728x90
my iParenting
From Our Sponsors
e-newsletters
Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters

new terms of use
new privacy policy
award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Home › Articles › Speech/Language Issues › Foreign Language Power

Foreign Language Power

Can Babies and Toddlers Become Bilingual, or Even Trilingual?

By Kendeyl Johansen

Pages:  1  2  3  4  5  

Louis' father spoke to him in French and Italian and relatives sent board books in these languages to help him learn. "My son's understanding and use of the languages was slow and steady. The greatest difficulty was mine," says Castricato. She is currently studying Italian to try and keep up with her trilingual preschooler.

Paul Warhorst, of the Carden Christian Academy in Park City, Utah, finds teaching Spanish to preschoolers rewarding. "It's not so common to teach a foreign language to kids at this age but they love it," he says. The preschoolers greet him with an enthusiastic "Hola!" and wave good-bye piping "Adios!"

"I've had a lot of parents come up to me pleased that their child is saying their colors in Spanish or using expressions they've learned," says Warhorst. He encourages parents to search the Internet for age-appropriate games. "The kids just think they're playing a video game, but they're actually learning."

The Younger, The Better
Many kids already have a parent that speaks another language, but teaching that language isn't always intuitive. Although Hargis' husband was raised in South America, she and her husband just didn't realize the value of teaching their older son Spanish at first. "When our son was about 3 years old we slapped our heads in frustration," she says.

When their second son was born Hargis spoke a mixture of 50 percent English and 50 percent Spanish to him, and her husband spoke 90 percent Spanish to their baby. The Hargis family also hired a nanny who spoke fluent Spanish.

"Even before he was 2 years old my son was talking like crazy in both languages about 50 words each in English and Spanish and he fluently understood and responded appropriately in words or action to both languages spoken to him," says Hargis.

Pages:  1  2  3  4  5  


Want to see more?