwww" about his whispering English words to himself. That's just the sweetest thing!

 

Congratulations on your new addition. You are so fortunate to have found each other!

 

Terri

[joannqn]

No answers here but a great big congrats.

[4kiddies]

That must have been so cute listening to him trying out his new words.:) Congrats! You are both blessed to have each other.

[blessed2fosteradopt]

Precious....I can almost hear his little voice. I have two AA/Haitian adopted children but they were born in the US so I don't have any advice for you but couldn't help commenting. Adoption is my passion. Many blessings to you and your new son.

[Starr]

When I lived in Germany there was a little boy in the preschool where I was working that didn't speak German when he arrived at the school. They said he was speaking quite well in just 6 weeks. Your little guy seems to be at a good age to learn a new language. Maybe young enough to learn and old enough to use whatever measures to make his wants known. Congratulations!!

[EmeraldGirl]

We adopted a sib group of 4, ages 4-9, last year from a southern island in the Philippines so they had a tribal language. I just treated them as though they were toddlers and spoke to them very simply and repeated everything to them. They would mimick and we would all laugh trying to figure things out. Just a note: my husband could communicate with them as the tribal language often overlapped with his native tongue which is the official language.

 

Anyway, as far as "resources", I would say stick with the natural, everyday experiences, conversations. Point to things and say what they are. We also read a lot. I mean a lot. Starting with toddler picture books. Even if they didn't understand, they were building a visual memory connected to the verbal.

 

You will be amazed at how quickly, very quickly, he will pick up on English words and his native tongue will become less and less, especially since he is still a toddler and hasn't fully developed his native language yet. We noticed that especially with the 4 year old. My husband speaks to the kids and the 4 year old understands, but doesn't speak in the native anymore. I think it is because she is with me learning English all day and has built that as her main language now in her foundational verbal learning. The 7 & 8 year old mimick his words. The 9 year old can speak with my husband fluently.

 

This is such as special time and you will really enjoy it. Keep it light and laugh a lot with him. He sounds like a lovely boy.

 

Enjoy the journey!

[torikei]

I adopted a four and a half year old from Korea. His basic language aquisition was pretty easy. He still struggles with more advanced language skills though. He's an excellent reader unless you ask him to explain what he read. I do believe he had language issues in Korea and moving to U.S. just complicated the situation. I struggled with the public school system initially because they tried to teach him as they did their typical English as a second language students. There are problems with this methodology as most ESL students continue to grow in their primary language at home. You can find a few articles online regarding this issue, but it is rather new academically and just recently being explored.

 

My advice would be to monitor the situation. Some parents have found issues after their child is home for several years. The children had excellent parroting and coping skills which hid issues until junior high. Not all children have problems, but it is worthing watching.

 

For the time being, continue to fill his environment with language. Encourage vocabulary. I think PBS has some excellent shows that can help with this. Talk about everything--especially feelings. I remember trying to explain to Sam why his sister slept with us most nights. She has mild cp and experiences muscle spasms throughout the night. I talked and talked and talked--no light bulb moment for him. He felt like maybe we loved her more. Finally, I reached over, grabbed his calf and squeezed. I said, "Muscle Spasms." He totally got it. It was like I flipped a switch and he got it.

 

Your little guy probably won't have any issues, but I think your smart to educate yourself about the possibilities. I would like to add my congratulations!!:party:

 

Older child adoption is probably the hardest, yet most rewarding, thing I've ever done.

 

Tori

[Brigitte]

I don't know about adopted kids and language acquisition, but I do know what my family's experience was when they moved to the States (I was not born yet). My 4 siblings ranged in age from less than 1 year to 5 years old. They spoke flemish only and english was my parents' third language (in other words not native speakers). Within a couple of months they were able to communicate pretty easily in english (the oldest two were sent to school not speaking a word of it). Within about 6 months they were fluent. And that was with parents who were not fluent. The rule in the house became "english only" pretty quickly.

 

I would suspect that your ds will pick it up very quickly, like my siblings. And given the fact that you are a native speaker and you don't speak creole, it will likely come faster.

[Mabeline]

I don't know about adopted kids and language acquisition, but I do know what my family's experience was when they moved to the States (I was not born yet). My 4 siblings ranged in age from less than 1 year to 5 years old. They spoke flemish only and english was my parents' third language (in other words not native speakers). Within a couple of months they were able to communicate pretty easily in english (the oldest two were sent to school not speaking a word of it). Within about 6 months they were fluent. And that was with parents who were not fluent. The rule in the house became "english only" pretty quickly.

 

I would suspect that your ds will pick it up very quickly, like my siblings. And given the fact that you are a native speaker and you don't speak creole, it will likely come faster.

 

:iagree: My experience was very similiar. I was born here but my parents were from Ecuador. They only spoke Spanish at home until I started school at 4 yo. Then I learned English with my Kinder teacher. She was great she would work with me during lunch. she taught me phonics and I learn to speak and read English together. I was fluent in English less than a year after starting and I was an early reader too.

 

I would suggest just reading to him lots and also find audio books for him to listen to and follow along in a book. You can find lots of these at the library. HTH