[AdoptingDebora]

Hello!

I realize this is an old thread, but I couldn't resist posting! One person mentioned that it's harder for a person with a language impairment to learn a second or multiple languages, so I just wanted to give another opinion on that here. It may be harder, but it is not impossible. I think it all depends on your expectations for the child. I have met many successfully bilingual deaf adults who can read and write in English while also communicating fluently in their first language, ASL (American Sign Language). I am adopting a seven-year-old from Guatemala who is deaf. She already speaks some Spanish, but on visit trips I'm using ASL with her as well as spoken Spanish when she needs that to reinforce the ASL (I'm trilingual English, Spanish, ASL). When she gets home to the States, we will read books together in both English and Spanish, as she has older siblings in Guatemala who speak only Spanish, so I don't want her to lose her birth country language. However, our primary language at home with me and her primary language for communication at school will be ASL (which is completely different from English and has its own grammatical system). Eventually, when she is in college, I would love for her also to learn Lensegua, which is the sign language of Guatemala, so that she can go back to Guatamala and socialize/provide community service to other Guatemalan Deaf. At a minimum, I expect her to be completely literate in both English and Spanish for reading and writing (e-mail, etc.)... I'm not worried about her being able to SPEAK those languages, as she will use ASL to communicate in face-to-face communication.

[vivismom]

I just wanted to re-post with an update! We are a bilingual family (Spanish-ENglish) who adopted a beautiful 3.5 year old son from China. He is being raised bilingually and is learning SPanish and English really well! We also just started Mandarin classes ("Chinese school") on the weekends so at least he can have conversational Chinese. We are loving it! My daughter goes as well. If you have any questions let me know! I am an ESL teacher.

[MenloAve]

I think you have to choose what you are comfortable with because you are going to get criticism or "helpful advice" if you choose either route.

We have chosen to surround our kids with many different languages. I believe the research that says that kids will learn the langauge better if they have been exposed to it at a young age. So, instead of time-out we put our son in count down where he had to count to 10 to calm down and then listen. When english was too easy, we switched to spanish, then german, then Italian, Serbo-croat, then Russian, then French, Ukrainian, Indonesian, and now Polish. He gets an allowance point if he practices his language (other than english) each day. When my husband and I took Russian language classes he came with us and learned a decent amount (at age 4). In Italy he loved asking for ice cream in Italian and LOVED speaking with his hands. We met a Spanish couple in Croatia and he showed off the little bit of Spanish he knew. The same trip someone was speaking German so he just said Thank you to them in German. They were flabbergasted. He doesn't speak any language fluently other than English, but he appreciates that everyone has their own language, that you should attempt to learn it to go to their country, and they give you much more ice cream if you ask for it in their language.

We often get comments in the US that we are confusing him. I just ask them how do they think that Europeans know 4 or 5 languages and ignore the comments. We actually had his preschool teachers tell us he was behind when he was 2 in speaking because we spoke to him both in English and Spanish alternating. They wanted us to stop. (He wasn't really behind in language he was just choosing not to talk to them.) We kept on.

Sometimes, my husband will get confused and say a sentence combining Russian and German into the same setence, and our son will just break out laughing and tell his dad he messed up. Or when we are asking our son what the name for water is in Spanish (to get him more with dinner) he will answer in Indonesian (because he loves the word for water (air) in Indonesian). Then he just laughs.

I recently took a business trip to Minneapolis and he wanted to know what language they spoke there and if I had learned any of it yet.

I guess our theory is to create an interest in different languages so that it will be easier for him to pick them up as he gets older. Once we adopt our daughter from Poland I don't know if we will be able to keep up her fluent Polish, but we will continue exposing them to all languages. But regardless of where the child is adopted from, I increasingly feel like you will need to know Spanish and English in the US. For the business world, I think that Mandarin, Russian, or German, is going to be key. I also think that I will encouarge a semester abroad when they are in college (or HS I guess).

Good luck and have fun.

[melimon]

It's amazing the linguistic ignorance and fear among so many Americans, especially when the country is full of linguistic diversity! When people hear us speak another language to our son, they ask if we are also planning to teach him English, as if the worst thing would be for him not to speak English. (Of course, this is a ridiculous conclusion on their part since mommy and daddy speak to each other in English and just about every other person they know....)

We definitely don't want our child to be monolingual. Learning another language (or more) can only be a benefit, and while there may be some language confusion in the very early years of language acquisition, the brain soon distinguishes the different sound patterns, syntax, etc. and the child will know the difference of the languages he is acquiring.

Btw, there are plenty of Europeans who are monolingual (I've lived in several European countries), but the close proximity of the languages makes learning them more of a necessity than for most Americans, who can travel for hundreds, if not thousands, of miles and only encounter one major language--English. However, we know this will be changing over the next few decades, and knowing a second language helps to learn a third or fourth, no matter what the second language is.

[ananas]

Hi, we are in the process of adopting from Bulgaria, we are English speakers that live in Greece. I speak Greek also. We shall speak Greek to the child and have found a Bulgarian living here who will teach the child Greek so they can keep their own language whilst learning a new one. In the schools here they teach English from an early age so for us the Greek is more important. Most Europeans teach their children at least one or two other languages. I think it is important that the children being adopted , when ever possible, keep their own language as that is part of who they are. We are not concerned about the transition to Greek or English, children have the ability that adults have lost to learn new langauges. Take Russia for example, i have friends from Russia who speak Russian and then their own regional language within Russia. They come to Greece and after a few months speak very good Greek. It is often far easier for people whose first language is not English to pick up another language quickly. Really you should no worry, for an older child which is our desire to adopt there are many computer disc language games available, Eurotalk covers every language in the world i believe so our child will be able to have the disc set to Bulgarian to learn Greek and another disc to learn English. The games are fun which is important. Hope this helps.