So Peak

How many languages do you speak, and do you speak them to your babies?

Well, I'm hispanic, so i speak both english and spanish. But, my husband usually speaks more in Spanish, so we usually speak spanish only around my 11 month old. Everyone tells me to speak english frequently around her, so she will also speak it very well. So, will my daughter have trouble speaking English since we only Speak Spanish around her?

Public Comments

1. She'll learn from you, so whatever language is dominant in your household and day to day life will be what she learns. I would make an effort to be more bilingual around her. It'd be beneficial to her in so many ways. I've been told that English is actually really hard to learn as a second language. We're an English speaking family. I have a flirting relationship with Italian and French and my husband could get us around in Germany but we're not fluent by any means.
2. i speak both english and spanish. i do speak mostly english...and most people who were around my son at a young age did too. he could speak in full sentences in english and hold a decent conversation in english by 18 months old. in spanish he could hold a decent conversation at a little over 2 years.....bt he understood both languages before that i dont think that its gonna be too bad for your daughter....like i said i never spoke that much spanish around him but he still learned it by the time he was 2. just work with her in both languages
3. No she won't have trouble with eighter language. I don't know about you but when I was growing up we only spoke spanish I learn english when I started school and I speak perfect english. I'm Hispanic as well and I speak both spanish and english to my son. I want him to learn spanish. I grew up speaking only spanish when I started school I learn english pretty quickly. I have a friend who is also Hispanic she spoke very little spanish to her daughter and now the little girl doesn't know any spanish. English language will come from school and tv but where else is she going to hear spanish and learn it if not from you.
4. Babies - Children learn from what they hear. If you speak English, they'll pick up English. As the 1st answer says, its a good idea to be bilingual. Children have an inborn ability to learn and the more they are exposed to, the more they can retain and keep their minds open, among other things, can make it easier to pick up / learn related things later.
5. your daughter will be just fine we are also a mostly Spanish speaking family my oldest daughter is 7.....she went into kindergarten speaking little English, but was given heavy language support at school, and at the point i began to speak more English to her and around her she now prefers to speak in English, and it bothers me......and i KNEW this would happen.....everyone was always criticizing me for not teaching her English from the beginning and that she would never learn it and bla bla bla.........the logic is just backwards, OF COURSE she would learn English, we live in Missouri and she is surrounded by American culture and language, and if anything, we would struggle to keep her speaking Spanish! I am working hard to make her speak Spanish at home with me and her father.......her father also is only Spanish speaking, so she is more motivated to speak it with him.......and i work with her reading and writing skills in Spanish as often as i can sooooo, I say ONLY speak Spanish to your daughters, and start reading to her in Spanish......let her watch movies in Spanish and such.......she will learn English, and then you will have to set the rules that only Spanish is spoken at home when she enters school
6. Nah..children are like sponges...and in the end it will only help her...
7. I am also hispanic, and me and my husband speak english alot at home so my son hears most of it english but we speak to him individually in spanish, and every weekend we spend it at our parents home (sat-sun) and thats all they speak so he is spoken in both and we encourage it because he will need it when he goes to school and spanish to communicate with the family that dont speak english. dont worry you do your part and eventually she will learn, they all learn in different forms and times. be sure to read her books in english and teach her both car-carro, doll-mona, stuff like that so she can understand both and use it...good luck
8. Both my husband and I speak English at home, and we use sign language for a lot of the time with our oldest son (he's 3 1/2 with autism, and responds better to sign language than through speaking). We have family friends, the mother is Chinese and the father is Australian, but both speak Chinese and their mother said they speak it a lot around the home. Now, they have two daughters, a 5 year old who will be starting school next year and a 3 year. Both of their children are extremely intelligent, but when their oldest daughter speaks you cannot understand a word she says! Only her mum and dad understand her, she is not speaking Chinese and it's not English it's somewhere in the middle and it's very difficult to understand. Their youngest hardly talks whatsoever, she just makes noises to indicate what she does or doesn't want. She is very smart, like I said, always has been very alert and does say a few words but is still having a lot of trouble stringing sentences together. Maybe that's just with those two particular (I have no one else to talk about since I don't know many Bi-lingual families) but I would maybe try and speak English as much as possible especially now when she is really going to start taking off with the talking, just so as to avoid any possible confusion! Good luck and all the best! :)