My kids are 2.5 and 4.5 years old and they speak 4 languages. Vietnamese from me..spanish by the mother. French at school and English from everywhere else... Fully flluent in all of them
Interesting video ! I m a granpa of a three year old girl living in Japan. Home language is of course Japanese . I play , sing ) I composed and thought out myself) laugh a lot with her in her free time ( she just started to attend a local kindergarten as the academic year in Japan begins in April). It seems to me that she understands a lot , but she has ???? Around a head…) , I translate it in Japanese , whispering). I wonder when she’ll start making sentences. I was born in the French speaking part of Belgium and learned also Dutch at school and spoke German at home with my Austrian grandparents. I don’t how I picked up three languages simultaneously……. Actually , I’ve been teaching English at home and in a Japanese kindergarten for more than 30 years. I know how to get along with kids, I suppose. I probably need to be more patient with my Princess. I began to learn Japanese 40 years ago. As you probably know , grammar prononciation culture are very different from European languages Thanks for your reply. By the way , where can I get your books ?
Hello @richardstrauss7652 , thanks for sharing your experience with us! It's great to hear from a grandfather who's involved in his granddaughter's education and upbringing - that's really wonderful & something very special :))) Yes, Japanese and English are as different as two languages can be! Have you read Adam Beck's book Maximise Your Child's Bilingual Ability? The author is an American living in Japan who's raised his children to be bilingual in Japanese and English, so I think it will give you some interesting insights. My book is available on Amazon - please search for "Ka Yee Meck Bilingual Trilingual 101" on Amazon and it should come up :) If you're based in Japan, this link should work for you: www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Ka-Yee-Meck-ebook/dp/B09C2QCVW2/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1QAJ2TML33KK2&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.0hPChXrKT78a3pHb9TQ8NA8ZTGxbgET2YYEUGei6uJOcvzFjbygYJIBagPupjDKG0K9AXbudik05jVDovSXAP2ZYYlVUqDjN6E-Kbw7qWWUPrFdBADSBBM8APNklv5fU26a3dYVIEAwMUs1yjIj9J4SXA5y_XooR2pk3ODC1h7acp9t5PHsIKjwaDIKRuX2f.QlwQ27TfaH_QOKL0Wb_4oyNOxAdYRnajxVzsBAizI78&dib_tag=se&keywords=trilingual+101&qid=1715363473&sprefix=trilingual+10%2Caps%2C204&sr=8-2
Also, specifically in relation to your granddaughter, at age three she's still very young, so hopefully, her ability to speak English will pick up very soon! Keep speaking to her in English and let me know how she gets on!
Me and my wife speak to our 2 1/2 year old in English and Russian. Her school is in English, so she's moved to speaking more English at the moment, but she understands and responds to Russian. Her grandparents only speak to her in Russian. She's well on her way. I may start speaking French to her an hour a day soon.
Thanks for your tip. I ordered both books right away. Actually, I used to teach French in an international school where 99 per cent of the pupils were Japanese and English,French and Japanese were taught) . There was a regular course for kids who had no knowledge of English and an international course where kids had had already English in their kindergarten days. I noticed that the kids who couldn’t express their thoughts in their mother tongue ( Japanese) had difficulties in learning French. I want to say that kids should achieve a certain level of proficiency in the mother tongue before picking up a new language. I’d like to know your opinion. Thanks
@richardstrauss7652 Thanks so much for your comment! A BIG thanks for supporting my book - it really means the world to me 🙏 I'd be grateful if you could leave a review after reading it! Thank you very much for sharing your observations and insights - that's such an interesting perspective coming from a language teacher! I definitely see what you mean - in my opinion, if a child isn't able to express their thoughts in their mother tongue yet, they are perhaps not quite ready developmentally to speak in general. Were these children very young? Your observation also highlights the difference between various forms of bilingualism - I've made a video on that topic, so please do check it out 😊 I think when most people think and talk about bilingualism, they're referring to "simultaneous bilingualism" where a child is exposed to and acquires two languages from birth simultaneously. "Sequential bilingualism" is when someone becomes fluent in a second language after becoming proficient in their mother tongue, which is what you were referring to in your comment. In my opinion, it is possible to become truly bilingual via either route - I definitely know of success stories in both categories! Out of interest, how did you become a polyglot yourself? Your experience is very impressive!!
