Does it cause delay?
- The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists says bilingualism does not cause, or add to, a speech, language or communication disorder.[1]
- Being bilingual does not make speech and language problems more likely.[2]
- A UK study found bilingual toddlers knew more words in total across their two languages than toddlers learning one.[3]
Which language should we speak?
- The NHS says to talk to your child in whatever language feels comfortable to you. It's fine for each parent to use a different language.[4]
- NHS speech therapists advise speaking the language you know best and feel most confident in. Words your child learns in your home language help them learn English later.[2]
- TV is not enough. Your child needs you talking with them.[2]
"But we want them to speak English"
Children usually pick up English at nursery and school. A strong first language makes learning English easier, so keep speaking your home language, even if your child starts answering in English.[2] Mixing words from both languages is normal.[2]
If you're worried
Any child can have difficulties with talking, whatever languages they hear.[2] Tell the speech therapist which languages your child hears, and count their words in all of them.
Sources for this page
- Bilingualism · Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
- Bilingual and multilingual development · NHS Forth Valley speech and language therapy
- Siow et al. (2023). Double it up: vocabulary size comparisons between UK bilingual and monolingual toddlers · Infancy
- Help your baby learn to talk · NHS