Ideas on how to raise a baby to be bilingual ?

the best way is to just talk to your child in both languages. just like teaching them to speak english, do the same with French. most of the time, if there is a parent who is fluent in another language, the child will eventually learn it as well. since the child doesn't know anyone else, he wouldn't find it weird. he'll actually learn both the languages.

i speak 2 languages ,it comes natutally , you use one at home and the other will be used on everyday life on the playground and with friends and at school or at work but the other language will used at hom otherwise it will be forgotten so be sure to use the least used language in the home by everyone as the family language i am japanese but i speak english at home ,my mother use to yell at us if we spoke japanese in the house and refuse to answer us if we asked her for something in japanese so please do that it will help especially after they start school and start to replace the language

Where I live in Canada, English/French bilingualism is pretty much a necessity (in terms of employment opportunities, mainly). A majority of families that I know are capable of both languages, even if they don't regularly use them in the home. Some of my daughters' friends, as they were growing up, were raised in bilingual homes and the children absorbed both languages like sponges. In one of our neighbor's homes, the mother spoke French to the children and the father spoke English. The kids automatically responded in the same language. They also associated the language to the appropriate set of grandparents, when they'd come to visit. I think it's a great advantage to be raised in a bilingual home. I don't think your son will be confused at all... I think it's even better if you DO let him hear you speak both languages. It will become very natural to him to do it too :)

Hi! I would dearly love my baby to be bilingual. I speak english, and my hubby speaks french. Unfortunately he doesn't stick to speaking french to her, and speaks mostly english and only sometimes french, and then she has some french baby movies that she watches, and we try to specifically teach her the french and english words for things. So this is in my eyes a compromise situation, (I would love him to speak just french to her), but we've had so many arguments about it that Iv'e decided eventually that its not really worth us arguing about so much! Anyway, as to your situation, I've read that its perfectly fine for a baby / child to hear their mummy speak to them in one language and to their dad in another. They will realise that they are two different languages, and differentiate between the two. So it sounds like what you're doing is absolutely perfect! Babies are incredible actually - I read that they can actually differentiate different accents to their mom and dad's from the age of six months!

i have 3 children all bilingual , i spoke to them in english mostly the 1st year then they watch tv and go to school in 2nd language ,which is actually thier native tongue .we live n asia and they speak english at home it is very simple they figure it out themselves , no need to try and seperate it for them they do this naturally

my kids aren't bilingual, but they speak a lot french. I am english and my husband is french. when they were born, he spoke pure french to them. it wore off a lot as they get older, but he still speaks a lot to them in french. they say a lot of things in the french language...in fact, the only way they say "goodnight" "i love you" and "hello" is in french. it totally freaks people out! LOL they say it is better to speak 2 languages while they are young so they can catch on easy...the older they get the harder it is...at least this is what i have heard.

children are so adaptable when it comes to learning, and certainly language. I've seen the "one parent one language" thing recommended in "babytalk" magazine. I think that's a great method- if it works for you. I don't think you'll confuse your child if he/she hears you speaking both French and English. Learning a 2nd language is really beneficial to brain developement- you're really giving your little one a head start!

I have a cousin that speaks English just like your husband, and a husband that speaks mostly Spanish. They have a daughter that can talk to you in both of those languages with no problems at all. So I don't think it will confuse your child if he hears both English and French. I think it's good, it will come in handy when he's older. When he's in high school, they will probably make him take Spanish, since he will already know french and feel that is cheating. If that's the case, he will know three languages so it all works out in the end.

My past french teacher grew up in Belgium and she learned how to speak french, german, dutch, and spanish from her mom, dad, grandpa, and grandma. She would speak to one of them in their language and the other in another language. That is how she learned those 4 languages by the time she was 6 years old. Where do you live? My teacher said that a parent should speak with their child in their native language and they will pick up the main language of where they live because it is everywhere (tv, radio, books, etc.) I do not think your child will be confused if you tell him or her when to use which language. A child learning to be bilingual will be very fluent in both languages and can use them for his or her benefit in the future. I wish you both good luck!

hi Ricknkae, I'm an Aussie working for an American organization in Thailand, and one of my colleagues is married to a Thai, and has a son (three-and-a-half) and an eighteen month old daughter. The young boy is already translating things from Thai to English and back again. As soon as the child realizes that his parents speak a different language he will help out. It's almost as natural as learning to speak one language.

