Teaching your Toddler English

My son came home 6 weeks before his 3rd birthday. He spoke little Bulgarian (his native language), but picked up English well. He has a mama that talks ALOT. That seemed to help. I learned some Bulgarian phrases for kids and would say them both in English and Bulgarian. He's been here 8 months and speaks almost exclusively English. Very often it takes the kids 6 months to process this speech change. Some kids will merge the 2 languages, as your child, and some basically become mute while their brain processes the new language and then start chattering away in perfect English at the 6 month mark. I know that it is frustrating, but I wouldn't worry too much until around month 5 at home. But, just keep talking to him, ask him questions so that he has to talk back to you. Make him ask for thing, instead of pointing. My son would point to the microwave for oatmeal and the freezer for freezie pops. I started to ask him what he wanted when he pointed. I would say "do you want a freezie?" He would nod and point, so then "no pointing, tell me, freezie." He did catch on quickly. Just keep talking and saying alot of the same things over and over. I would rock my son and in sing song voice, tell him I loved him in both English and Bulgarian. At bedtime, he still tells me he loves me in both languages.

My daughter has been home 4 months. She came home just after turning two. She spoke some Russian. She has about a 40 word vocabulary now. She only uses most of it when forced. However in the last month or so, she has been making her little people talk to each other (in gibberish) and is constantly vocalizing. At my doctor's visit last week, he said that she is doing great and he expects that she will be talking freely in another 3 month - pretty much the 6 - 7 month mark. She understands english perfectly. At 3 weeks home we was testing at a 16 month old level for english. I have to continue to encourage her to speak and make her say something (not necessarily a word) to get responded to. Just pointing doesn't do it anymore. I am hoping that things continue to fall into place. The other thing that I do that makes her interested in using new words is to say the same word over and over to her in different (funny) voices. She laughs hysterically and eventually will mimmick the word in one voice or another.

I work in a clinic that often will have children that are adopted from over seas, they often qualify for therapy services due to developmental delays that simply occur from their environment. Most insurances will cover speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy services. Talk to your pediatrician about getting a referral, it is amazing how fast the children learn and "catch up" with a structured program, plus the therapist give advise to the parents so everyone is on the same page. Consistency and structure seem to help alot. Tanya

I plan on doing a whole lot of reading to our son, Evan, when we bring him home. Have no idea how old he'll be, since our dossier hasn't been finished yet. But I think reading a lot, using books with a lot of pictures, will help him learn English, or at least become comfortable with it before he actually speaks it. of singing, too. My husband and his family speaks Spanish, so I'm going to learn some words and phrases. But he will mostly be totally immersed in English. I think having the child around other children will help, too. Play groups with friends and family (or part time daycare perhaps) may help a lot. I imagine that regardless of the child's age, it's like talking and teaching language to an infant. Lots of pointing, repetition, and making games out of it. Because of potential frustration on the child's part, I do encourage activities to help him express himself and burn off some of that energy when he can't say what he wants to say. Things like drawing pads and crayons, fingerpaints, physical activities like charades, etc. An aquaintance of mine is having a lot of trouble with his 3yr old's behavior in daycare because he is having trouble communicating himself verbally. So I think it's important not to put so much focus on verbal communication, but help the child use different modes, too. It's gotta be awfully frustrating at times. Robin

Just a word of caution about reading. I thought that I would read to my son alot too. But because he couldn't understand, he was very frustrated and would begin to rage because he didn't understand. I also learned a little sign language. It helped alot. I learned how to say are your hungry/thirsty/tired and bathroom in both his native language and sign. So I would do both. Then in English too. I did go to a reccommended website that had pictures to print out. I thought that I would use them, but I never did. They might be useful. If I can find the web address, I'll come back and post it. It is used for autistic children. I know others who have used it for language delayed children.