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My grandson, 1.5 years old, is learning three languages (English, Spanish, French). He appears to understand all three quite well, with words, sentences, and phrases at his level. He appears (clearly to me) to be muttering short sentences that no one quite understands. Would this evidently delayed speech be considered normal to you? AND should his parents focus on one language first? (We are looking into a visit with a speech therapist.)

Daniel Geery

Dear Daniel,

From your question I understand that your grandson is receiving enough exposure to all three languages. If this is the case, he is acquiring three languages simultaneously in an early and natural way. That’s wonderful!

Now to the matter at hand. First I will say that your grandson is going through a completely normal process. During the phase in which a child who is exposed to several languages begins to make meaningful sounds a completely normal mixture of languages takes place, which makes what the child is saying more incomprehensible at first. In order to help you understand this and allow you to see for yourself how your grandson is going through this process, I will explain a bit about how language develops in bilingual (or multilingual) children.

Learning a language integrates two very important aspects which directly influence one another: reception (comprehension) and production (expression).

These two facets are constantly evolving and there are periods in which the child makes huge advances in one area and seems not to advance at all in another, or viceversa. However, comprehension is always ahead of expression. And this makes sense. In order be able to give names to the objects, qualities and concepts of our world in a conventional way (I mean by using the same terms generally used by other speakers of the language), we must first understand the combination of sounds which make up the word which identifies a certain something.

Once these sounds are identified, a child practices moving his lips and tongue to make the same combination of sounds which have the meaning we want them to have. This is why it takes children at least a year to speak their first words. Until this point they are trying to understand the relationship between sounds and the things those sounds refer to.

Now you say that your grandson is able to understand words and sentences in his three languages and that he is beginning to “speak” a few words and even sentences. Although these first utterances are still unintelligible for most adults, this does show that he is moving forward along the path of language acquisition.

So let’s move on to the other matter which worries you. Is there a delay in speech? In order to ease your mind I will tell you no. All children, whether monolingual or multilingual, go through a “trial” period for each of their expressions. It is as though they are practicing until they are able to produce the exact sound just like an adult would.

But at this point, I will point out a difference between monolingual and bilingual (or multilingual) children. Those children who are exposed to just one language from an early age only need to perfect the sounds of one language, beginning with the easy sounds and ending with the more difficult ones.

Children who are exposed to more than one language must “practice” a much broader range of sound combinations. And throughout this process they are allowed to “play” with all the kinds of language combinations which seem simple to them. This doesn’t mean that the child is confused, but rather it shows that he is using what is known as the economy of language. He takes the sounds from the language he is most comfortable with and uses those sounds to produce sounds which are similar in another language.

This is where the so called phonetic-phonological interferences come in to play. These are absolutely normal in the preschool phase (up to three years old). Although we can get the impression that the child speaks poorly, this is actually a trial and error mechanism.

As the role models we are, at this point we need to be a good model of how to correctly use the language. Instead of correcting the child we should reformulate the word by repeating the word that was used poorly in a correct sentence (If the child says “kuyu” and points to a yogurt, say, “Do you want some yogurt?”).

All of the linguistic stimuli we provide for our children in their early years is extremely important, since what a child hears will be the starting point for producing language later on. So we encourage you to stimulate your grandson by singing songs and playing games which will give him more opportunities to use “trial and error” in each of his languages. You will be giving him a wonderful opportunity to learn three languages naturally. Many families around the globe have been able to achieve this in the same way.

Good luck!

Mariana Lombardo is an experienced children speech therapist. She does clinical work at SINEWS with bilingual families in the expat community in Madrid. Mariana is in charge of the workshops for bilingual families offered by SINEWS and she also gives personalized speech therapy sessions to bilingual families. For more information, please visit www.sinews.es.

