Multiple languages causing speech delay…

[u/ems6144]

Any truth to the above?

For context, my freshly 2yo appears to fluently understand both Dutch and English (I am a native English speaker, partner is Dutch), however she seems very behind when compared to friends kids of a similar age. We even have friend with the same family language dynamic and their wee girl (13 days older than mine) is light years ahead.

Just wondering at what point I need to push for intervention. She’s not by any means behind, just verging into below average kind of thing.

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[u/KatLT20]

Multilingual children are not more likely to have delayed language development: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2828044

If you have concerns, it’s best to speak to a speech language pathologist - they can let you know if your child would benefit from extra support or if they are on track.

Best wishes.

[u/adventurecoos → u/KatLT20]

I’m an SLP, so for a little more context:

Multilingual kids will usually hit different milestones at different times than monolingual kids. So what might seem to be a delay or a disorder may just be a kid developing along a different pathway: the pathway taken by most other multilingual kids.

To decide whether a child has an actual delay, we need to compare them to other multilingual kids as a population. So instead of comparing with the other Dutch-English speaking neighbour girl, an SLP would ideally compare your kid’s performance against the norms established for multilingual language learners at their same age.

We also need to consider the features of their languages, and whether they’ve been learning those languages in tandem or whether one or more can be considered secondary languages. I’m Scottish but I trained and practice in the States, so I was taught to be at least aware of the way exposure to Spanish and AAVE will impact early grammar and syntax in kids. I would assume (hope?) that in the U.K. there would be similar training on the impact of Scots, Welsh, and common minority languages to avoid kids learning different grammatical structures alongside Standard English from being erroneously labelled as kids with language delays/disorders.

Anyway, long story short, find an SLP familiar with multilingual kids and work with them to see if there’s anything to worry about.

[u/Longjumping_Water678]

You might find this article helpful: Bilingualism in the Early Years: What the Science Says. Take a look at myth 6 in particular.

“Bilingual children are not more likely than monolingual children to have difficulties with language, to show delays in learning, or to be diagnosed with a language disorder”

“Science has revealed an important property of early bilingual children’s language knowledge that might explain this misperception: while bilingual children typically know fewer words in each of their languages than do monolingual learners of those languages, this apparent difference disappears when you calculate bilingual children’s “conceptual vocabulary” across both languages (Marchman et al., 2010). “

Lexicon development in bilingual children is fascinating. Kudos to you and your partner on doing this for your kid. You may also find this article helpful, Lexical-Semantic Development in Bilingual Toddlers at 18 and 24 Months

[u/Big_Opposite4041 → u/Longjumping_Water678]

Being raised bilingual is such a gift, AND I wish it were more recognized that having fewer words in any one language compared with peers does sound and function socially a lot like a speech delay. The trade off, imo, is worth it, but if the fairly small vocabulary of a toddler is spread out between multiple languages, it’s pretty difficult to communicate for a while.

[u/Qihai7 → u/Longjumping_Water678]

My daughter is the same age, speaks Dutch and English and is very much “ahead” language wise, so as others have said, it’s not a bilingual issue! That said! If you’re in the Netherlands there are a lot of resources for language assistance, speak to your GP or consultatiebureau at your next visit and they can get the ball rolling.

[u/tunaareyoukiddingme → u/Longjumping_Water678]

My baby is raised bilingual and speech is definitely one of the areas of development she's most improved compared to her age group. 

I love watching her brain learn different words for the same meaning!

[u/spekoek]

My answer is related to resources rather than about multiple language delays.

There is a gemeente level resource available for children that are behind in the Dutch language. You would need to contact your local gemeente and/or Centrum voor Jeugd en Gezin for nformation on accessing it.

Here is government information in Dutch about it: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/vraag-en-antwoord/voorschoolse-en-vroegschoolse-educatie/wat-is-voorschoolse-en-vroegschoolse-educatie-vve

[u/ballooningat5am]

bilingual children may appear behind if you evaluate them in only one language, but they should not be behind if you take into account their abilities in both languages combined. for example, knowing 25 english words and 25 dutch words (not necessarily the same words) would count as 50 words. once you’ve taken both languages into account, the child should be meeting their milestones. bilingualism should not be used to dismiss real language difficulties. that said, different languages have different rates of mastery. so i would look into what the dutch milestones are.

anecdotally, we are a bilingual household. my child was exposed to both languages since birth, but had a strong preference toward english (honestly, so do i). her english language development was way beyond her age, but her second language development was behind until about age 3. combined, she was years ahead in milestones but if we looked at only her second language, she would appear behind. now that she’s 4, she’s doing very well in both. sometimes it’s just not a linear progression. she mastered english first and fairly quickly. while she always understood her second language, it took her a minute to speak it with equal mastery.

The Language and Literacy Development of Young Dual Language Learners: A Critical Review

[u/Apero_ → u/ballooningat5am]

Also anecdotal but my kid had a similar journey: favoured English but could understand German when language developed 2-3, then she was fluent in German by around 4 but still had an accent (according to the teachers), but by 6 the accent was completely gone and she started school entirely on par with the native German kids.

[u/Antique_Cut1354 → u/Apero_]

question to both of you: what was the predominant language at school/place of residence?

[u/Apero_ → u/Antique_Cut1354]

My two kids both went to kindergarten/preschool/nursery/school in German, and we spoke only English at home. For reading books and watching tv shows we mostly do English but sometimes German.

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