hey whats up here is my input on that i think you should only speak french intell the youngen is old enough to understand that you can speak both languages and have your husband speak english so the youngen will have both languages and be fluent at both cuase well for me it was hard to learn in a class room and i think he will thank you when he is in high school

Hi guys! It's fantastic idea to raise a child to be bilingual. My 2 (5yrs & 3yrs) boys are trying to pick up 4 languages. English, Malay, Chinese & Arabic. If daddy speaks english, stick to english and if mummy speaks french, stick to french. Baby's brain is truly like a sponge it just absorb everything you feed it with. And if you don't make use of this early childhood years, the cells that is developing in the baby's brain will go to waste. It will not confuse the child. Most importantly, stick to your own language and don't mix (i.e. mum speaks english and dad speaks french). All the best!! Your baby is lucky to have parents like you guys!! God Bless your family!

The human mind is amazing in that it has the incredible ability to learn any language especially if started young. You can just talk normally to your child in french and in english...nothing formal, just talk to him when watching tv, in french and in english....the mind will develop and adapt and learn both languages!

I envy your family because you have two language teachers for your child. Just as what you said, one parent one language is a good way to teach a child bilingual. I have a former classmate whose English is very good and he persisted in talking to his son in English since he was born. It's amazing that he talked to his son in English for as long as 23 years as his own mother tongue is Chinese. It's really not easy, but they did it while his wife would talk to the child in Chinese all the time. Now his son is already 23 and his English sounds like a native speaker. I would not have believed if I did not hear it myself. But it is true. So you can just talk to your child in two language.

Most of my family are bilingual, they nearly all speak excellent English and Italian. Basically there parents just spoke to them in both languages. They read books to them in both languages. Of course there was some confusion, but it is easily fixed when they are older. I think it's a positive thing for children to be bilingual. Good luck!

For a child to be bilingual they have to start off with one language that they are fluent in. Then another language can be introduced once they have a wide volcabulary. This way they will pick up the second language in no time as they already have the words in their first language. I work with many bilingual children and the ones who learn their mother tongue first are now fluent in English. However, I have heard if each parent only speaks to them in their language then they can learn both at the same time. Its only when parents try to teach their kids a language that is not their mother tongue, do language problems occur. The first 5 years of a child's life is when their brains learn the most and this is a great time to teach them another language. I knew a boy, who at 4 yrs was fluent in French and was becoming just as fluent in English. Its ashame we don't teach all kids to be bilingual at this age. I wish you success.

The first thing you need to do is talk to your husband and explain to him how you are feeling. Communication in your relationship is very important. I think that if your husband is ok with you teaching the child both languages that is fine. I do however, think for the purpose of cutting down confusion in the first five years you should teach the child english. By that time the child should have the general idea of English. Then you can gradually introduce French words into the vocabulary. This is a joint decission between you and your husband. I don't see a problem with learning a second language. I do think that you should learn the primary language of the country you live in first.

hi, ur urself a bilinguist.... being a mother u should talk to ur child in french...anywes he will be learning english later on.. dta wont make any confusion as far as learning is concerned.

I know two families who have done this. The key is to realise that if you start with babies, when they are in their language learning phase, they can learn two or more at the same time. You do this just by using the two languages with them - some say each language must be talked exlusively by one adult, but other say even that doesn't matter. You certainly don't have to teach them sequentially as one poster has said. That's confusing baby language learning with adult learing. Another poster suggested always translating for them when you use another language - this is also quite wrong. Babies don't learn languages by translation (the way adults do) even when they learn more than one. They learn each as a first language - learning by immersion only. You'll find that children who learn languages this way don't even understand the concept of translation, the languages are understood indepentantly. For an adult its hard to imagine being in this state of understanding.

The first five years of a child's life is a childs most vulnerable time. During this time it is when the child will absorb everything you teach them. The best way to teach your child both languages is for him to hear them all the time equally. You need to to teach him to answer back in the language that he is beign spoken. I am bilingual (spanish and english) and I have a 4 year old daughter and i always tell her that when I speak to her in spanish she must respong in spanish and vice versa...Also I think it is important to have access to both languages for example, purchase him books, movies in both english and french.