Hello. I ll definitely check your other videos. How did I become a polyglot? Well, I was lucky to grow up in a bilingual country so we , in Brussels , were taught Dutch . It wasn’t too difficult for me because it’s similar to German. As for English, it wasn’t difficult either because , as you know , fifty percent of the current English vocabulary 0:02 comes from French ; only the pronunciation and sometimes the spelling is different. Knowing French helped me a lot later on when I took the TOEFL . Keeping a certain proficiency is time consuming, I need to brush up my vocabulary constantly. I moved to Japan with my Japanese wife (who can speak German) to stay here for good. So I had to go back to school to learn Japanese. It was a strange feeling to be around foreign students in their twenties or even younger. In order to learn a language, one needs to have a goal. I always emphasize the importance of knowing other languages, it’s one way to widen your horizon. At Gyosei International School , I taught French mainly to primary school pupils and sometimes, in Junior high. They were 6 years old when they got their first French lessons. Since there were no adequate teaching materials for such young kids , I had to make my own materials and think how to make them interested in the language because at that age , they don’t know why they should. If the lessons are fun , they will be willing to pick up something. It seemed to me that some didn’t have the ability. I wonder if you need a kind talent of languages. Maybe some people have a gift for languages “from birth “. I often notice some kids in my class who are amazingly good at drawing without ever having taken lessons. What do you think ? Maybe the environment in which the kids grow up has also something to do with the “ talent “ I’m not sure. In my previous mail , I said that I was wondering when my Princess will start making sentences. She seems to get the gist. I m the only one in the family who can speak English ( fluently). You are amazing parents giving your kid such an asset in life . Does she/he sporadically mix up the languages ? I think it’s not such a big problem. Take care !
Thank you for your reply! You have such an interesting background. I absolutely agree, knowing other languages can really broaden one's horizons - that's one of the main reasons we're raising our kids to be trilingual, despite the challenges :) And yes, both our kids do occasionally mix their languages; mostly this means incorporating some English words into their sentences when speaking to me/ my husband, because they don't know how to say that particular word in Chinese/ Russian. Yeah, we think that's totally normal. Can't really expect them (or indeed ourselves!) to know every word in every language, haha... It's been lovely chatting with you in the comments! Wishing you and your granddaughter all the best in your bilingual journey! Take care :)))
"Will speaking multiple languages to my baby confuse them?" That's the unscientific fear many parents have around the world that cause their indigenous languages to die out. It's the same for immigrants who teach their babies only the lingua franca. I especially lament the fact that many Chinese parents nowadays speak only Mandarin to their children, worrying that speaking their local Chinese languages will confuse the children - it most certainly doesn't. I hope your video reaches far and wide!
Thank you so much for your comment! 🙏 I'm really glad you found this video helpful! Unfortunately, I must admit that we also made the decision to teach our children Mandarin rather than Cantonese, my indigenous dialect. In our case, we just didn't want to juggle four languages, thinking that three was quite a handful 😂 I know many Chinese parents who have made the same decision. It's certainly a topic I'd like to address at some point. Thank you for bringing this up!
@@themultilingualfamilyhub Thanks for the reply, and it makes sense! Like you said in the video, as long as someone speaks to the child in one language, the child will be able to pick it up. So perhaps when your parents speak to the child in Cantonese, he will also pick it up. Such was the case for me and many of my peers in New Zealand, who grew up speaking English, Mandarin, Cantonese, and other dialects like Shanghainese and Hokkien just we had relatives that spoke to us in those dialects since we were born. One of my friends was born to a Teochew mother and Korean father - who met in japan, so as a child she grew up speaking teochew with her mother, Korean with her father, Japanese when speaking with the both of them, and English at school. She also went to Chinese school, as is therefore fluent in Mandarin too. I often use her example as a positive example to share with parents, because she's no language genius - it's just because of her upbringing
@@vincentxiao1836 Thank you for your reply! That's really illuminating - I definitely want to make a video addressing this topic in the future as it's also relevant to other countries where there is a strong lingua franca, like India, for instance. So, watch this space
Thanks so much for sharing. My native language is Vietnamese. I can speak German and English. We are living in Germany. If I teach my baby three languages, should I set a schedule for it or a specific activity for each language? Often, I speak German and then translate into Vietnamese. Will it cause mixing?
Thanks so much for your comment and your question! It's wonderful that you're planning to raise your baby to speak three languages! Does your baby's father speak Vietnamese as well? In your case, you may want to do One Parent One Language, or use a particular language in specific settings (e.g. Vietnamese only at home; English at mealtimes etc.) Generally speaking, raising your baby in 3 languages should not cause confusion as long as you create a consistent and predictable schedule/ set up :) Your baby may "mix" all three languages as it learns to speak, but that's natural, and not a sign of "confusion". Hope this helps! xx
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My kids are 2.5 and 4.5 years old and they speak 4 languages.
Vietnamese from me..spanish by the mother. French at school and English from everywhere else... Fully flluent in all of them
That's brilliant, Jimmy! Well done!!!
