Needing advice on teaching my daughter spanish/english

To the bilingual mommas, I need help to know if it’s normal or what to do. My daughter is three years old, and we only speak Spanish to my daughter since we want her to know her it before English. Well, in some words, she says well and others she doesn’t pronounce well, it sounds funny whenever that happens, I tell her the correct way and to say it slowly, so she does but doesn’t come out as it supposes to be. Will she get it through time? I kinda worry whenever she goes to preschool and wont really understand English but people tell me she will learn fast. we read books in both languages, also tv and talking to her.

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English is one of the hardest languages to learn . Spanish being the easiest

Its normal keep speaking both languages … it feels slow but if she is bouncing between 2 its fine as long as there is progress… and you understand a majority of what she says. But if you tji m she needs help reach out to your school about speach evaluation

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You should have probably taught her English first since it’s a he’s language to learn and then taught her Spanish. I say get her leap frog letter factory it’s a dvd and that’s how my daughter learned how to read and sound out words

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You’re doing amazing :clap: my mom doesn’t speak English only Spanish so I learned Spanish first and then my cousins would speak to me in English. I learned English at church too from hearing other kids talk. But when I went to kindergarten I learned English. Same with my siblings. As soon as she goes to school she will learn so quick because of her classmates. Don’t worry she’s going to be okay. If the teachers notice any challenges then they’ll refer her to a speech therapist and they will work with her

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I am also teaching my son both languages and he is 15 months old and responds to both English and Spanish but we speak to him in both since he was born. So for example if I say sit down I will also say sientate. Now he will respond and understand both and I’m sure once he is speaking he might say some words funny but he will get through it. I’m sure your daughter will as well. Their little minds are soaking up everything right now :heart:

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My mom told me, kids that learn 2 languages, it takes them a bit longer to fully pronounce the words correctly as well as taking a bit longer to use full sentences in each. It just takes time. Keep doin what youre doin and she’ll be fine :upside_down_face:

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Do both at the same time. She’ll learn to differentiate earlier. We talk to ours in 2 dialects for Portuguese english Italian and Spanish … we go in and out w them in convos and they don’t skip a beat. They are now 8 and 4.

She is 3 … most kids still have a hard time pronouncing words at 4-5. Give it time.

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Following keenly for my three year old son who’s struggling with fluency in English and Swahili.

And can speak only one Spanish sentence in his entire being ’ yo no hablo español’

Absolutely hilarious and huge achievement in Nairobi.

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You are doing great, don’t worry about it yet, she will learn, my little girl is 2 and she understands and says words in English and she understands Spanish great as my family talk to her in Spanish and i do both, and she does great with her dad bc he just speaks English

Our daughter gets babysat by her godparents, they are Spanish, we are not…I love that she is learning Spanish from them, she is 3 and understands it and will hopefully speak it soon

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I talk to my daughters in both languages. Whatever I say in Spanish I repeat in English. My oldest 14 Spanish was her first language. She was fluent. Now she can sort of read it, she understands it but speaking is ok. My 3 younger ones 5,4 and 1 understand Spanish but they always answer me in English. Not fluent when speaking in Spanish. My 5year old is getting better with it as she is getting bigger

I want to say first that I do understand how beneficial it is to a child to be bilingual. So I think it’s great that you’re teaching her both languages. But I would for sure try to focus on them equally at least. Because I home school my daughter because of COVID and there is a little boy who is in her class who’s first language is Spanish. If he is by himself, he gets so frustrated because he doesn’t understand completely what the teacher is saying so it seems like he doesn’t know the answer. But if his mom is sitting with him translating what the teacher is saying to him. He knows the answer every time.

She’ll be perfectly fine. We spoke English and Spanish to my daughters since they were babies, they picked both languages up at once. Now they are 11 and 12 years old and fully understand and speak both languages. They learned how to read and write in English but surprised me when I heard them reading in Spanish since they were never formally taught. I think just continue to communicate to her in both and they’ll both just feel natural to her as she grows up.

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Mispronunciation is perfectly normal at that age. But speak both. They will continue to learn both. :heart:

My mom worked with someone who only taught her daughter Spanish and when she started school she was really behind her peers because they had to teach her English. By the time her 2nd daughter was born she taught her English and Spanish. Teach her English also

I just speak Spanish to her trust me they will pick up on the language

She will pick it up and be able to pronounce the words. Songs and watching her favorite shows in Spanish will help as well. They love to sing along. That’s how I taught my youngest

Only speak Spanish at home . Speak English when she is around people who only speak English . She will learn English well at school / play groups . Best to start at a very young age and it will be a breeze for her !

