Okay, so this is a blog about learning French. So why am I writing about speaking English? Well, whenever someone chooses to teach a second language to children still learning their first, this issue invariably comes up. And it has some bearing in our situation.
Before I go further, it's going to be necessary for me to identify my children in some way. Since I'm not crazy about the idea of using their names on the Internet, here's how we'll refer to them:
Pumpkin - my son, about to turn six
Monkey - my daughter, 4 1/2
Sprout - my youngest (a daughter as well), coming up on two
So the issue people often get concerned about when it comes to teaching children a second language is that they may become confused--that their language abilities in the first language may be compromised in some way.
But my background is in teaching English as a second language. And part of my education was a healthy dose of linguistic training, so I know the research, some of which can be referenced here. I know that learning a second language often enhances a child's abilities in the first language, not the reverse.
And none of that changes my confidence that I'm doing a good thing teaching all my children, including Sprout, a second language. But Sprout is talking later, and a lot less clearly than either of my other children did. While Monkey spoke her first words clearly at about six months (!), Sprout was well over a year old before the first word appeared. At a doctor's appointment a couple of months ago, her doctor said she should have a vocabulary of 10 consistently-used words by now. He suggested that if she doesn't have a vocabulary of about 50 words by the time she's two, she should see a specialist. But the waiting list to see one of those specialists is six months long, so she's already on it.
I'm really not worried--as I said, I know the research--and there's actually some debatable evidence to suggest that children who are late talkers can be very gifted. Einstein, for example, was a late talker.
But it does raise issues, and make my decision to introduce French something I occasionally have to defend. And I'll admit to choosing to speak English to her when I'd be perfectly capable of speaking French, just because I want to hear her say something I'm sure I'll recognize.
Because I was thinking about all of this, I thought I'd make a brief record of the (English) words Sprout is using. Most of the time she babbles in a very meaningful way--as though she's convinced you understand her. She also uses sign language much more than she speaks (so I suppose she's learning three languages, but what a life-saver, since she's not speaking!). And when she speaks, it's often poorly enunciated, so my husband and I are continually saying, "Did she just say...?" "Didn't that sound like...?" "I'm pretty sure she just said..."
Sprout's signs: all done, more, milk, water, baby, potty, hurt, stop, please, thank you, I love you, up, book, and she shakes her head for "no" and nods for "yes." She uses these signs regularly, but she also knows the following signs, and will produce them when asked to: bed, brush teeth, eat, read.
Sprout says: mommy/mama, daddy, grampa, gramma, bye-bye, night-night. She also puts her finger to her lips and says "shhhh" when her dolly is sleeping. (These are all fairly clearly enunciated.) The following are rather unclear, but identifiable to family members: milk, banana, book, yes, that, I love you. She also says her brother and sister's names, but again interpretable only by those of us who know her best! She makes animal noises (moo, meow, etc.) and identifies correctly virtually all her body parts.
And once or twice, I've thought I heard a French word, but I can't be sure.
As I've mentioned before, she doesn't seem to care which language I address her in, and will respond appropriately to requests or questions in French or English. So, I'll continue to teach her French. And in a year or so, I'll look back on this blog entry and wonder why I even thought it necessary to say anything at all about it.
