Does your GC speak another language?

Thanks Rinouchka. I'll do my best. I have three sons - 2 in their forties and one late thirties. This is my first GC and I'm really excited to meet him this coming Saturday. It's been a long time coming. I'm still having difficulty in believing that I'm a Gran haha.

Thanks to the responses on this post, I'm now fascinated to see him progress in language, albeit mostly from a distance.

Juney24 have a wonderful time in Barcelona meeting your baby GS!

Your post has been a pleasure to participate in and it is wonderful that it has given you a new way of looking at things. A comment that has been often voiced by so many of my ex-students is that mastering a 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc. language has opened new windows in their mind. That is so true.

Your GS will have at least 2 naturally acquired panoramic picture windows in his mind and will be receptive to additional new views!

My son and family live in Poland and my 8 year old DGS has had no problem coping with two languages,although he has said that he finds English lessons boring at school!
His first language is Polish as that is what he uses most of the day but he and my son use English and he has had no problem swapping from one to the other.
I would love to be able to speak Polish but it's one hard language,spanish is easier.

We both spoke only in English to our DDs. We spoke to each other in Italian and English. We were really surprised one day then the older one was 4 and translated exactly what we'd just said. We had no idea she was absorbing and understanding what were not necessarily tangible concepts. We have never taught them but they are now fluent and the little DGCs (4, 4 and 2) know how to say things to their Nonno, as well as bits of Frech. DD is a linguist so I'm sure they'll go on picking things up. Their boy cousin is not so interested but does know a few stock phrases.

We brought all our 3 up bilingual and they are passing it on to their children as they are very pleased with us for doing it. The DiLs are fine with it, too. It is very inconsiderate for both the children and the grandparents if they do not have a common language.

And apart from anything else, I would have found it profoundly disturbing and physically impossible to speak anything but my mother tongue to the fruits of my womb.

As others have said, bilingualism is really not the barrier it may appear to be. If each parent speaks to the children in one language, they will learn both. I live in Spain, in Catalonia, where, as well as Spanish, there is a regional language, Catalan. My children have been brought up with three languages from birth, which makes them trilingual. As a result of this, learning a fourth language becomes easy. All mine speak varying degrees of French, too.

Rinouchka that's very interesting indeed about dyslexia. I know someone, an English speaker, who is dyslexic. They had to learn Hebrew for their work and much to our astonishment, had no problems at all with picking it up!

I certainly don't see it as a problem that my two DGSs will be at least bilingual English/Italian and probably trilingual as DDIL speaks 7 languages and DS 4! DGS1 frequently switches between languages when chatting away and I ask him to translate. His Italian GPs speak little or no English so it's total immersion for the DGSs when they're visiting.

In fact DGS1 also speaks some Mandarin from attending a Mandarin nursery, something no one else does and I think it's fabulous and to very much be encouraged.

Ranouchka thanks for the great advice. In fact thanks to everyone for your great advice. I had seen this as a real problem but now feel really encouraged.

Mamie I've downloaded Duolingo which you suggested and will give it a go. I think it would be useful to try to understand some of what is being said when in Spain with DIL's family. I'll certainly do as suggested though and talk to GC in English, well Scottish really, just to confuse things further haha.

This question has niggled away at the back of my mind for over a year now and I wish I'd asked it earlier. I don't know of anywhere else where you can tap into such a wealth of knowledge and experience.

As already mentioned, experience shows that each parent should use their native language. It's working well so far with my GS, although it is comical sometimes when daddy speaks to him in Spanish and he answers in English. They split helping with homework too.

Do encourage them to speak English to him as well as Spanish. My DDIL has only spoken French to my two DGDs and their Daddy speaks English so from the start they could switch between the two . Even at an earlyish age they seemed to know which language to use with other parts of the family. It is lovely for them to speak to all members of the extended family .
We were sitting one day waiting for the girls to have thier face painting done and the girls and thier mum were discussing the option in front of them
in a book . The little boy beside them whispered to his dad " These poor little girls how will they tell the lady what they want because they speak a funny language " .
It is a great thing to have been brought up like this and we now ask the girls how you say things in French that we do not know.

That is true, Lillie. Bilinguals often have difficulty writing in the language not of the country in which they live. A good way to help prevent this is to teach them to read once reading in the first language is accomplished. That way, they visualise the language in written form.

Interestingly, dyslexia may manifest itself in one language, but not the other. I have witnessed this in 16-19 year old bilinguals I have taught.

Writing is important but in any foreign language exam I have worked with, the oral, aural and reading components far outweigh the written in overall importance.

