Suggestions for teaching 2nd. language

I actually think your situation is more ideal than let's say, someone like me who speaks two different languages. The situation that you want to avoid is the "mixing" of two languages. I often catch myself mixing Korean and English into the same sentence in order to clarify something to my daughter who speaks both. I don't want her to have the languages mixed up when she speaks in the future - I want them to be separate and distinct, so I do my utmost to only use English with her, and when necessary if I have to clarify (her Korean is better at this point) I use the Korean afterwards. (one sentence in English and then the sentence in Korean.)


In your case, it would be a matter of continuing to speak English to her. I think perhaps, your method of trying to "bridge" the two languages, meaning she has some proficiency in Cantonese about objects and greetings - you want to transfer those over to English by giving her the new vocabulary and grammar structure - so to bridge them, if you helper said something to her in Cantonese, you could say it in English immediately following. "Where is Mommy?" in Cantonese and then the same thing in English. That way she hears both languages and begins bridging the two together.


The great thing about your situation is that you wont' get caught trying to mix the cantonese and English together - which I think is often what happens in bilingual families, where the languages aren't distinct, thereby causing the children to mix the languages all together instead of having them be distinct in their minds. Children have an amazing ability to code switch - that is, to think independently in both languages (to think in the language, not merely translate from one to the other) and use the appropriate language with the appropriate person. My daughter does not use any English at her school (she's in a local program) although she did initially. NOw she only uses Korean there, and she's now nearing 3. She can effectively code switch there. At home, she mixes (because my husband and I do) but with her great grandma, she only uses Korean. So it is pretty amazing.


Read books in English to her, and point to things as you say the words. (story books with different animals and objects in them.) Practice greeting her with the same words every day. "Good morning honey" and use the same words to signal different parts of routine. "LEt's have your breakfast" or "Time for your bath" and as she keeps hearing the words she will understand what they are for, especially if they are involved in her active daily life.


It's an adventure for sure, and there are many who have done it really brilliantly and those who have fudged through it - but just the mere fact that she has access to both languages is already a great start.


For me personally, I'd like to eliminate her mixing at home and have her go 100% English at home and 100% Korean on the outside world, but we're still building on that.

I agree with Cara. There is a book written by Tracey Espinosa called Raising Myltilingual children that you used to be able to get from Amazon. She basically says the best strategy is to have one language from one person. That person needs to be a native of the language i.e. it should be their first language. This eliminates for instance speaking english with a French accent. Her reasearch is very extensive and having tried this at home and in a pre school environment it works.

It is important to pick a strategy as to who will speak to the child in which language and stick to it. It will be difficult at first but if you stick with it it will become the most natural thing in the world.

Best of luck and you will be giving your child the great gift of multilingualism.

Oh yes! Body Language is a great tool at the beginning of this process.

I agree absolutely with the above postings. I spoke English and Cantonese to my first daughter ( we were living in London at the time and had no Chinese relatives of friends around).When she began to express herself more fluently she spoke in a mixture of the two languges and confused everyone at her nursery school. I realised then that as far as she was concerned she was just learning a single "language" from me. It is so important to distinguish the two languages seperately from the start. I, on the other hand, spoke only Cantonese until I was five whereupon my parents decided that they wanted me to speak English (they were very,very! young and naive then!). They sent me to live with my grandparents in Huddersfield,England to attend the local school. I returned eight months later fluent in English, with a broad Yorkshire accent. Total immersion does work!

Congrats by the way Jazzy on the adoption. I read your thread on adoption (started by my thoughts) very interestingly and I know it's been a long long road for you!


Languages for kids are SO MUCH Easier than they are for adults, so you needn't worry to much. Just start speaking to her and she'll quickly get the hang of it. Also, I do think that using baby signs, to help "bridge" the two languages helps a lot. WE used baby signs a lot more with my older one, and I think it has made a difference in her ability to understand and use both languages well. Joshmomm on asiaxpat runs babysigns HK and it's an awesome experience in itself. (you can even consider it a 3rd language.)