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I am a mother who speaks three languages (Spanish, English, Norwegian) and some French and Portuguese.
My daughter is 3 years old, and although we are Spanish, I try to teach her English in different ways (songs, books, movies, cartoons) but as she is getting older she is asking me more and more to speak and listen into Spanish. So, what can I do? She is still interested in it, but lesser. Her father and I talk in English sometimes and that makes her curious.
I am a bit frustrated that my child will not be bilingual or that she will struggle too much learning languages in the future. She goes to a “bilingual” public school here, but the bilingualism is kind of a joke in the public system here.
What can I do to raise her bilingual within my possibilities?!
Thank you for being there and your help!

Best regards,
Constanza Niell

Dear Constanza,

We really liked your question because it goes straight to the point and reflects a very common problem for Spanish parents with a strong level of a second or even third language, which they would like to trasmit to their children.

After spending so much time, effort and love teaching another language to your children, it’s very frustrating to see them resist using that language or even ask us to please speak Spanish. But this reaction comes as a result of your child’s intelligence, her emotional intelligence.

Your daughter sees you speaking Spanish to many people throughout the day, so she knows that you not only understand it but are also extremely capable of communicating in Spanish. On the other hand, when your daughter wants to communicate with you, show you something, etc, her main goal is for you to understand her and she expresses herself more easily in Spanish.

One thing is clear: even if a child doesn’t want to use the language we are exposing her to, we are still giving her an important passive learning process. With just a little push, your daughter will have a much easier time speaking this language than another child who was not exposed to it at an early age.

It’s simple: children see language as a tool for communicating and they don’t see any advantage to using another language they are less comfortable with and which is less effective in helping them achieve their goal of communicating. They don’t realize just how useful the language will be for them later in life.

So what can we do? That’s the million dollar question, and the answer can be found when we analyze what is missing from the current situation:

1) Your daughter doesn’t see the NEED to use her more “uncomfortable” language in certain situations.
2) Her active proficiency in English may be lacking. Though she understands it perfectly, it may be easier for her to communicate in Spanish than English.
3) She has clearly identified you as a native Spanish speaker so she prefers to use Spanish with YOU. She is showing her frustration at having to sacrifice an easier way of communicating with her mother.

Possible solutions:
Increase her need for using the language by exposing her to situations in which she simply can’t use Spanish:
-Send her to a monolingual English school (not everyone can afford this, since they’re often very expensive).
-Take her on vacation to English speaking countries and organize stays in hotels with activities for chidlren. You can even enroll her in a day care center in the mornings.
-Join a playgroup with other children and parents that only speak English.
-Sign her up for after school activities in English with teachers that only speak English (If you live in Madrid, you can find a long list at www.kidsinmadrid.com)
-If you have English speaking family, invite them to spend some time with you at least twice a year (at least two weeks at a time would be ideal).
-Later on, when she’s a bit older, you can arrange an exchange with an English speaking family through an international organization (she would travel for a month and another child would come live at your house for a month during the summer).
-Some families sign up to be Host Families for foreign university programs in Spain (housing a university student).
-Hire an English speaking nanny for several hours a week and take advantage of some “couple time”. Or you can have an English language au-pair come to stay with you. You can learn more about this kind of services at www.soschildcare.com

Another great advantage in these situations would be for your daughter to see you speaking English with other people besides her.

You can increase your daughter’s overall exposure to her second language so that she feels more confident and comfortable with it. This can only be achieved by INTERACTING with her in the language, so watching TV or listening to songs is not enough. It’s also important NOT TO CORRECT her mistakes in the language, because this may make her think “of course, I’m much better at speaking the other way”.
-You can read books together and ask your daughter questions about the book such as “Who did Little Red Riding Hood meet in the woods?” Your daughter will say “the wolf” and you can encourage her by saying “that’s right!”
-It’s also a good idea to play games in which she has to answer easy questions with short answers, so that she is almost always right.

