Bilingual Baby

OK, so you studied French in college or your spouse is from Argentina. You want to give Baby the gift of learning not one, but two languages during the sponge phase of baby- and toddler-hood. Great! But how?

While raising a bilingual baby sounds wonderful, there are some how-to's it's wise to keep in mind so you don't confuse Baby.

1. There should be some logic to when each language is spoken. One parent speaks one language to him, the other parent speaks the other. Or maybe you have "Spanish hour" at a specific time of the day. Don't switch willy-nilly between languages or your baby will have a hard time learning the difference.

2. Use correct grammar in both languages. This one's especially important for people like me who learned a second language they want to pass along. Think before you speak in your second language. If you make a lot of mistakes, Baby will learn it the wrong way too.

3. Expect a later talker. A monolingual child will begin to speak anywhere between 8 and 18 months, reaching a reasonable fluency somewhere around 2 years old. A bilingual child won't develop a "reasonable fluency" vocabulary until closer to 3 years.

4. Stick with it! Studies have shown that bilingual children perform better at cognitive tasks later on.

RESOURCES

Secrets of the Baby Whisperer for Toddlers (See pg 162)