Children with parents of different nationalities are so lucky to be able speak another language. It's not a case of having to learn it, it just comes naturally. I would also imagine they could have fun teaching their grandparents new foreign words!!
The only suggestion I would add is not to neglect writing in the second language if the child is likely to sit exams in this subject later. I have seen many fluent speakers struggle to spell the words on paper, especially in the Romance languages, and often they need to be taken right back to the beginning which can be tedious for them.

My youngest grandchild is only two and is being raised bilingual. He lives in London, where my son speaks English to him and my Parisian dil speaks French to him. He is a little slower at talking than most children, but he understands everything said to him, in either language.

He also sometimes translates a word from French to English for the benefit of his daddy, which makes us laugh as he has a very patronising air about him.

My dil speaks five languages in total and I think it's fabulous that GC has the benefit of learning languages other than English. I've never heard anyone say there is any disadvantage to be being bilingual!

Two of our 4 children live abroad and their children are/ or will be/ bilingual. In one case, trilingual.
Posters who have stressed that one parent speaks only in English to the child at home are spot on.
The parent whose main language is English is the best person to develop their child's English. The other parent should speak to the child in the language of the country in which they live. However, it also works well if English becomes the home language used by both parents but the child, if he/she goes to nursery at 2 or 3, will pick up the other language very easily.

As a language teacher, I am convinced that if young children hear other languages being consistently used around them, they will develop a facility to understand and speak other languages easily. We acquire language passively at first.

Grandparents can help tremendously by speaking their own language to the child, singing to them ( nursery rhymes are great)sending books, etc. But also having the children visit them on their own when they are old enough to do so. Friends with school-age GC from various countries sign them up for day camps here in England when the GC visit during school holidays. This allows them to develop their English with peers in a fun environment.

We brought up our 4 children bilingually from birth, introducing a 3rd language a bit later, always orally. The girls spoke early but our son did not speak until aged 2. Sometimes, bi or multi lingualism can have this effect because the child is processing all these "codes".

Juney64 , enjoy your grandson's bilingualism and participate in it. Of course, learn Spanish if you wish for your own pleasure, but only speak to him in English. It is the best gift you can give him!

We live in Belguim, DGS is 4 1/2, he speaks French at school and upstairs with DD and SIL and English with me downstairs and at Sunday School.
DD and I chat in English in front of him and SIL who is French/Belgian speaks French.
SO is Flemish and he speaks Dutch with DGS.
His little best friend is Brazilian and DGS has a smattering of Portuguese.
We lived for a few years in Portugal so can still get by in Portuguese.

My grandchildren live in Spain and speak English with our son and Spanish with their mother. Their English is very, very good, but I would say that Spanish is still their first language, because they are surrounded by my DiL's family and school is in Spanish. They watch English TV and we send books and DVDs regularly. We Skype a lot too.
I have used Duolingo to learn Spanish and my DiL and I muddle along in a mixture of the two. We don't get to see them very often, but they improve a lot when they spend time with us, especially our granddaughter.

Leche for the baby though!!

As a number on here have said, it's best if each parent speaks to the child exclusively in their native language. The wee one won't be fazed at all, and will learn much more quickly.

I hope it's a very dry one Juney64 - cheers!

DGC's other grandad speaks English but heavily accented; when he and DH have a 'chat' it is like two parallel conversations which SIL finds hilarious as he speaks both languages.

Tanith, its possible that they do intend to be bi-lingual. I haven't met my little GC yet and haven't asked them what they plan to do. I think I've got a dose of the yikes at the idea of learning Spanish and was curious to know what other people thought.

Reading your posts, I think I should have had more faith. I'd no idea that children could so easily become bi-lingual.

Good point Hiltopgran re talking to family and friends. When I visited earlier this year, that was a definite problem with GC's other Gran and Grandad.

Looks like it may still be a good idea to try to learn some Spanish, complete with lisp as Alima said - that did make me laugh.

Cheers Jalima. I'll have a Jerez for you when I'm there haha (ok, had to look it up). That makes three Spanish words I can speak now.

Thanks for the responses - communicating with GC feels easier already.

I can pronounce Jerez!
(very important word)

My niece is English, is married to a Frenchman and lives in France. They have brought their daughter up to be bi-lingual so that her elderly English grandparents can speak to her. It has worked out wonderfully and given my great niece a valued second language. You could always meet them halfway Juney and try learning Spanish, doesn't it involve lots of lisping?

DGS flummoxed a nice Welsh lady by asking for a boddla wardah! Australian English can be like a foreign language too.
DGD chats to me in Welsh and English

It would be a good idea if your DGC is brought up bi-lingual, so much easier to learn languages from a very young age.

My DGC speak Spanish and English, DD speaks to them in English, SIL speaks to them in Spanish, their main home is in Spain and I picked up some Spanish when I visited but would have liked to have been able to converse better with their Spanish family and friends. Currently they are in UAE and children are also learning French and Arabic at school, and find learning new languages relatively easy.