You can associate English with SPECIAL activities with Mom, which will prevent your daughter from considering English an obstacle which keeps her from communicating with Mom:
-Use a cartoon character doll from the cartoons you daughter watches in English to play English games that are always played wit the same doll. If she wants to play that game, it has to be with Elmo because Mom “doesn’t know how to play”. For example, Elmo plays hide and seek, and he talks about where he’s looking and asks for clues. “If María would just tell me where she’s hiding…I don’t know if she’s close or far away. Are you very far away María?
-Books are very useful for reading together and talking about what happens in the stories, especially if you only buy her favorite books in bilingual or English language editions. Go to the bookshop and let her choose!
-Use movies to help you play fun games. For example, every time someone says the word “you”, you jump. Every time someone says the word “I” you squat down. Every time the witch comes on the screen you shout, “go away” and stick out your tongue…When your children are older you can take them to see their favorite movies at the movie theater, but only if they watch the movies in their original version.
-When they are older you can play family board games together in English…

These are just a few practical suggestions for helping your daughter to stop rejecting her second language without damaging the mother-daughter relationship. We hope they are useful!

Thanks again for your question,
Dr. Orlanda Varela

Dr. Orlanda Varela is a Child Psychiatrist and the Coordinator of the educational project for Bilingual Families at SINEWS Multilingual Therapy Institute in Madrid. SINEWS organizes bilingualism workshops for parents in Madrid, as well as personalized speech therapy sessions to bilingual families with specific language development problems. For more information, please visit sinews.es.

Our friends at Sinews have written a great article on raising bilingual children on dirigirenfemenino.com. As always, the experts at Sinews have great advice for all those parents who are struggling to give their kids the gift of bilingualism.

Hello, we have a five month old daughter and we were considering hiring a British nanny who would only speak English to her in the fall. I would like to know if it is too soon, since I have read information about how it may be necessary for a first language to be more established in a child’s brain before starting with a second language. It would also be great if you could recommend any books on this subject. Thank you. María.

Dear María,

From what I can tell based on your question, both you and your partner speak the same language. If this is the case, I think it’s an excellent idea for you to look for outside help for teaching your daughter a second language. A nanny is a phenomenal idea!

We’ll be addressing two main issues in order to answer your question. First, there is the matter which probably concerns you most: what are the consequences of teaching such a young child a second language? And second, how much time would your daughter need to be exposed to her second language?

Let’s start with the first important question. There are several reasons why early or simultaneous bilingualism (when two languages are learned at the same time from birth or at a very early age) is considered to be the best and most natural method. Here I’m going to mention a few of the reasons which would apply to a child your daughter’s age. At 4 or 5 months old, your baby is already able to distinguish the melody and sounds of two different languages. And since she’s right in the middle of the process of developing her mouth and throat function (lips, tounge, soft pallette), she’ll be willing to imitate the sounds we adults produce as though it were a game, regardless of which language we use.

At around 7 months she’ll be able to combine these sounds based on the phonetic repertoire of each of the languages she’s been exposed to. These are essential steps for a child to begin building and structuring language networks in the brain. This is why the earlier she is exposed to a second language, the more likely it is that she’ll have an accent (which is just a combination of melodies and sounds) like a native speaker.

However, the main advantage of this type of early bilingualism is the natural way small children learn languages without being aware of even making the effort to do so. They learn a second language in the same way they learn a first language, since they are really learning two first languages at once.

And now for the second important question. In order for this sort of language aquisition to take place in the most natural way, your daughter would need to receive enough exposure to her second language. This means that she should be in contact with her second language during at least 20% of her waking hours.

If this is not possible or if it would mean sacrificing other more important things, like spending time with her parents, then wait. She has her entire life ahead of her. In this case she wouldn’t learn a second language like a native speaker but rather she would learn it well enough to communicate, work, study, etc. Many of us are late bilinguals and we can express ourselves fluently in second or even third languages. It is never too late.

You asked for a few book recommendations. Since your question was submitted in Spanish, please click here for a list of Spanish language books on the subject.

We especially recommend the recently published Consigue que tu hijo sea bilingüe by Barbara Zurer Pearson. The English language version, Raising a Bilingual Child can be purchased on Amazon.com.

