The wonders of raising a bilingual child

“¿Aló? Koekiemonster? ¿Cómo estás? In de was? Sí, goed. Tot gauw!”

One of my daughters pretended to be talking on the phone with Cookie Monster. She had just turned 2 years old a few days before. This was probably the first clear example of her already acquired knowledge of both Spanish and Dutch, and her ability to use both in the same sentence in a fluent way and without hesitating. From that moment onwards, language skills have been developing at an impressive pace, and both of my girls keep surprising me every day with new acquired words and sentences, in both of their languages.

Language development in early childhood is always something wonderful to witness. The quick changes from baby sounds to first words to a toddler who speaks (and understands!) more and more every day are quite impressive. But when there are two or more languages involved, it is even more amazing to see how small children adapt so easily to a multilingual environment and develop their language skills in all involved languages at the same time. 

When my girls had just turned 2 years old, we could tell that they were already understanding quite a lot of what we were saying, both in Spanish and Dutch. Most of their first words were in Dutch (which is the language I speak to them), but with time more Spanish words appeared (picked up either from Dad or at daycare) and around their second birthday they were mostly using a mixture of both languages like the example above – very funny for Mom but not quite so understandable for other people around us, including Dad. However, just a few months later we started to notice that they were learning to differentiate between the two languages. By the time they were 2,5 years old they not only knew perfectly who to speak to in which language, but they also started translating: when I told them something in Dutch in presence of a Spanish speaking friend or family member, they would translate so that the other person would understand also. When the teacher at daycare told me (in Spanish) about something that happened that day with one of the girls, they would be quick to tell me the same in Dutch. Even though they hear me talking Spanish all day with my husband and other people around us, they apparently felt like they had to translate to Dutch as that’s the language they use when talking with me. At some point in the last couple of months they even started to make language-related jokes: sometimes they talk in Dutch to the teachers at daycare and when they are told they should speak in Spanish if they want them to understand, they’ll laugh and reply in perfect Spanish: “No, in Dutch!”. To me they’ll sometimes say a certain word in Spanish and when I tell them or ask them how it’s said in Dutch, they’ll just keep repeating the Spanish word together while laughing and making very clear that they know perfectly what the correct word in Dutch is.

In September my girls will be 3 years old, and I know that even if it’s just a couple of months away, they will speak much more by then, and even more in the weeks, months and years after. I’m so glad I’m able to witness their language development, to see them grow not only in height but also in their ability to use their two languages to communicate with each other, with us and with people around us. I feel so fortunate to be able to see and hear them experimenting with words, sentences, verb inflection and switching and mixing languages. I also feel very fortunate that I’m able to give them this gift of bilingualism, to teach them the minority language, and to see that – at least for now – their “minority” language still is their favorite. I’m determined to continue with this ongoing learning process for them and for me, to continue this journey of raising two bilingual girls and to not only teach them my language but also everything that comes with it: Dutch culture, the contact with our family in the Netherlands, my own memories from growing up there and so many other things that they will get to learn and experience just because it’s “part of the package” of having a Dutch mom while growing up in Costa Rica. I realize that at some point the majority/community language will take over as their favorite way of communication, but I hope I’ll be able to convince them to keep speaking to me in Dutch, to teach them to not only speak but also read and write in Dutch, and to make sure they’ll keep using my language in many different ways. I know it will be a challenge, there will be difficult moments and it will require a lot of time and effort on my part, but I also know that the long-term benefits for my girls (and for myself and my family) will be well worth it. Just hearing my two girls talk to each other in Dutch while born and raised in Costa Rica convinces me every day that I should continue with what I started from the moment they were still inside my belly: that moment when I started to talk and sing to them in Dutch. I thought it would be a bit awkward as I was already used to speaking Spanish all the time; however, as soon as those two little beings were growing inside my belly and even more so after they were born, it felt 100% natural to talk to them in Dutch, and Dutch only. It is, after all, my mother tongue – and I hope it will be for them, too.

Want to hear more about my experiences in this journey of teaching my kids a second language? Look out for future posts on benefits, myths and challenges of raising bilingual children, as well as my own day-to-day experiences and funny stories. And of course, feel free to share your own experiences in a comment below!