Interesting video ! I m a granpa of a three year old girl living in Japan. Home language is of course Japanese . I play , sing ) I composed and thought out myself) laugh a lot with her in her free time ( she just started to attend a local kindergarten as the academic year in Japan begins in April). It seems to me that she understands a lot , but she has ???? Around a head…) , I translate it in Japanese , whispering). I wonder when she’ll start making sentences.
I was born in the French speaking part of Belgium and learned also Dutch at school and spoke German at home with my Austrian grandparents.
I don’t how I picked up three languages simultaneously…….
Actually , I’ve been teaching English at home and in a Japanese kindergarten for more than 30 years. I know how to get along with kids, I suppose.
I probably need to be more patient with my Princess.
I began to learn Japanese 40 years ago. As you probably know , grammar prononciation culture are very different from European languages
Thanks for your reply.
By the way , where can I get your books ?
Hello @richardstrauss7652
, thanks for sharing your experience with us! It's great to hear from a grandfather who's involved in his granddaughter's education and upbringing - that's really wonderful & something very special :))) Yes, Japanese and English are as different as two languages can be! Have you read Adam Beck's book Maximise Your Child's Bilingual Ability? The author is an American living in Japan who's raised his children to be bilingual in Japanese and English, so I think it will give you some interesting insights. My book is available on Amazon - please search for "Ka Yee Meck Bilingual Trilingual 101" on Amazon and it should come up :) If you're based in Japan, this link should work for you: www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Ka-Yee-Meck-ebook/dp/B09C2QCVW2/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1QAJ2TML33KK2&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.0hPChXrKT78a3pHb9TQ8NA8ZTGxbgET2YYEUGei6uJOcvzFjbygYJIBagPupjDKG0K9AXbudik05jVDovSXAP2ZYYlVUqDjN6E-Kbw7qWWUPrFdBADSBBM8APNklv5fU26a3dYVIEAwMUs1yjIj9J4SXA5y_XooR2pk3ODC1h7acp9t5PHsIKjwaDIKRuX2f.QlwQ27TfaH_QOKL0Wb_4oyNOxAdYRnajxVzsBAizI78&dib_tag=se&keywords=trilingual+101&qid=1715363473&sprefix=trilingual+10%2Caps%2C204&sr=8-2
Also, specifically in relation to your granddaughter, at age three she's still very young, so hopefully, her ability to speak English will pick up very soon! Keep speaking to her in English and let me know how she gets on!
Me and my wife speak to our 2 1/2 year old in English and Russian. Her school is in English, so she's moved to speaking more English at the moment, but she understands and responds to Russian. Her grandparents only speak to her in Russian. She's well on her way. I may start speaking French to her an hour a day soon.
That's billiant, Patrick! Definitely keep it up! 💪 Would be amazing if you could keep us posted on your daughter's progress!
Thanks for your tip. I ordered both books right away.
Actually, I used to teach French in an international school where 99 per cent of the pupils were Japanese and English,French and Japanese were taught) . There was a regular course for kids who had no knowledge of English and an international course where kids had had already English in their kindergarten days. I noticed that the kids who couldn’t express their thoughts in their mother tongue ( Japanese) had difficulties in learning French.
I want to say that kids should achieve a certain level of proficiency in the mother tongue before picking up a new language. I’d like to know your opinion. Thanks
@richardstrauss7652 Thanks so much for your comment! A BIG thanks for supporting my book - it really means the world to me
🙏
I'd be grateful if you could leave a review after reading it! Thank you very much for sharing your observations and insights - that's such an interesting perspective coming from a language teacher! I definitely see what you mean - in my opinion, if a child isn't able to express their thoughts in their mother tongue yet, they are perhaps not quite ready developmentally to speak in general. Were these children very young? Your observation also highlights the difference between various forms of bilingualism - I've made a video on that topic, so please do check it out
😊
I think when most people think and talk about bilingualism, they're referring to "simultaneous bilingualism" where a child is exposed to and acquires two languages from birth simultaneously. "Sequential bilingualism" is when someone becomes fluent in a second language after becoming proficient in their mother tongue, which is what you were referring to in your comment. In my opinion, it is possible to become truly bilingual via either route - I definitely know of success stories in both categories!
Out of interest, how did you become a polyglot yourself? Your experience is very impressive!!
Hello. I ll definitely check your other videos. How did I become a polyglot? Well, I was lucky to grow up in a bilingual country so we , in Brussels , were taught Dutch . It wasn’t too difficult for me because it’s similar to German. As for English, it wasn’t difficult either because , as you know , fifty percent of the current English vocabulary 0:02 comes from French ; only the pronunciation and sometimes the spelling is different. Knowing French helped me a lot later on when I took the TOEFL .