We wish you the best of luck!

Mariana Lombardo is an experienced children speech therapist. She does clinical work at SINEWS with bilingual familias in the expat community in Madrid. Mariana is in charge of the workshops for bilingual families offered by SINEWS and she also gives personalized speech therapy sessions to bilingual families. For more information, please visit www.sinews.es.

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I’m from Barcelona, and I’m bilingual in Catalan and Spanish. I currently live in Italy with my Italian husband, and we were wonder which languages we should speak to our future children, since all three of these Latin languages are very similar and we don’t know any other Catalan/Spanish speaking families here in Italy. I know that Spanish would be more useful, but I would hate for them to miss out on Catalan and all the stories, songs and games I know in Catalan. My husband speaks Spanish (more or less) and understands Catalan. Thanks for your help!

Dear Mommy,

What you’re expressing when you say “I would hate for them to miss out on Catalan and all the stories, songs and games I know in Catalan” is the reason why we always encourage parents to speak to their children in the language they’re most comfortable in. This is primarily due to emotional reasons. Language is so much more than signs and symbols–it’s the instrument we use to transmit culture, experiences and the affectionate exchange between parents and children. So we feel it’s not a good idea for you to feel forced into establishing a connection with your child through a language that doesn’t feel natural to you.

In order to respond to your specific questions and doubts and to better plan a strategy for your bilingual home, we should first discuss several things. Based solely on your question about which language each parent should speak, the One Parent One Language (OPOL) model would work well for your family. You could speak Catalan and your husband would speak Italian. In this way you can create an environment in which your child would learn both languages naturally and each parent would feel comfortable speaking his or her own language.

With regard to Spanish, I’m wondering which language you and your husband speak to each other. If you generally speak Spanish together, that would be a great way to expose your child to his third language. This would be a passive way for them to learn, since they would acquire sounds and words passively, which would make it easier to activate their use of Spanish when they need it. Learning two languages from the very beginning will make it easier for your child to learn a third language later on in life. If all three languages are romance languages (Latin roots), the process will be even more simple. In fact, the entire process of language acquisition (no matter which language we’re talking about) is incitially a passive experience which later becomes active.

If you and your husband don’t generally speak Spanish to each other, don’t worry about trying to change that. There are many ways to expose your child to a third language, so I think your first priority should be for each of you to use the language which allows you to communicate freely with your children. Your children can learn Spanish by traveling to Spanish speaking countries, attending summer camp in Spain, etc.

Above all, bear in mind that languages are learned as a result of motivation and the child’s need to communicate.

Good luck with your trilingual family!

Mariana Lombardo is an experienced children speech therapist. She does clinical work at SINEWS with bilingual familias in the expat community in Madrid. Mariana is in charge of the workshops for bilingual families offered by SINEWS and she also gives personalized speech therapy sessions to bilingual families. For more information, please visit www.sinews.es.

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I am Scottish and only speak to my daughter in English. Her mum is Spanish. She’s now 2 years and 4 months and produces long sentences and understands everything I say to her. However, I don’t know if I should be forcing her to say more in English as she obviously knows, or let her speak more in her own time. She normally speaks to me in Spanish and I translate everything into English.

Joseph O’Donnell

Dear Joseph,

Before I respond to your question, I’d love to ask you a few questions such as: How often is your daughter exposed to each of her languages? What need does she have to communicate in each language? In which language did she speak her first words? In any case, I will do my best to give you the most helpful response to your particular case.

First I’d like to say that it’s great for you to continue to ask questions and answer your daughter in English even when she answers in Spanish. This is very consistent with the OPOL model you’ve chosen (you always speak in English and her mother always speaks in Spanish). But be careful about “translating” everything she says because that could have a negative effect. On the one hand, this is a “dangerous” way of telling her that she doesn’t need to make the effort to speak to you in English since you will formulate those sentences for her. This is also a fairly unnatural, more academic way of communicating. Your daughter has the great advantage of learning two language at once as all children learn their native languages, by using them, based on trial and error.

