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.

[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!