Toddler-talk and the Bilingual Child!

 Milo, my little bilingual boy!

Multilingualliving recently posted on their Facebook page a question asking their readers which was the hardest language they've learnt. My instant response was ''Toddler-talk, especially when it's in my child's second language!''. From the multitude of 'likes' this reply received it's clear that I am not alone there. Understanding a toddler who is muddling through their first steps at exploring vocabulary and understanding sentance building can be challenging enough but trying to decipher what a toddler who is learning multiple language is saying can be downright confusing. Milo took a while to really get going with his speech, choosing at first to primarily rely on whining and whinging in order to get his needs met (oh boy I bet you can imagine how appealing a stage that was!) but shortly before his second birthday a switch seemed to flick and since then his vocabulary has been broadening daily. It's incredible at what speed he is now learning new words and it amazes me daily when a word I only consciously pointed out to him twice the day before has managed to stick in his head. For example, yesterday we read the book 'Mr Happy' for the first time and today I picked up the book, pointed at the rotund fella on the cover and what did Milo say? ''Happy''. Crazy! It's the same with the word ''House'' which he now proudly shouts of whenever he sees a house-like structure. I particularly enjoy it when he uses his words beginning with ''H'' because he can't quite pronounce it right and it makes each word sound like he's saying it in a French accent. Cute!

Milo definitely favours vocalising certain words in English and others in German. For example whilst he can say ''car'' and often does after I've said the word to him, he will almost always choose to say the word in German first (although the plural version ''Autos''). He will only say ''finished'' in German ''alle'' and whilst the word ''bear'' is very simillar in both languages I definitely hear that it comes out with a German accent alot of the time. His favourite theme to talk about at the moment is body parts, a recent appreciation for him. He can say ''hand, foot, ear, mouth, nose and foot'' in both languages and tends to swap between the two languages depending on his mood.

In reality I probably don't really know the extent of his German language skills because I think alot of the time he will use the English version of words around me and then filter back to German at Kita (nursery/daycare) and with his Dad. We had a screening recently called the 'U7 Screening' which is a standard developmental screening to check how he's getting on for his age and during it the doctor (who I adore and have a slight crush on) pulled out a small selection of cards with basic pictures on to see if Milo would say the corresponding words. They were a car, bear, keys, doll and two others that I can't remember. Milo of course chose that moment to go all shy and only said ''RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR'' and then finally ''Bear'' at the bear picture and so the doctor would ask me each time if Milo knew the word(s). I told him that I could say which he knew in English and that I knew he could do ''Bär'' and ''Auto'' for the German side of things but I had frankly no idea if he knew the other words in German. The doctor was completely understanding but it was a little on the odd side.

Whilst pregnant, accutely aware that the child inside me would be brought up Bilingual I spent many an hour trawling through the net looking for tips and information on how best to teach a Bilingual child language and to read people's own experiences with it. I also knew a few people who were brought up this way and so I picked their brains on their experiences and how they felt as a child learning two languages. It was all interesting information and has stuck with me to this day. I regularly like to talk to other parents who are doing the same with their kids and so how (and if) it's working in their families and I have had mixed responses. A father of 4 kids told me that the oldest two could understand and talk both languages fluently but that the youngest too (who were old enough to talk well) could only understand English but either couldn't or wouldn't speak it.

Whilst I am not concerned that Milo will not be able to understand English, I do sometimes worry that he will at some point refuse to speak it as I have seen happen with a number of families, especially through the defiant teenage years. If he chose to speak German back to me it wouldn't be the end of the world, I would afterall be able to understand him but should he only speak German to my family that would be a bit of a disaster. My brother remembers the odd word from his GCSE days and my parents can do the absolute basics (I think!) but that's about the limit to my family's German language skills.

That all said, I'll just keep having to work on it, keep fuelling his love for books (which I of course only read to him in English) and hope for the best. At least I am based in a City that has a number of English language events.

Where you brought up bilingual? Are you raising your children with multiple languages? If so I'd be interested to hear how you are getting on...

For those of you also raising bilingual kids or are just curious about bilingualism, here are a couple of articles that may interest you:
Nurturing Bilingualism in Children
Raising Bilingual Children
Bilingual Kids Fall Behind At School: Study (from Sweden)
Being Bilingual May Boost Your Brain Power

 If you live in Berlin or are thinking about visiting this wonderful City, head on over to my new Facebook page 'Berlin with Kids' to share & discover even more family related activities and classes going on in and around Berlin.

I love to read your comments so please feel free to let me know what you think...