Based on what you’ve told me, it seems like your daughter is able to answer you in English from time to time, which leads me to believe that she does have a certain control of English.

What you need to remember is that English is your daughter’s minority language, so she probably feels more comfortable speaking in Spanish. Most children her age are in the midst of the process of EXPRESSING their language. Until now it was more important for her to develop her ability to understand and analyze adult speech in order for her to begin to express her own ideas and needs in words.

It’s important for us to understand that learning a language is not a matter of force or correction. It’s about feeling the NEED to communicate with others. Children use language when it is USEFUL for them to satisfy their needs. This motivates them to keep using it since they see language as a useful tool for achieving their objectives.

In order to further STIMULATE your daughter to use English when she communicates with you without “pressuring” her, I would suggest you use activities that she likes. At your daughters age, you can use children’s songs to sing and dance together, games with puppets (which are great for getting rid of inhibitions and can often help with expression, since your daughter will be speaking to a character that his not her father and “only understands” English), storybooks, etc…In this way you’ll not only be reinforcing your daughter’s English, you’ll also be sharing valuable quality time with her.

In some of the larger cities, there are also playgroups where parents get together to play with their children and do other activities (dance, crafts, theater) in their native languages. These groups would also allow your daughter to see that there are other people who speak English and help it feel more natural for her to use her English. This kind of activities will allow her to see another model: “There are lots of people who speak in English with Daddy.” For this same reason, it’s very important to maintain contact with your family and friends in your home country. Frequent visits are a catalyst for important advances in the minority language.

There are many options for helping your daughter to express herself freely and comfortably in English, but you must always remember that the greatest stimulant is to create a perceived need for her to do so.

Mariana Lombardo is an experienced children speech therapist. She does clinical work at SINEWS with bilingual familias in the expat community in Madrid. Mariana is in charge of the workshops for bilingual families offered by SINEWS and she also gives personalized speech therapy sessions to bilingual families. For more information, please visit www.sinews.es.

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I have a 27 month old son, who is currently doing a great job learning two languages. He learns Spanish from me and English from his mother (I am Spanish and she is British). I can see that he hasn’t had any problems with this arrangement to date. My wife and I have been wondering if it would be a good idea to teach our son a third language. Is that a possibility? Would this affect his first two languages or put too much pressure on him? Is he ready for this or should we wait? We look forward to your response, since we’ll be basing our decision on your professional opinion.

Eloy

Dear Eloy,

Of course it’s possible to teach your son a third language. If you can create enough exposure in that language, your child could even become trilingual. Unless your son has some sort of developmental problems (which doesn’t seem to be the case if he is already speaking Spanish and English at 27 months), he should have the necessary capacity for learning several languages at the same time as long as he is given enough learning opportunities in each language. There are many trilingual children in the world who are proof that trilingualism is possible.

Your fears about putting too much pressure on your son are the key to deciding whether or not to start teaching him a third language at this point. The best option would be for your son to learn his third language in the same way he has learned his first two, by having enough exposure to the language so that he’ll acquire it “naturally”. If he’ll be learning his third language in more of a classroom type setting, it may be best to wait a bit until your son’s first two languages are a bit more grounded. This would put less stress on your son, and you wouldn’t risk any interference with the development of his first two “mother tongues”.

Here’s an example, which might clear things up for you:

If you are able to expose your child to the third language during at least 20% of his waking hours (because one of you has a high enough level in the language or you plan to hire a nanny who speaks the language or are enrolling your son in a school which teaches in that language), then go ahead and start right away. But if you’re thinking about taking your son to classes once a week or watching television in the other language, without giving your son the opportunity to really speak with anyone in that language, it might be a good idea to wait. In this case we’re not talking about developing the third language like a native speaker would, so your son should be able to learn a third language in a classroom setting when he’s a bit older. Many of us have learned to speak a new language very well as older children or even adults, so it’s never too late.

