Multilingual Children

Hello;

I have more less same situation with you. My son is 2,5 years old and I have been talking to him in English since he was 10 months. In the beginning I started doing so for couple of hours and then increased it time by time. After 6 months I started, my only language was English directly to him. He has absorbed it very well, the logic and distinction of two languages. At the time he was 18 months, English was a dominant language but in time he started speaking and making sentences in Turkish. Now he uses English if he doesn’t know it in Turkish or if I ask him to speak in English. He cannot make complicated sentences in English as well as he does in Turkish. Sometimes there are very funny words come out, completely absurd ones, mixing English word as the beginning with ending in Turkish. This is completely normal. If he mixes it means he is going to make sense very soon. Unfortunately his English is not going to be same level of native speaker at his age. And this is completely normal, too. I was too worried in the beginning about the progress but now I am very happy to do so and I feel that he is on the same page with me. After reading “Bilingual Edge” my point of view has changed forever about this issue. The book says simply whatever you do about being bilingual there is no wrong way, just try and do not worry. This is what I understood or whatever I wanted to understand. But it worked for me.

Take care

Hatice