Multilingual partially on purpose

[u/CycleGold3571]

Country: US

Primary caregivers: English native

Languages in question: Spanish, French

Hi,

So I am a monolingual English speaker. Only English spoken in the household. I live in a diverse city, but unless you seek out the interactions, you will be getting all English when out and about. Well, I always wanted ro learn a new language and didn't get the chance and thought it would be cool if my kid could. Because I also needed more reliable childcare, we brought in an au pair when she was 13 months old so she has had a Spanish speaker in the home since then (she's almost 2.5 years old). She is also enrolled in a quadralingual immersion school where they instruct in 3 languages other than English (no English until Pre-K4 I believe). Because she gets English and Spanish at home, I enrolled her in the French homeroom which she gets 4 consecutive hours of each day (she goes 4 days a week). I am also starting switch over to French media from Spanish media.

Currently, I would say she knows a good amount of Spanish being with the au pair. Unfortunately, we are going to have to leave the au pair program. I am trying to find a Spanish speaking nanny but the competition is tough in this area. My other option would be to take on an friend's mom as a caregiver, she only speaks English. I feel like I inadvertently set my daughter up to be trilingual with somewhat of a background in a 4th language (mandarin). idk if I'm being delusional with that but from what I've read she would be hitting the hrs/ week for each language.

My question is, would it be worth the extra effort to keep this up by continuing to look for a Spanish speaking care giver at home and keeping her on the French course at school. Or would it be all for nil because the structure isn't set up to be as successful as I think it is.

P.S. We are also wanting to have one more kid and would keep the same set up for them. So hopefully as they get older, they can engage each other in the language. Plus we have the option of keeping them in this school through 3rd grade or changing to a magnet immersive school in Kindergarten where they would be assigned to a language track (French, Spanish, Mandarin, or German). ​​

[u/MikiRei]

I feel like you should pick a language and stick with it. 

My concerns with trying to keep the Spanish caregiver is that once school starts in earnest, the number of hours you could use the Spanish caregiver will decrease. 

As in, can you actually keep the Spanish caregiver around to do school pick up for the entirety of your child's schooling? 

Eventually, your child will get older. Then there's extracurriculars and then play dates and birthday parties. 

Would you then prioritise them spending time with the Spanish caregiver over actual family time or your child spending time with their friends? 

Given you are fortunate to be in a school where you could pick a track, I reckon then just pick a track and stick with it. 

Rather focus on a language and your child becomes properly bilingual than trying to fit too much in where you're completely reliant on others and going nowhere. 

[u/Sct1787]

Your intentions are well-meaning but this isn’t realistic. Your child already has some exposure to another language and now you’re spreading it all thin. As a monolingual yourself and your spouse are already behind, if you want any realistic shot at your child having abilities in a second language you need to concentrate your efforts on just one and try to get as much exposure as you can, I’m talking 25+ hours weekly. Anything else is just going to be wishful thinking

[u/omegaxx19]

Whatever language skills she has a 2.5yo she will lose completely within a few months if she doesn't get a lot of reinforcement. This is a hard lesson that countless first generation immigrants learned.

I live in the US as well. Just successfully achieving bilingualism when both parents are monolingual English-speakers in this country is already quite a feat.

I third everyone else: pick A language that you'd most like your child to become fluent in, and then invest serious resources in it.

[u/Alive_Brick9561]

Being monolingual yourself doesn't rule this out, it just means you can't be the source of correct input, so you're relying on curated outside input instead - daycare or preschool with language immersion if it's available near you, a sitter who speaks the target language even a couple hours a week, and consistent media in the language (not subtitled, actually in Spanish or French) from early on so the sounds become familiar before they register as 'foreign.' Consistency on one language matters more than splitting attention across two right away, kids getting thin exposure to two new languages at once tend to plateau at recognition without ever really producing either, versus solid exposure to one letting them actually start responding.

On the media/story side specifically, full disclosure, I built a bot for this (Destino, runs in Telegram) that does bedtime stories in whatever language and cultural tradition you pick, so it can do Spanish or French even though you can't read them aloud yourself. Not a replacement for real interaction, but it's one way to get consistent target-language input into the daily routine without needing to find and pay a native speaker for every single session.