Bilingual kid? How come if we don’t speak English at home?!

Watch out! Difficult vocabulary below the text!

Your plan was to gift your baby with what you hadn’t been given as a kid – a superpower being a priceless skill of the contemporary world which is the acquisition of more than one native language. The idea was brilliant but… something’s gone pear-shaped. You haven’t felt comfortable (n)or knowledgeable enough to speak any other but your first language to your kid and suddenly it’s been a year and you haven’t done anything to accomplish the objective apart from watching some animated movies and reading children’s books in a target language. You think no speaking means no acquisition, then there comes remorse and the decision to chuck in your cards. But before you announce your discomfiture… what about giving your kid another while with the means s/he’s been exposed to, loosening up and letting things happen? I’ll tell you what’s gonna occur. Here’s my private, not based on any academic resources, experience with multilingualism (multi- as my child is daily exposed to more than two languages).

A natural developmental process in each toddler is repeating sounds and words, whether it’s your speech production or some external linguistic input. It means your child willing to learn, experience and communicate will sooner or later begin to parrot their favourite cartoon character in terms of behaviour, attitudes and… speech! It starts with onomatopoeia:

barking —> woof
laughter —> haha
sneezing —> achoo
roaring —> roar

…and with time evolves towards the use of other words. However, remember not to expect your kid to repeat perfectly the “extraordinary” word on hearing it for the first time. Speech production mastering takes time and effort. Some words will be learnt faster, the other will require more practice. Take a look at a few words from our little dictionary to have an idea of how it works – shorter words are pronounced in full while longer ones are abbreviated.

apple /ˈæpl/ —> apple /ˈæpl/
car /kɑːr/ —> car /kɑːr/
duck /dʌk/ —> duck /dʌk/
no /nəʊ/ —> no /nəʊ/
look /lʊk/ —> look /lʊk/

BUT:

boat /bəʊt/ —> boa /bəʊ/
cookie /ˈkʊki/ —> cook /ˈkʊk/
dinosaur /ˈdaɪnəsɔːr/—> din /ˈdaɪn/
pumpkin /ˈpʌmpkɪn/ —> pa /ˈpʌ/

Who’d use the extortionate word if its shorter (and easier!) synonym is costly? Nobody! Or… at least not me! Same is what toddlers do while learning a language. They pick shorter, less complex and more effortless to learn words. Actually, just like we do when we take up any new activity – basics first! How do you think – which of the alternatives has my kid chosen?

samochód OR car ?
książka OR book ?
idziemy OR go ?
cześć OR hi?

I’m almost sure you’ve guessed correctly. Despite limited input of the English language, coming from books and TV exclusively as English is spoken in our house for professional purposes only, our kid has so far chosen to start his meaningful speech production with English. Is it a benefit or a problem he hardly ever parrots anything said in Polish? We’ll see in some time. For now, we’re giving him freedom of choice and a variety of opportunities to listen to multiple languages. Give same to your toddler! Even if you don’t speak English at home, your baby can still have a chance for a successful language acquisition.

I’m keeping my finger crossed for your linguistic adventure and wholeheartedly believe it’ll be fruitful, if only you give yourself a chance. And if you’re looking for additional opportunities for language acquisition, contact me for more information about an upcoming project of stationary Olsztyn-based classes for babies.

If yo’re interested in the topic of bilingualism read also another article!

priceless – bezcenny
contemporary – współczesny
acquisition – nabycie
go pear-shaped – pójść nie tak 
knowledgeable – znający się na rzeczy
accomplish the objective – osiągnąć cel
target language – język docelowy
remorse – wyrzuty sumienia 
chuck in one’s cards – poddać się
discomfiture – porażka
means – środki 
loosen up – wyluzować 
occur – nastąpić 
echo – powtarzać
developmental process – proces rozwojowy 
toddler – małe dziecko 
speech production – produkcja mowy
external linguistic input – źródło zewnętrzne języka 
willing – chętny
parrot – powtarzać, papugować
behaviour – zachowanie 
attitude – postawa
onomatopoeia – wyrazy dźwiękonaśladowcze
barking – szczekanie
laughter – śmiech
sneezing – kichanie
roaring – wycie
roaring – wycie
evolves towards sth – zmierzać w kierunku 
extraordinary – nietuzinkowy
effort – wysiłek
abbreviated – skracany
equivalents – zamienniki
extortionate – kosztowny
costly – drogi
complex – złożony
effortless – nie wymagający wysiłku
take up – podjąć
exclusively – wyłącznie 
professional purposes – cele zawodowe
meaningful – mający znaczenie 
hardly ever – prawie nigdy 
variety – różnorodność
wholeheartedly – z całego serca
fruitful – owocny
upcoming – nadchodzący
stationary – stacjonarny