Hi All,
My son has a new daycare teacher (its a home daycare) that speaks mainly spanish. She has been teaching my son spanish words. I know that this will be good for him in the long run, but I would rather him wait another year or 2 before he is taught spanish. We speak english only in our house. I just feel like because he is still learning to speak english, the spanish learning should wait. Am I being paranoid? I just don't want him coming home and pointing at something, and saying what it is in spanish, but not knowing what it is in English. Is it too early for him?
if you would rather him wait, ask her to please use english only around him. She should respect that.
But i dont see anything wrong with it. My 2 1/2 yr old knows just about as much spanish as english. Learning spanish in no way slowed down his english speaking. he's just going 90 miles an hour in 2 languages instead of one 
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You're son is probably being raised bilingual and it's better to learn two languages in an early age. If you're worried about his functionality with English, as soon as he starts school, he will learn to distinguish the two languages. Spanish altogether may phase out because he will get less and less exposure, conversation, etc.
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No, if he gets used to the words and things when he is younger, he will be farmiliar with them when he is older, it does not hurt.
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THe earlier the better. Infants can be biligual, its actually great for their development.
If he's pointing at something and asking for it in spanish, you need to say the word in english, ask him to say it in english, and then ask him what it is in spanish later, so he can tell there are two words for each thing. Its not too much for him to learn. You're lucky he's learning this early. Its excellent for his development. What a leg up he'll have in verbal communitcation.
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Children are much more likely to pick up two languages by being immersed in them than adults are. You son will speak English which you teach him and he learns through his home life, television, songs, stories and books. This will be reinforced living in a predominantly english speaking country. Spanish will be to him a second language. Many children in countries such as Switzerland become fluent in three languages and they are very good at all of them. It is a well documented fact that once a child has another language they find it easier to pick up even more languages. You would be doing your son a disservice by taking him away from such a golden opportunity. He will thank you later in high school when he breezes through language class.
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No! Give the teacher a thank-you card. A little bit of confusion for a few months will be more than worth it. I know a child of 3 who is fluent thanks to an Hispanic nanny. She has no trouble switching back and forth between the languages. This is the time when it is easiest for a child to learn, and what an advantage for him later!
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The earlier the better … I know many bilingual children..and they are amazing to me…they know instinctively at 3-4 what language to speak to who.
Sometimes it takes a little longer… but in the long run…it pays off in spades.
Encourage it..and help him !!! Point at the same object, say the same word in both English and Spanish…
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it is so easy for him to learn at this age, my kids were taught both languages early and I never had any problems
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tell her you don't want her confusing him. talk to him in English. That's what's wrong now, all the Spanish people expect us to learn their language rather than them learning English.
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if you would rather him wait, ask her to please use english only around him. She should respect that.
But i dont see anything wrong with it. My 2 1/2 yr old knows just about as much spanish as english. Learning spanish in no way slowed down his english speaking. he's just going 90 miles an hour in 2 languages instead of one
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You live in an english speaking country. Learning to speak spanish is not good for your son. Neither is it bad. Learning a few words of spanish is not learning the language. This can be fun. But, it is not really important except for sake of tradition. For example, I'm puerto rican. Most of my extended family lives in various places in New York City and Chicago. My brother and I do not live anywhere near a hispanic neighborhood. Although we both know many spanish words, neither of us speaks spanish and we can only understand someone speaking simple spanish with great difficulty. Spanish is part of our culture and, to a certain extent, part of our family. But, it is not important in our day to day lives. We live on the mainland, not in puerto rico. English and no other language is what is spoken in the United States.
Immersion is necessary in order to learn a language. If you don't speak spanish at home, than he won't ever learn more than a few words. The younger a child is, the more active is the part of the brain that hardwires languages. If a child learns a language, he becomes comfortable with that language. An adult can learn a language but it is very difficult and he will never be comfortable with it. This is due to this part of the brain that is active when your child is young and atrophies as he gets older.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that, if you want to teach your child a second language, now is the time to start. However, why would you want to do that? Are you hispanic with many relatives that don't speak english? Do you regularly visit family in puerto rico, mexico or points south? Are you or your wife hispanic and want to preserve those values in your children (language can be a vehicle for this)? If not, then languages like this are just for fun and you really shouldn't bother. Teaching your child or not won't effect his english one bit. Like I said, immersion is what teaches a language. Living in the US provides this for english. It's not a problem.
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The younger the better. Two languages now a days is brutal! Imagine what kinds of jobs he could get in the future. My son is learning English and Spanish and he's three. It doesn't bother me at all because it helps me learn Spanish also. Personally i think you should be proud of him.
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You are being paranoid. This is the time for him to learn both. He will learn both and excel and will easily know the difference.
If your son points to something and says the name in Spanish, say:
Si, en Espanol, es un _______, pero in English, it is a ____.
(Yes, in Spanish, this is a ____, but in English, it is a _____).
He'll get it more than you would believe.
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No, it's not too early for him. At this age their minds are facile enough to learn both without getting confused.
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I don't think its too early my children were not quite 2 when they started learning spanish we only speak english in our house but our children speak better spanish than me or my husband. Now is the best time for him to learn his mind is like a sponge and he can catch on to the language quick
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