Here are a few suggestions on how to start with the third language if one of the parents can speak and read the language well:

-Reading books in the new language are a great option. It can be useful to choose books for younger children with illustrations, tabs and other special features for you to discuss with your son. The parent who decides to read to the child in the new language should always read in that language, so that the child associates reading time with the new language. If you can find bilingual books in the new language and the language the other parent speaks, that would be a wonderful resource. For example, an English speaking father could read a book in German (the third language) and the mother would read the same book in Spanish. The child will first become familiar with the story in one of his native languages, and then he’ll enjoy the story in the third language.

-A new character or doll that only speaks the new language. This system will allow you not to break the “one parent, one language” rule because you can use the stuffed animal as a new voice. If possible, you might even try to find a doll based on one of the stories you’ve begun to read him (this may be possible with some well known characters). The doll “only knows how to speak” the thrid lanugage, so you could begin to play with your child using a separate voice for the doll in the new language.

-”Only in the new language”. Children have a great understanding of exceptions. If you have a no television during the week rule at home, you could make an exception for television or movies in the new language. You can also use dvds your son already loves and allow him to watch them with the audio track in the new language.

Sometimes it can be difficult to get a child to see a new language as something natural, so creating situations for your son to interact with monolingual people in the new language is one of the most useful things you can do (during family vacations, with a native speaker nanny or an exchange student at home…) The best of luck!

Dr. Orlanda Varela is a Child Psychiatrist and the Coordinator of the educational project for Bilingual Families at SINEWS Multilingual Therapy Institute in Madrid. SINEWS organizes bilingualism workshops for parents in Madrid, as well as personalized speech therapy sessions to bilingual families with specific language development problems. For more information, please visit sinews.es.

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How much exposure to a language does a 20 month old toddler need in order for a new language to really sink in? My daughter is learning German (from my husband + we live in Austria) and English (from me, I’m American) and we would like to teach her an additional language, Spanish so that she can communicate with some of our family members. Both my husband and I speak Spanish but not well enough to teach it to her, I feel. However, we have hired a caretaker from Paraguay that will spend about 15 hours a week with her. I would like her to speak with my daughter only in Spanish in the hopes that she will pick something up along the way. Is this a realistic expectation? Any thoughts you can offer would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks,
Diana Robleto-Sattler

Dear Diana,

Your question is an excellent one because it deals with two important factors: the amount of time necessary for a a child to learn a third language and how to guarantee that a child will retain a language and not somehow forget everything he has learned.

With regard to the first aspect, many experts believe that children should hear a language for at least 20% of their waking hours. So if your child has 12 “communicative hours” a day, she would need to hear her third language at least 2.4 hours a day. If you want your child to become truly bilingual or trilingual, you will need to give her enough linguistic input in all of her languages for her to be able to communicate, study and work in these languages. We’re not just talking about learning a bit of another language, but rather learning enough of a language so that your daughter won’t have problems using the language on many different levels (speaking, reading, comprehension, writing…)

Of course, this magic number is really just an estimation since many children pick up languages with less exposure and quite effortlessly achieve a native-like level in two or three languages. This will depend not only on the amount of linguistic input received but also on the quality of this input, age of the child and her motivation, linguistic capacities and interest in learning. If you think about it though, it may not be necessary for your child to have as strong a level in her third language as she does with her first two. In order to communicate with family, at least for the first few years, it may be enough for her to feel comfortable with basic dialogue and she may not need to completely master the language.

At your daughter’s age a Spanish speaking nanny is a great idea because this sort of relationship will stimulate interaction and communication in the language. And, believe it or not, you can also be a big help to your daughter’s language development. You can help her learn children’s songs (which are especially useful when they involve hand movements), and you can also read bilingual books with her on a regular basis. Once she is familiar with the story and illustrations in one language, you, your husband or the nanny can introduce the second or third language. It’s not necessary for your daughter to have mastered her languages for her to enjoy either of these activities, since you can read stories and listen to the music as a means of teaching her. Of course, you can also expose her to cartoons and children’s programming in Spanish, which are easy to find on the internet. Spanish speaking family members can also help you out by visiting your home or recommending popular Spanish language resources.