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My daughter is half Mexican, but we mostly speak English at home so English is her first language. But I am speaking more in Spanish and she will even ask me, how do you call this in Spanish?? I also second what others say about saying it in Spanish then in English!! But she will pick English up very quickly outside of the house!!

Do both my friend is teaching her daughter Spanish and English . And if my son is around I ask her to speak it to him

The child needs to learn their first language well. Then they will easily pick up the second language.

English is all I care to know! The rest is up to those that live here but cant communicate here! Its not my problem!

My first language is english and my husband only speaks spanish. We speak 90% spanish at home and my daughter will be 4 next month and she speaks both very well I am surprised everytime she starts saying new words in english that i dont remember saying lol… I also let her watxh cocomelon and some shows in english so that has helped.

Please teach her both English and Spanish. She will thank you later in life when she has more work options for being bilingual.

I would think you would want to start in English before Spanish because she’s going to need to be fluent in English to function well in her school.

I do English first and every other language comes 2nd. Like, my 3 year old is fluent in English and I’ll teach her Italian or German words alongside English

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Kids do learn English super fast! My cousin lived in ukraine & moved here with her family when she was around 8 or so, learned English within a month. & after a couple months/year she is excellent at it. Her parents on the other hand are still struggling. Lol.

Continue speaking in Spanish. Even if they can’t speak the words to where it’s understandable, Atleast they know what you’re saying. Time will come when they can pronounce words perfectly :slightly_smiling_face:

Yes… It’s perfectly normal & she will get better! :heart: My son had a hard time & we only speak English so don’t be discouraged. Our granddaughter’s bilingual & kids are so smart being able to pick up 2 languages very quickly! Sounds like your daughter’s doing AMAZING! :smiley:

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I spoke Portuguese before I spoke English. Starting school I was classified as ESL, but very quickly learned English and now am bilingual. I’m sure once she starts school she will pick it up quickly!

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I raised 3 bilingual kids and believe me they are like sponges. My oldest is 16 he’s pre-school teacher always told me to keep speaking our native language because English they pickup in a hear beat :wink:

There are tons of bilingual books for kids on Amazon. My husband is teaching our kids Spanish.

Get the Duolingo app. It can help you out on Flashcards and stuff

Keep doing what you’re doing! My child goes to our nanas for childcare which is a Spanish only home. I only know very minimal Spanish but still use certain words because he responds to Spanish. His cousin was also brought up at nanas with the same situation. He mixes up Spanish and English sometimes (like he will ask for an agua melon aka watermelon). He is 3 and can completely understand Spanish, but doesn’t know all of the Spanish words to respond all the time. Kids are amazing and learn so quickly. Don’t get discouraged if she makes mistakes pronouncing words, preschool teachers are used to that!

My son didn’t say any words in English until he was 3 and at that point he said very few. Almost all of his vocabulary was Spanish words… Now he is almost five and knows both English and Spanish well. His dad speaks to him in Spanish while I speak to him in English. All children learn at their own pace. She will learn English very fast once she starts school and everyone around her speaks English.

In any language the child will learn to pronounce the words correctly with time. As for English she’ll absorb that quickly. Their little brains are like sponges. I wouldn’t worry about it too much momma.

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My little girl is 3 and my parents only talk to her Spanish my hubby and I speak to her in English she understands both languages but speaks little more English, trust me she will talk both and understand both their minds are just trying to process to different languages they are still little to master both languages give her time mama she will do great!! :hugs: I also read and sing with her in Spanish and tell her the difference between Spanish and English and translate stuff for her that way as she is growin she will know the difference

Im not bilingual…but have many friends that are with kids and that is what they do speak both languages read write and tv time… and 3 is still young…just keep doing it speak/read /write both languages …kids will learn and pick up on it quickly…

She’ll adjust.
My mom only spoke Spanish before starting school. And now, she speaks English perfectly fine. She doesn’t have an accent at all.

I’m not billingual but the best daycare I ever had only spoke spanish. She learned both at the same time. It caused more trouble for me, the daycare had to teach me what words she knew in spanish. Pan caused some problems, I thought she wanted to use the pots to play drums, she wanted bread.

Kids adjust.

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Babe as a mother who went through it don’t worry about your child not knowing english yet. When she/he goes to school they will pick it up so fast your going to fight for them to keep their spanish. As far as pronouncing it, it will get better as they get older. Just keep on their spanish.:heart::heart::heart::heart::heart:

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Well she is only 3! Give her time. You are teaching her 2. Even at this age, I am teaching mine about 4-5 languages, and in some words, they will miss pronounce! It’s normal! To be honest though… teach her English first, which is the hardest language to learn… I am saying because I have seen so many struggle with English. Spanish is actually pretty simple!

