Tri-lingual children

[Anonym bruker]

Hi! I'm pregnant with my first baby. I am Spanish but grew up in the States and my husband in Norwegian. I am planning on teaching my child English, Spanish and of course Norwegian. Does anyone have any experience with teaching a child 3 languages at once? I feel it is very important that my child knows all 3 languages but don't know how this will work out!

[Gjest]

Hola!

I am married to a Mexican, and we speak a mix of English and Spanish together. When our baby is born I will speak Norwegian to him/her, my husband will speak Spanish and he/she will learn English as that is our common language. We will not really put any emphasis on teaching him/her English as such, we think it will be enough with two languages. But I do think the child will pick up the third language in the family automatically.

 

If I were you I would put more emphasis on teaching your child Spanish than English (at least if that is what feels normal to you) - English will come automatically, either within the family or in school.

 

Some say that bi- or multilingual children learn to speak more slowly, but that does not necessarily have to be the case, and I think it is healthy for them!

[bow]

Hi,

I have two sons (4 and almost 6 years old) who are tri-lingual (Norwegian, Bengali and English). Both my husband and I are very consistent speaking our languages to them all the time and they answer us in our languages. They speak all three languages fluently, but my youngest son sometimes speaks Norwegian with an American intonation (which sounds quite funny). My sons also sometimes speak English between them (we live in the US).

 

It is not at all difficult to teach kids three languages at the same time. Being consistent is really the key here. Like tosofo I have also heard that bi/multi-lingual children learn to speak slower than others, but I didn’t notice that at all with my two chatter boxes.

 

By the way, I found out the other day that my four year old wasn’t even aware that he speaks three languages. He actually thought that all the other kids speak Norwegian to their mothers and Bengali to their fathers :-)

 

Anyway, the conclusion is: give it a go – it works really well and they will thank you for it later.

 

[Yana]

If you live in Norway this will be a little difficult, unless your husband speak english to the kid. The key rule is one person - one language. the kids can get confused if the same person try to learn them two languages. But if you live in N, you speak Spanish, your husband Enligsh and the playmates Norwegian it should be ok. Though I wouldn't worry that much about learning them english bc its a world language and they certenly get to learn it very early in life anyway.

[Anonym bruker]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I have a bit more hope now for tri-lingual children! So I think we are going to do our best to teach our children all three languages.

 

Yana, you're right about children learning English quite early in Norway, but I do know that there is a great difference between native English speakers and "Norwegian English" speakers. I do want my children to be native speakers, especially in English, because English is so important in this global society. (And not to offend you in any way....but your reply has several mistakes in it, which are all very typical of non-native speakers).

[Anonym bruker]

I think it wouldn't be any problem for the kids, I've experience with take care little boy ( mom Italian & dad Germany ) And both of them speak English each other & they speak their mother language to him. And that time I speak English and Norwegian to him which is very important for him when he'll start in barnehagen. He was impress me with the way he handle the situation when he talked with mom or dad or to me / playmates. maybe sometimes its little bit problem in a way he want to explain somethings because he mix the languages ... Because as soon as the kids learning languages , they will remember that until they growing..

 

[Ladypau]

Hi there!

I'm from Argentina and my husband from Norway.

We speak English with each other (I lived i the US too)

We are expecting our first baby in february and the plan is I will speak spanish, my husband will speak Norwegian and we will speak English with each other.

I'm a bit insecure about whether or not it will work but we will give it a try.

Let me know how your experience goes!

[email protected]

 

 

[DelabeB]

Hi, I am Cuban/American, grew up in the US too, live here with my Norwegian husband---My family speaks Spanish, I teach English, and my husband speaks Norwegian and English

We have two kids, one three y/o boy, and a six month old...

 

You can certainly raise your kids with three languages! But I must warn you, it is VERY hard work! Do some research, online and in the library, for effective methods of how to support and encourage each language...briefly, the trick is to ensure a CONSISTENT (and this is THE most important element of it) source for each language for your baby. There are several methods out there, one of the most popular is the one parent one language, where each parent speaks their mothertongue to the baby exclusively and consistently. This is trickier than it sounds when you send your baby off to daycare or school at one point and they come back to you speaking strongly in Norwegian...and even if they understand you perfectly, they answer in Norwegian---you have to, HAVE TO, stick to your guns and not stop speaking to them in your language...or it will fall apart. And it can be sad and frustrating, especially when the langauge they dominate in is not your own.

So, with three languages, you will have a bigger challenge because you might have to use another system, since you have two parents, each with their language...so who will support the third. Some people I know use home language/community language. In essence, one or two languages are spoken 100% at home, and the other langauge is left to the outside world--school, extended family, daycare...etc. But that means that your husband would have to support that Norwegian would not be a home language--something he might not like.

 

Speak to parents out there, check in your town if there is an international school or daycare where you might get some support....

 

As for me, I wanted to do all three languages, but in the end I thought it was too tough. So I decided to do only Norwegian and English for now (since he has plenty of support in both languages) and leave the Spanish for when he has a strong handle on both languages (I am told it will be around 4 or 5 y\o). Then I will introduce Spanish and also encourage him to take it in High School as well.

 

There is probably no better thing to do for your baby that to teach them several languages--you are literally training their brains to problem solve, to understand and decipher, and to reason--it is really tough, but worth it.

 

With my DS, he is JUST NOW started to really use English...and he is three. He always always understood me, but once he went to daycare, the influence of Norwegian was so strong...and I was not being consistent and I often slipped into using Norwegian myself since he only spoke in Norwegian---I stopped that after being told over and over I had to...so now, no matter how often he answers me in Norwegian, I ONLY speak in English, and whatever he says to me in Norwegian, I echo it back in English, and ask him "can you say that in English"---he usually does...and he is really, really coming along fast.

We also decided to send him to an international school since I want his english skills to be just as good as his norwegian skills.

 

Good Luck! Don't let it get you down if he/she chooses one language over another, or if they don't speak at all--two normal reactions to bilingualism), just be consistent...and DO NOT GIVE UP...really. I have had so SO many friends that just gave up because it was too hard and time goes so fast with kids that you turn around, the kids are 5-6, and they have completely forgotten the language...its so sad.

 

Have a happy and healthy pregnancy....lykke til!, buena suerte!