With regard to the second aspect, making sure your daughter doesn’t “forget” or lose her languages, the only real solution is persistence. There have been cases of children who seem to have “forgotten” a language they learned during their early years of development (0-4 years). For example, many children who are adopted in a foreign country have shown a loss in basic productive capabilities and can no longer speak a word of their native language after spending time in their new home. However, not much research has been done on the passive competence of these children (comprehension), since it would probably be much easier for them to “relearn” their mother tongue than it would be for someone who had never been exposed to the language. In any case, after the age of 3 or 4 most children who receive enough exposure to a language do retain what they’ve learned.

You ask whether or not your expectations are realistic, and I honestly think they are. You may just need to incorporate a few other activities in addition to your daughter’s time with her nanny, so that she’ll receive a bit more exposure to Spanish. Lot’s of luck, and please keep us posted!

Dr. Orlanda Varela

Dr. Orlanda Varela is a Child Psychiatrist and the Coordinator of the educational project for Bilingual Families at SINEWS Multilingual Therapy Institute in Madrid. SINEWS organizes bilingualism workshops for parents in Madrid, as well as personalized speech therapy sessions to bilingual families with specific language development problems. For more information, please visit sinews.es.

image credit: children playing, via flickr

Both my husband and I are Spanish, but we would like for our son to learn English very early on. Sometimes we speak to him in English and we watch English dvds with him, but what else can we do to help our son learn English from an early age?

Dear Mama,

I would love to ask you all sorts of questions so that I could give you the best response to your specific needs: How old is your son? What kind of experience do you and your husband have with the English language? What would you say your English level is?…Since I don’t know all the details, I will try to make my response applicable to any Spanish couple who wants their children to learn English as their second language from an early age, regardless of how much or how little English the parents speak.

I don’t know whether or not you have read my previous responses in the Ask Sinews column, but I have already written quite a bit about how parents should provide opportunities in which a child NEEDS to communicate in another language. In order to do this, we need to seek out those activities in which the child will feel the need to understand and respond in a way that will allow him to be understood. Here are a few suggestions:

-School/daycare (your child will feel the need to communicate actively with his teachers and the other children)
-A nanny or other caretaker (the caretaker will speak to your child quite a bit and your child will feel the need to communicate for things like asking for water, getting dressed, eating, playing…)
-Friends or other children around your child’s age (at the park, after school activities, with your friends’ children, etc.)

Bear in mind that I haven’t mentioned English classes at all, since the idea is to expose the child to a second language in such a way that he learns it in the same way he learns his first language, based on trial and error. In order to do this, you’ll need to look for activities which force your son to ineract in his second language. If you want your child to be bilingual you should always make sure to follow the 20% rule, so that at least 20% of your child’s communicative activities (not counting the hours he is asleep!) are carried out in his second langauge. There is a long list of options:

