[WVUMom418]

For those of you who have adopted a child about the age of 4, how hard was the issue of language. I speak minimum Spanish and my husband speaks none.

If you have adopted an older child were you a stay at home parent? My husband is concerned that it would be too difficult to adopt a 3 1/2 year old because we don't speak Spanish and the daycare our other girls attend doesn't have anyone who speaks Spanish either.

Any feedback on your experiences would be greatly appreciated.

[annaguat]

That was actually the least of the issues. I would not worry about it. We adopted two slightly older children years ago, almost 4 and 5 at the time, and they transitioned pretty fast. They are now 15 and 17 and are doing well. You can try to learn some basic words to comfort them in the beginning. Also teaching them is easy just like a young child. Just say this is this and that is that. Also singing is a great way to learn vocabulary. I personally learned English, at 13 yrs old I came to the US, within months by watching tv. And I lived in a none English speaking family. Anna

[brink]

We are not bilingual, but should have long ago learned more Spanish, since we're working on our fourth Guatemalan adoption. Our sons both came home when they were four, two years apart, so the first had lost his Spanish before the second came home. They learned the language very quickly. After two months, our first son was speaking only English. It took our second son six months, but then it was in complete sentences. Our daughter came home at the age of ten years. She also learned the language very quickly, albeit social language. The English she needs for academics came slower, but after just two years, she is only one grade level behind in reading comprehension. Our boys don't remember it being difficult, but I know our daughter will have more memories of the struggle to manage academics in a new language. We're in PGN with another ten year old daughter, so you can see we don't consider the language to be a very big barrier. A child as young as four or five will pick it up quickly from other kids, even what they shouldn't! I am a stay at home mom and feel very blessed to be one. Older children need families, so I'd encourage you to do it!

[truegirl]

Speaking from a little younger age. Mia came home at 2 years 10 months. She has been home a little over 4 months now and she does NOT like us to speak soanish to her unless it is "Dora" spanish...lol. The speech and all the therapy people that have been testing her cannot belive how quickly she picked up English and say she is a very smart child.

And an interesting tidbit, for every 3 months your child is not in optimal care (forever home) they are technically only 1 month old, for example. Mia came home at 34 months, 2 yrs 10 months, but actually developmentally she was only 22 months or there abouts. And with all of her testing that is actually how it turned out to be her level. Of course we had to test differently for the visually impaired part but that is about the level she is on.

SO although the child may 3 3.5 when they come home, they may be more developmentally 2.5 and the language thing should be no problem at all. Mia is language delayed but they said it had to do with her changing countries and langages right when language is really developing wholely.

HTH

Nichole

[fleul]

at all. We brought our daughter home at 6 1/2 years old. Only knew a few Spanish words here and there (thank goodness for all those little cheat sheet cards!) We communicated using motions, etc. Once she came home, she was speaking all English in 2 months! Of course, she was only home 3 1/2 weeks and kindergarten was starting and I debated, but ended up sending her. I think that was the best thing ever, she picked up English so quickly being around the other children. The other children had fun learning a few Spanish words from her too! Another member mentioned songs too, that was a tremendous help! We took nursery rhyme and alphabet cd's down with us with an inexpensive portable cd player (and extra batteries) on our visit trip and she came home 4 months later singing the Alphabet! We worried about the language barrier too, but that wasn't a problem at all! Good luck!

[ncmom24]

Our son was only two but a language barrier was just never an issue for us. He would act out what he wanted and he loved to show us in a very dramatic way what happened if he had gotten hurt. You could probably pick up some basic key spanish words very easily that would get you through the early days but I would not let language stop you. I would probably be more concerned about how many care takers the child has had in her life and where she is emotionally. Our son transistioned beautifully but he had been in a great foster home that exactly matched our family and he is an incredibly adaptable child as well in general.

Good luck. Our experience adopting an "older" child was the best I can imagine it could be and we consider ourselves so lucky to have completed our family in this way.

Tiersa