So we decided to speak both. My dad and I will do English my mom Spanish and my husband both. So they’ll understand eventually. And they do, so I can talk to her in English and immediately my mom in Spanish and she gets it. But that was since she was born. She’s seven now and fully fluent in English and Spanish. The first being her main language. Yes, she will learn it at school but I didn’t want her to not know even the basics before she went in. Does that make sense?

Yes, your friends are right. She will pick it up. My mother is from Germany and until I was about 5 years old I spoke Germanglish lol. Shit I still do sometimes :rofl: Please don’t stop embracing both of her cultures. She’ll figure it out, I promise!

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Focus more on the Spanish part because that won’t be taught anywhere else but home. I was raised in a Spanish only household and I picked up English fairly quickly at school. My father made sure we were able to read and write fluently in Spanish as kids. I mastered English in school. Good luck to ya! :v:t3:

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When I took Spanish in high school. They said learning English was WAY HARDER than learning English.

But, I could never ever catch on to Spanish

We’ve spoke both to my daughter since birth. Shes 3 now and speaks spanglish :joy: her dr said kids who are learning different languages get confused but as they get older will adjust and be fine 🤷

In our house we speak spanish 95% of the time, but since my family doesnt speak spanish, and the babysitter doesnt speak spanish, they seem to learn english better and faster. My kids understand and they can answer decently, but they can not have a full blown conversation. We have recently started spanish lessons that they need to learn, and they get an allowance if they learn what we teach for the week. This gives them incentive to speak spanish. And we know that they will eventually speak both languages fluently

She will be fine…perfect time to do this.

My oldest daughter is bilingual. Dad doesn’t speak any Spanish at all and my family babysat for me and only spoke Spanish. She learned both at the same time, but primarily spoke Spanish. Only issue was she would talk to her dad in Spanish too when she was mad at him bc she knew he couldn’t understand her. When she started school English became her primary language and she isn’t as fluent in Spanish anymore like she was when she was a toddler/preschooler. Her first word was “mas” :rofl:

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My mom’s cousin is a high school Spanish teacher. SHE talks only Spanish to her boys. Their dad talks only English to them. Works out great.

From the day that children are born until puberty they learn so much and quickly. Of course it takes practice and consistency. My daughter tries to understand 3 languages, my husbands hispanic, English, and Albanian (my mothers language). Yes it is gonna be hard but they do learn very quickly

kids often say words different than they are when they are small. They learn the correct way as they get older. My daughter always called bubble gum dumble bum when she was a toddler

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3 is young to say all the words right. some kids don’t grow out of speech problems until 8.

I got 3 bi-lingual kids. We talk Spanish at home. Yes they sound weird sometimes but they will get it with time. 3 is still really early for diction to be perfect. Weather it’s Spanish or English

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She will get better at it, as long as you can understand her so she doesn’t get discouraged by not being able to get across to you with what she’s asking for or telling you. I have 4 and each learned English sooner than the first because they heard it from others. Example my second would hear my oldest talk to his neighbor friend, my third heard her brothers speak it, and now my youngest hears all of them and also watches cartoons in both languages. We are a Spanish at home speaking family. I my self learned English from watching cartoons as my parents didn’t speak it in order to show me.

I’d stick with the Spanish, she’ll learn English fine as she gets older. My boyfriend came here when he was 8 and they put him in an only English speaking class and he learned just fine. Being bilingual is so important now. Every word I know in Spanish I speak to my son. And he’s 2 and does pretty ok. His dad will say something along the lines of “go in the bathroom.” And he’ll run down the hall “baño!” And right into the bathroom so he understands even though he knows the word in Spanish.

I have a 4 and 2 year old the speak spainsh and understand english. But my girls first speak spainsh cause we live in mexico but i speak to the in english . Ur daughter will get better my 4 year old speaks better spainsh then me lol. She will b fine.

Dnt worry… we are Hindi speaking… Enrolled my daughter into the school… in 3 months time she is now able to understand and speak also the simple english sentence relevents to kids. They learn so fast …so don’t worry at all jus send her. At home cannot teach .

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She is only 3 even if she wasn’t bilingual she would said things wrong that’s normal

Kids learn faster than adults. I have met many people who grew up bilingual and they turned out fine

I’m a child have a parent who was bilingual who never taught me. Please teach your daughter let her teach her daughter and litter teach her daughter or son it doesn’t matter because it’s important to know more than one language I believe that I’m trying to learn and I’m still struggling and I’m significantly older. And it’s harder to learn please teacher thank you very much for being a good parent

Yes keep speaking spanish to her because in school or daycare she will pick up english before you can even blink my kid did and now im back to teaching her spanish because she has forgotten

When you talk to her, say everything first in one language then repeat it again in the second language. That way she is picking up both languages. She will learn quickly in school though.