-Sending your child to an all English school or daycare center. This is probably the most effictive option, but you should consider whether or not your English is strong enough to help with homework, meet with teachers, etc. You can also consider a bilingual school in which at least 1/3 of the classes are taught in English by native English speakers.
-Hiring a nanny or caretaker who speaks English to take care of your child, play with him in the afternoon or help with his English homework. There are programs that allow you to provide room and board for a foreign student in exchange for speaking with your child in English for a few hours per day.
-Sign your child up for extracurricular activities in English where he will have the opportunity to interact with other children. This is not always easy, but in larger Spanish cities like Madrid, Barcelona, Seville or Valencia there is a growing number of play-groups organized by English speaking parents. These cities also offer the possibility of finding other activities like storytimes, theaters and sports in English. Internet is a great tool for finding even the most unexpected activities (you can even sign your child up for baseball at the American School in Madrid!)
-Read bilingual books to your child. This works best when one parent reads the book in Spanish so that the child becomes familiar with the story and illustrations and the other parent (or English speaking nanny) reads the same book to the child in English. Getting to know the story, vocabulary, animals, etc and seeing the illustrations will help your child relate each object with the English word. This will also help him learn and understand the use of verbs. If you maintain this reading routine with your child, one day he’ll be thrilled to be able to read the latest books in English before everyone else.
-Vacations/camps/cultural exchanges in English speaking countries. This is especially important when the child begins to communicate in English but still lacks fluency because he doesn’t really see a need for English (Children don’t learn that language can have other uses beyond communication until they’re older, so many children may be reluctant to use English if they know they can be understood in their dominant language.) Another valid option is sending your child to an English camp in Spain with native English camp counselors. At these camps all activities are carried out in English and usually there are also several hours of classes per day.

There are many options but these are some of the best ways to stimulate communication so that your child will see a true need to speak English. We wish you th best of luck with your bilingual family!

Dr. Orlanda Varela is a Child Psychiatrist and the Coordinator of the educational project for Bilingual Families at SINEWS Multilingual Therapy Institute in Madrid. SINEWS organizes bilingualism workshops for parents in Madrid, as well as personalized speech therapy sessions to bilingual families with specific language development problems. For more information, please visit sinews.es.

image credit: sinews

As many of you know, we did a great deal of research while developing our catalogue of bilingual books. One amazing resource we’ve found is SINEWS, the Multilingual Therapy Institute in Madrid. You may already be familiar with SINEWS from the “Ask Sinews” section of our blog and newsletter, in which the experts from SINEWS answer your questions and doubts about bilingualism (click here for more information). But what you may not know is that Sinews also hosts interesting workshops for bilingual families in Madrid, which can be a great tool for those of you who live in the area. If you aren’t familiar with the workshops, please read on!

Do children who hear two languages from the time they are born speak later? Does bilingualism “confuse” children and can it be detrimental for your child’s intellectual development? When both parents speak both languages, is it better to use the “one parent one language” model or the “one home one language” model? What should I do if my child refuses to speak to me in the language I speak to him (which he used to use with no problems)? How can I reinforce the weaker language when my child is becoming increasingly proficient in the stronger language? The Sinews (Multilingual Therapy Institute in Madrid) professionals will answer these questions and more for all parents who wish to participate in their workshops for bilingual families.

A small group of up to 10-12 parents meet together to learn more about bilingualism and share their experiences. Most of these parents already have children between the ages of 10 months and five years old who are growing up in multilingual and bicultural homes. Recently, the workshops have also seen an increase in Spanish parents with a high level of a foreign language, who would like to give their children the opportunity to become bilingual.

The debate is often heated and interesting: Which school should I choose? When should I teach my child to read in his second language?

At the end of the workshops, many parents exchange emails and organize activities with their children. It’s not always easy to find other families who share the same language combination, so this is a great opportunity.

This fall, SINEWS has added a few changes to the workshop:

-SINEWS has improved and increased the information packs it hands out to parents to include French and English after school activities, web pages with useful resources, a brief bibliography on childhood bilingualism and a calandar for normal language development.

-They have also tried to create a space for specific questions to be answered by the professionals at SINEWS (speech therapists and/or child psychiatrists) who give these courses, as well as a time for participants to share their common experiences.

The contents of the workshop are as follows:

* What is bilingualism
* Types of bilingualism
* Advantages and disadvantages of starting a family with two languages?
* Preliminary considerations before starting the project?
* Project Planning?
* Models of bilingualism?
* Third language, when and how?
* 15 minute break
* Priority, to communicate?
* Strengthening languages?
* Bilingualism and school?
* Bilingualism and relationships
* Normal development, what to expect?
* When to consult a specialist?

Click here to check out the next dates!