According to Professor Heila Jordaan, a respected speech pathologist and audiologist from the University of the Witwatersrand, the notion that learning two languages at the same time (bilingualism) might cause language delays in young children is false. Children who learn two languages at the same time will go through the same developmental patterns in both of their languages and at roughly the same time as children learning one language.

Sometimes young children learning two languages mix words or grammar from their two languages, which is known as “code mixing” or “code switching”. According to Jordaan, this is very normal and does not indicate that the child is having difficulty with language learning. Fortunately, there is a lot that parents can do to help kids who need to learn two languages, and Huggies® nappies have brought you the following tips (since they care about parenting as a whole, and not just dry bottoms).

Tips for parents with children learning two languages:

• Try one person, one language.It’s helpful to have one adult speak only the second language to your child so he or she doesn’t get just pieces of it
• Expect minor mix-ups.It’s natural for a child to confuse the word order or use words from both languages in the same sentence. They’ll quickly learn to separate the languages
• Don’t underestimate their progress. Your little one might say fewer English words than other kids their age, but if you add in the words they know in their second language, their total number of words will probably be more than that of their peers
• Start now.Two- and 3-year-olds are not only increasing their vocabularies, they’re starting to recognise the speech patterns they’ve been hearing since birth. The earlier you introduce a second language, the easier it will be for your child to pick up its unique sounds. The ability to hear different phonetic pronunciations is sharpest before age 3, and we lose the capacity to hear and produce certain sounds if we aren’t exposed to them early on
• Create a casual learning environment.The best way for a child to learn to understand a new language is for them to hear people speaking it fluently. If they are exposed to conversations, they’ll begin to pick up the sounds and the natural accent
• Teach a word at a time.If you don’t want to do formal lessons, you can introduce bilingual basics by pointing out to your child that objects can have two names – one in each language
• Have reasonable expectations.Of course, a child won’t learn to speak another language fluently from hearing words, watching videos, or singing songs, but simply being exposed to a language will help them understand phrases when they hear them. So even if you are not having a full Zulu conversation with your child, if you say “ulale kahle” (sleep tight) every night at bedtime, they’ll figure out what you mean

If you’re worried about your child’s language development please contact a speech language therapist in your area. You will be able to search for therapists in your area on the SASLHA (South African Speech-Language and Hearing Association) website at www.saslha.co.za.