Bilingualism update

Our little man is one now and has begun to make sounds that sound like words. 

After the normal dada's and mama's we've had a series of English words such as more, door, and water. He also makes a couple of English animal sounds (horse, dog, sheep).

We spent a few weeks in England over Christmas and I noticed a new understanding of the English language from him. He began to understand a few simple commands or words in a sentence and often repeated a sound that resembled the word we were using. When we returned to Brazil I noticed he was understanding well in English but not in Portuguese. He seemed aware that there were two languages being used but he responded only to English. Now we have been back several weeks I see he is beginning to understand some Portuguese too. When we  are out people always talk to him and he seems to understand when they say bye.

As we only speak English with him at home we expected him to speak English first. So far he is meeting our expectations and his language development doesn't seem less than monolingual children of the same age.

We are prepared for his language development to be slower than his peers but maybe we will see it only in Portuguese. I'm also sure we will see a big difference when he begins nursery later this year where he will be surrounded by Portuguese and will learn quickly that he must use that language to be understood.

Being Bilingual

For me and my husband it’s been a tough journey to acquire a new language. When deciding on how to introduce our son to both our languages we had a great many conversations, read plenty and spoke to other families in similar situations.

We finally decided that we would both speak to him in English. There are several reasons for this. 

First when deciding to speak any other language with your child it is important to be consistent. There have been studies that revealed a link to dyslexia in children who had a parent who spoke more than one language with them when they were small. Second, we want him to speak both languages well and for this we believe he needs a relaxed environment where he can speak English as everywhere else he will have to speak Portuguese. We also want him to feel supported in his language learning and if we both use English with him he will be able to ask either of us for help. I also read some blogs from people where one parent speaks a different language. In many cases their child understands both languages but responds only in the dominant language. Also when they have their clingy phase with one of the parents the language is a key factor in this too, distancing or isolating the parent who speaks another language.

So these are our reasons for deciding to go forward with English at home. It was not a choice we took lightly and it has been a huge decision for my husband to make as it is not his first language. It was entirely his choice as to which language he would speak with his son as communication is a very intimate and important part of being a parent.

Our language journey began when I was pregnant. Our boy moved more when I spoke English and we both spoke, read and sang to him in English throughout the pregnancy. When he was several weeks old he would cry when I spoke Portuguese and was quiet and content when he could hear English being spoken. Now he is bigger he is very interested when people speak to him in Portuguese or when I speak it when we are out. He pays close attention to people’s mouth when they speak. When we are at home he looks to us for language. We tell him the names of his toys and the animals and he has begun to try sounds for certain things such as the dog’s name.

We now wait excitedly to see how his language development will progress and how he will dominate the two languages.

Any tips, ideas or stories from your own experiences would be great so do leave a comment below.