Keeping a certain proficiency is time consuming, I need to brush up my vocabulary constantly.
I moved to Japan with my Japanese wife (who can speak German) to stay here for good. So I had to go back to school to learn Japanese. It was a strange feeling to be around foreign students in their twenties or even younger.
In order to learn a language, one needs to have a goal.
I always emphasize the importance of knowing other languages, it’s one way to widen your horizon.
At Gyosei International School , I taught French mainly to primary school pupils and sometimes, in Junior high. They were 6 years old when they got their first French lessons. Since there were no adequate teaching materials for such young kids , I had to make my own materials and think how to make them interested in the language because at that age , they don’t know why they should. If the lessons are fun , they will be willing to pick up something.
It seemed to me that some didn’t have the ability.
I wonder if you need a kind talent of languages. Maybe some people have a gift for languages “from birth “. I often notice some kids in my class who are amazingly good at drawing without ever having taken lessons. What do you think ?
Maybe the environment in which the kids grow up has also something to do with the “ talent “ I’m not sure.
In my previous mail , I said that I was wondering when my Princess will start making sentences. She seems to get the gist. I m the only one in the family who can speak English ( fluently).
You are amazing parents giving your kid such an asset in life .
Does she/he sporadically mix up the languages ?
I think it’s not such a big problem.
Take care !
Thank you for your reply! You have such an interesting background. I absolutely agree, knowing other languages can really broaden one's horizons - that's one of the main reasons we're raising our kids to be trilingual, despite the challenges :) And yes, both our kids do occasionally mix their languages; mostly this means incorporating some English words into their sentences when speaking to me/ my husband, because they don't know how to say that particular word in Chinese/ Russian. Yeah, we think that's totally normal. Can't really expect them (or indeed ourselves!) to know every word in every language, haha...
It's been lovely chatting with you in the comments! Wishing you and your granddaughter all the best in your bilingual journey! Take care :)))
"Will speaking multiple languages to my baby confuse them?"
That's the unscientific fear many parents have around the world that cause their indigenous languages to die out. It's the same for immigrants who teach their babies only the lingua franca. I especially lament the fact that many Chinese parents nowadays speak only Mandarin to their children, worrying that speaking their local Chinese languages will confuse the children - it most certainly doesn't.
I hope your video reaches far and wide!
Thank you so much for your comment! 🙏 I'm really glad you found this video helpful! Unfortunately, I must admit that we also made the decision to teach our children Mandarin rather than Cantonese, my indigenous dialect. In our case, we just didn't want to juggle four languages, thinking that three was quite a handful 😂 I know many Chinese parents who have made the same decision. It's certainly a topic I'd like to address at some point. Thank you for bringing this up!
@@themultilingualfamilyhub Thanks for the reply, and it makes sense! Like you said in the video, as long as someone speaks to the child in one language, the child will be able to pick it up. So perhaps when your parents speak to the child in Cantonese, he will also pick it up. Such was the case for me and many of my peers in New Zealand, who grew up speaking English, Mandarin, Cantonese, and other dialects like Shanghainese and Hokkien just we had relatives that spoke to us in those dialects since we were born.
One of my friends was born to a Teochew mother and Korean father - who met in japan, so as a child she grew up speaking teochew with her mother, Korean with her father, Japanese when speaking with the both of them, and English at school. She also went to Chinese school, as is therefore fluent in Mandarin too. I often use her example as a positive example to share with parents, because she's no language genius - it's just because of her upbringing
@@vincentxiao1836 Thank you for your reply! That's really illuminating - I definitely want to make a video addressing this topic in the future as it's also relevant to other countries where there is a strong lingua franca, like India, for instance. So, watch this space
Thanks so much for sharing. My native language is Vietnamese. I can speak German and English. We are living in Germany. If I teach my baby three languages, should I set a schedule for it or a specific activity for each language? Often, I speak German and then translate into Vietnamese. Will it cause mixing?
Thanks so much for your comment and your question! It's wonderful that you're planning to raise your baby to speak three languages! Does your baby's father speak Vietnamese as well? In your case, you may want to do One Parent One Language, or use a particular language in specific settings (e.g. Vietnamese only at home; English at mealtimes etc.) Generally speaking, raising your baby in 3 languages should not cause confusion as long as you create a consistent and predictable schedule/ set up :) Your baby may "mix" all three languages as it learns to speak, but that's natural, and not a sign of "confusion". Hope this helps! xx
@@themultilingualfamilyhub Thank uuuuu. My husband speak rumanian. And he always speak one sentence in German then in Rumanian 😫