It May Be Too Late to Teach Your Baby a Second Language

on September 9, 2011 at 2:15 PM

baby foreign language The benefits of teaching children multiple languages have been debated, discussed, and ultimately praised. While you should still sign up your grade-schooler for French lessons (or your foreign language of choice), the real benefit comes in the first nine months of life. I know! Who even knew babies could communicate at that point beyond a high-pitched scream, much less using two different languages?

But Freakanomics shows us a report from the Journal of Phonetics demonstrating the mind-expanding benefit of growing up in a bilingual household when you're just an infant.

Apparently the first few months of life are when babies begin to recognize the sounds of language. At even seven months a baby can distinguish between English and Spanish sounds. If that same baby lives in a monolingual household, he can no longer do the same thing by eleven months. However, if he lives in a bilingual household, his language comprehension is extended much further, and therefore remains "open" to learning language.

This may be a fluke, but my son, who was cared for starting at three months of age by a Spanish-speaking nanny, began talking incredibly early and has consistently shown language skills far above his age range. I've always attributed this to his having an older sister, but maybe his little brain benefited from hearing two languages for the first year of his life.

Interesting. And maybe a new argument for those Mandarin tapes you play for your baby that we love to make fun of when that mom isn't around.

Did your baby benefit from being in a bilingual household?

About the author April Peveteaux

writes about anything that gets stuck in her craw. A mom of two in Los Angeles, she can't believe she practically lives in the country now after attempting to raise kids in Brooklyn.

Filed Under: baby development, baby first year, newborns

Comments (9)

Emberbaby

on Sep 9, 2011 at 2:29 PM

My children are growing up in a bilingual home, along with a language immersion preschool.

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Dontribi

on Sep 9, 2011 at 3:55 PM

I believe throw as much at them that they'll pick up. We started with your baby can read stuff and both my wife and I speak english and spanish. My 2 and 3 year olds are both fluent in both languages and know which one they have to speak to who. They pick it up a lot quicker than you think. I actually look to my 3 year old for help with conjugation!

Freela

on Sep 9, 2011 at 4:04 PM

It's not 'too late' to learn a second language. My kids are in French Immersion... I speak French but seldom spoke it when they were infants because I had no one to speak it to! They began in grade one and are quickly becoming fluent- my son is in grade four and his verbal French and verbal English are at about the same level and are both above average for his age. I definitely think there are advantages to growing up in a bilingual home, but I think putting effort into learning another language is just as significant, and insinuating by the title that it's 'too late' after infancy is extremely misleading!

Nonmember comment from misspegotty

on Sep 10, 2011 at 2:45 AM

That your baby started early to speak is just a fluke, usually the onset of language for bilingual children is a bit later than the rest cause they need to figure out more things, and, it's true, their linguistic skills are usually above those monolingual kids. Still, it's NEVER too late to learn a language! Even adults can, they might not benefit from the same advantages of bilingual kids, but as an adults, we can also learn a new language and become proficient! It's totally a myth that only kids can learn foreign languages!! And I know cause I'm an ESL teacher!

Nonmember comment from ariparis

on Sep 10, 2011 at 10:39 AM

I agree that being exposed to another language as an infant or young child gives you a clear advantage in learning foreign languages because you are learning them naturally as you would your mother tongue. I grew up in a bilingual home myself and am completely fluent in French. However, I absolutely disagree with you that it is "too late" to learn another language! It's never too late. Certainly, children pick up languages with more ease than adults and are able to replicate accents with more precision but learning another language later in life is possible as well. It requires more work but I've known many people (10 year old children or 30 year old adults) who were able to learn another language. Immersion is key, and hard work pays off!

elibee

on Sep 10, 2011 at 6:10 PM

Oh please of course it's not too late. My father took French lessons when he was 82 and fared pretty well.

CrimsonRain

on Sep 10, 2011 at 9:47 PM

It's never "too late". It's just easier when they're that young. I grew up in a bilingual household and spoke both English and French equally well by the time I began school. My bilingualism has always been an immense asset for work, travel, and social exposure. You do your kids a huge favour when you begin teaching them a second language early on.

spamica

on Sep 11, 2011 at 1:25 PM

My kids are going to go to a Spanish Immersion school when they start Kindergarten and I don't think it's too late at all. The school has been open for 20 in our city and I know lots of graduates and every single one of them is fluent. I have no doubt ours will be too. I would teach them a foreign language earlier if were fluent but I'm not. And telling people to turn on tapes for them just shows how ignorant some are about language acquisition. A language CANNOT be learned witout the interaction component so you're wasting your time.

Kediset

on Sep 11, 2011 at 11:28 PM

there once was a Chinese family who used to live in a house across the street.. waay back.. the kid was then like 3 and so ridiculously fluent in Chinese (don't remember which one it was. thinking Cantonese) that it put me to shame (I'm also Chinese). Difference is that I wasn't taught from the beginning after my bro's bad experience of being mocked for how he spoke.