mr david king

[crocket369]

my granddaughter is slow to talk but very bright Her  Mum is Vietnamese and is trying to teach her Vietnamese and English could this be a causal factor i.e confused? Thanks David

[specialmom]

I spent many of my childhood years living in Texas and am fluent in spanish.  It did indeed make picking up other languages easier especially as some are quite similar to spanish.  Both of my kids also speak spanish although not always fluently.  They are working on this and have been for years.  Helps to have a good buddy that runs an enrichment study teaching it.  Mutliple languages are good.  

[margypops]

Yes my DD teaches 4 languages , and she is fluent in all, she speaks French, German, spanish was going to learn Russian lol maybe it should be chinese now , .. she gets plenty of work teaching others and working in a college in England..I do believe it progresses .

[allmymarbles]

Interestingly enough, once a person is a fluent bilingual, additional languages are learned with increasing ease and speed. Perhaps a  particular part of the brain has become more developed.

[margypops]

I would say it is indeed the fact that your daughter is hearing 2 languages and would think that as you say it is the causal effect. I was brought up hearing English then french German was added , it was from possibly a later age than your child, children learn languages very easily but are definatly sometimes slow in speaking it .I would agree you have nothing to worry about .. My own children also travelled abroad as children they too learned other languages ,one learnt quickly and one was slow and would not communicate well, she did better once she started school in that country and her class mates help bring her out , children respond well to other children ..good luck all is well in my opinion .

[specialmom]

Ha, but what makes an internet site great is that people are 'supposed' to get different takes on an issue.  

To the poster, I was just chatting with a friend that is a speech therapist and was reminded (unrelated to med help) that s ucking on a lollipop is a really good exercise for kids that are slow to speak.  We did a lot of this with our son that was having issues with speech early on.  We would make silly faces to music and then freeze them by pausing the music.  My boy thought it was great fun and it helped with oral motor skills.  chewing food is also quite helpful.  

good luck

[specialmom]

  

I hope it is nothing and it very well may be nothing, but a parent should always moniter a situation outside the range of normal.  Not speaking by a certain age fits that category no matter how many languages are spoken in the home.  Better safe than sorry when we are helping our children.  Believe it or not, many here have a good deal of experience as well.  

[allmymarbles]

I mentioned earlier that I had bi and tri-lingual young children. These four are now grown and are multi-lingual. You make mention of "issues for early communication," but do not identify them. Those of us with bi-lingual children know how easily they float from one language to another. An adult learning a foreign never quite attains that facility.

I lived and worked abroad for almost 25 years. While there I met and married a fellow American. It was our policy to have our four children learn the language of their host country and attend local schools. You have no idea how enriched their lives are. Each new language brings a new view of the world. This is particularly true when the language is not European. And it gives them also that rare gift - objectivity.

[specialmom]

Well, I think it is a stretch for someone on the internet to say you have nothing to worry about.  I'd moniter the situation and see how she progresses.  I think that kids that have multiple languages spoken are at a great advantage as knowing multiple languages is fantastic but it does create issues for early communication sometimes.  Often along the lines of the primary caregiver speaking one language and many others in their world speaking another.  

I think I'd ask her doctor on her next doctor's visit about the lack of speech.  

It is a good sign if she gestures and communicates in 'some way'.  Good way and I do hope it is 'nothing to worry about' but it is always a good idea to notice when our kids are progressing outside of normal ranges.  good luck

[allmymarbles]

Einstein did not talk until he was three years old. Same for two of my grandchildren. Both completely normal. As for being bilingual, this seems to have nothing to do with when they start speaking. Three of my children were bilingual babies and one was trilingual. Very small children do not learn languages in the same manner as adults. You have nothing to worry about.