Late talker?

[ChristophsMama]

Hello, Everyone!

I am a German/American woman who is married to an American man and is bringing up my child bilingual German/English.  I only speak German with him and my husband only speaks English with him.  My husband and I speak English with each other.  While I am at work, my son stays with my parents who only speak German with him.  He is already 2 1/4 years old, understands both languages well, but does not talk very much.  He can say about 15-20 words in German and sign language.  We are not extremely worried about it since he does understand almost everything we tell him, but he does get frustrated when we don't understand him.  Do any of you have a similar situation with your child or children?  I would love to hear that I am not alone. 

Thank you,

Sonja Gardner
Seattle, WA

[Katsmom05]

Hello!
I'm in the same boat with you but in Japanese. I'm Japanese-American and I speak Japanese and my husband speak mainly English to our 29 month old son. My mom speaks Japanese only to him to. Like most boys my son doesn't speak yet. Mostly grunting, pointing, and other sound effects. He does understand both languages but he just doesn't respond in anything we could easily understand.

At two their needs are simple: food, potty, TV, nap,or toy. I try to narrow things out whenever he cries. However if we still don't understand him I just tell him sorry mommy doesn't understand. I try to make him tell me what he wants. Don't want to make things too easy for him. I pretty much knows what he wants but I try to make him express himself more to me.

Hope that helps.

[marie772005]

My son is 2.5 yo.  I speak Russian to him, my husband speaks German, and we speak English to each other.  His speech development has always been slow.  At 18 months old we went to get evaluated by Early Intervention specialists.  Well, I found out, they have no clue how to work with multilingual kids.  The evaluation was completely unprofessional and their conclusion was that my son might have an autistic spectrum disorder.  Being a medical professional myself, of course, I knew that this was completely untrue, his only problem was slow speech development, he had no problem understanding, making eye contact, following instructions.  But that experience made me understand that families like ours have to fetch for themselves, and speech therapy, unfortunately, is not a way to go, unless you are lucky enough to find an SLP who speaks your language.  Well, at 2 yo, my son's vocabulary included maybe 100 words and he could sing Backe-backe kuchen.  Right now, he makes short sentences in English and Russian, but not in German yet because my husband works a lot and does not spend as much time with him.  He knows several songs in English from his storytime at the local library.  He understands all three languages well.  We will try to emphasize English more, so that he'll be ready for school, but we are not stopping the other two languages completely.  BTW, I bought a DVD made by SLP "Baby Babble" and my son loved to watch it and to copy the sounds they make, I recommend it to everybody.  Anyhow, I know my posting is a bit long, but what I wanted to share from my experience is:

1. Do not go to Early Intervention and if you do, make sure they give you an SLP that speaks your language
2. Do not get frustrated--boys develop language skills at a slower pace
3. Continue doing all that you can to develop those language skills--talk to your child, go to storytime or other activity, plan a playdate with other kids, and read-read-read as much as you can. 

Yes, my son might not be as advanced as his only-English speaking friends, but he will catch on, I believe in him!

BTW, Sonja, in Seattle there is a great German daycare (in Seattle and in Issaquah)--check them out!  Too bad we are in Miami now, otherwise, my son would go there for sure, and they are planning to make a school too.

[americanmexican]

my daughter is 15months old and she doesn't say very many words yet. i am american and my shuband is Spanish(Mexican) and i speak only English to her( my spanish is weak!) and he tries to speak to speak only Spanish to her but sometimes the English just comes out!LOL!! adnyway, i have heard that bi or multi linlgual kida tak longer to talk b/c they have to figutr out a lot more, so we ar not worried yet! however, she respond to whatever is said to her in both languages and i think that is awesome! 

[spongelearners]

Keep it up, it's the best thing you can do for your child... They are like sponges that will absorbe everything now.
Visit my website for great resources and ideas   http://www.spongelearners.com/

[shakesrear]

I can't say I'm in the same situation - my daughter spoke very early and she has a very large vocabulary and likes to use it. But she is in a bilingual environment and she does understand both languages.

I just wish everyone would stop spreading the misunderstanding that bilingual kids have language delays. If your child has a language delay, it's not because of the bilingual environment. It might be his natural rhythm or there might be a problem.

[marie772005]

So, what's the point of your posting?  Yes, you're right, I have read that children in multilingual environment are supposed to develop at the same pace as their monolingual friends, but what a mom to do when a child has a slow development for whatever reason?  Unfortunately, there aren't many specialists equipped to review a child's speaking ability...in Seattle alone there is no German-speaking SLP that works with toddlers, and believe me, I've checked.  Something has to be done, whether it is a child's natural slow pace or it is a developmental delay...I just wanted to emphasize that mothers can do it on their own, EI services, unfortunately, are not prepared to deal with multilinguism at this point, but a child will have a record of being "slow."  So, my opinion on the matter is--do it yourself, educate yourself on how to play with your child, and if you decide your kid still needs an SLP, find one that speaks your language and pay out of pocket.