Ready for a second language?

I'm English and my husband is Italian. I've often thought about my son's use of language and, as my Pediatric can confirm, I've asked numerous questions about what language I should speak in, how to tell if he's ready for both, how much should he be talking etc...

I came across this article about 2-year-olds learning multiple languages and thought I'd share it here. The full article can be read here.

2-year-old
Since your child is picking up English so rapidly, you might wonder if now's also the time to expose him to other languages. There's evidence that children learn languages more easily in the early years because their brains are so feverishly making new neural connections. They can literally hear all the unique sounds of a foreign tongue better than a teenager or an adult. Kids who grow up in a bilingual household have been found to have smaller vocabularies in each language, but the total number of words they know is about the same as English-only speakers, and being bilingual has been shown to have lasting cognitive benefits.

The catch is that the best way for your child to learn a language now is through conversation with a native speaker. Tapes or weekly classes are less effective, because it's the face-to-face observations and repetition that help the brain most. Your child is also far more likely to retain the second language if continuously exposed to it as he grows. Chinese lessons only from ages 2 to 4 will not make your child proficient at 18. Some research, though, shows there may be a brain-connection boost, even if your child never becomes fluent.

If you like the idea of exposing your preschooler to another language, look for translations of popular children's books to read together. If your child's babysitter is bilingual, encourage her to speak her native language with your child.

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