Bilingual child???

Thanks ladies!!! I just have to remind myself that if I teach him a second or even a 3rd language, it is going to be the best gift he can get from me, and I am sure when we go to Venezuela he'll be able to learn and interact more in Spanish.

Hi,

True what the other ladies said but sometimes under different circumstances, its easier said than done!
With our 1st who is now 6, I always spoke english to her .Hubby because he wasn't with her as much as me, he would speak english instead of french so that she would understand and interact. Holidays would be full french immersion but she would still only speak and answer in english but she understood everything. The language spoken in the country you live, also plays a part. They tend to answer and feel more comfortable speaking the language which they hear the most on a day to day basis. We've always been in english speaking countries and I'm english so for her, its normal to speak english.
She only started to speak french after 4years, although she understood everything, she preferred to answer in english.Now she switches from french to english, but will only speak english to her sister?? With our 2nd, I speak english and hubby speaks french to her, and then in english for her to understand.
She'll be starting preschool next week and will be one day eng, one day mandarin, so we'll see what happens.
Even though they look like they don't understand , they do. Just go with what you as a parent feel comfortable with and I'm sure he'll take it all in.

Yep, it's best to stick to one language per person when speaking to your LO. I speak German with my LG, hubby speaks English with her and her nanny Afrikaans. Then DH and I speak English with each other.

Don't worry, multilingual kids often seem "confused" in the beginning (from an adult's point of view) or even start talking later or a mix of languages. They are very clever and receptive and will eventually figure it out.

when teaching children multiple languages it's always best if each person speaks only one language, consistently.
So for e.g. your husband would always speak arabic to your child, and you would always speak spanish. So he gets to here one language spoken properly, and consistently, from one person.
Language confusion happens when one person speaks 2 or more languages - they struggle to figure out which words belong with which language.

Are you guys teaching your kids 2 languages? I am having a problem!!! We live in Israel, we speak Arabic (well me not so well) I was born in Venezuela, my family is arabic but my first language is Spanish, So I am trying to teach my almost 3 Year old LB, but end up speaking bad Arabic and forget the Spanish, he can understand some, but never replies. Any tips!?? hubby says I must teach him Spanish and I really want to teach him, but maybe I am scare he can't understand me! Plus he speaks a bit of English as well,...I don't know if this is too much for him.