“Becoming bilingual, whether from birth of soon after, or subsequently in early childhood prior to schooling, entails a complex interaction between what children bring to the learning task, that is, among others, speech segmentation skills, speed of processing, and the linguistic and cultural environments in which they grow up” (Ludovica Serratrice, Becoming Bilingual in Early Childhood, in A. De Houwer and L. Ortega, The Cambridge Handbook of Bilingualism, CUP, 2019, p.35)
Parents, teachers, educators and health practitioners should always consider that quantity and quality of input are strong predictors of children’s early lexical skills, and these are closely related with emerging grammatical skills.
Also, the societal status of the language – its prestige in the community – plays an important role in the development and maintenance of the skills children acquire in these languages.
Please consider this infographic as a general guideline!
Every child is different and deserves personalized attention and assessment if necessary!
I invite you to observe but not hover over your child’s language development and to enjoy all the steps!
If you are wondering if your bi- or multilingual child’s language development is healthy, don’t hesitate to contact me for a free consultation at info@UtesInternationalLounge.com.
As a linguist with extensive experience with multilingual language acquisition and learning, and language and speech specialist, I am able to recognize the signs that require help from a a speech and language therapist, audiologist or a child psychologist and always recommend other professionals when necessary.
Further readings:
Kohnert, K. (2010) Bilingual children with primary language impairment: issues, evidence, & implications for clinical actions. Journal of Communication Disorders 43: 456-473.
Ute Limacher-Riebold
Ute Limacher-Riebold, PhD, is the founder of Multilingual-Families.com and Owner of Ute’s International Lounge & Academy.
She empowers internationals to maintain their languages and cultures effectively while embracing new ones whilst living “abroad”.
She grew up with multiple languages, holds a PhD in Romance Studies and has worked as an Assistant Professor at the University of Zurich (Department of Italian Historical Linguistics). She taught Italian historical linguistics, researched Italian dialects and minority languages, and contributed to and led various academic projects.
Driven by her passion for successful language development and maintenance, and personal experiences with language shifts, Ute supports multilingual families worldwide in nurturing their languages and cultural identities in the most effective and healthy way.
Hi, I am very curious about when a child typically becomes aware of the concept of two separate languages. I cannot find much information on this, but wonder if you have experience with it being around a certain time or varying completely. ? Thanks!
Hi Abby, that is a very good question and, indeed, some children become aware of this earlier than others. I’d use the term “conscious” that Maria Montessori already used and that is also used in neuroscience. Children become more conscious about everything around them around age 2, or better: between age 2 and 4. It is not something that happens over night, it is rather an increase of consciousness that you can observe in all domains of life. They might be more cautious in moving, in talking, in reacting to things or trying new things. You probably noticed yourself that around 2-3-4 years (it really varies a lot ! ) when children start asking more questions and become more skeptic and cautious about everything. Maria Montessori distinguished between the “unconscious mind” (babies – toddlers/ around 2-3-4 years of age) and the “conscious mind” of older children. I hope this helps a bit?