My son is 25 months old. I talk to him in English (and sometimes Korean) while his father speaks to him in pure Korean. We had a lot of opposition when we decided to teach our son two languages. The women in my husband’s family were afraid that he might not learn enough Korean since I spend more time with him than my husband. They were worried that by the time he goes to school, he might not be that fluent in the language and he might end up a “wang-ta” or an outsider. The men in the family thinks he’ll eventually learn the language later.
I did a lot of reading on raising a bilingual child. All are in agreement that the best time to teach a child a language is when he’s still a baby. I don’t remember my son’s first word now but he can speak more Korean than English although he understands instructions in both languages. He isn’t as verbal yet as the other kids his age. I’m not worried though. He’s only 2 years old after all.
A great resource for parents who are teaching their kids two languages or more is Multilingual Children’s Association.
7 comments ↓
It is very important to learn english well.
I’d say both would workout fine. When he learns both lang. at a very young age, I’m pretty sure he will not forget either of the two when he grows up.
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[...] English or Korean? My son is 25 months old. I talk to him in English (and sometimes Korean) while his father speaks to him in pure Korean. We had a lot of opposition when we decided to teach our son two languages. The women in my husband’s family were afraid that he might not learn enough Korean since I spend more time with him than my husband. They were worried that by the time he goes to school, he might not be that fluent in the language and he might end up a “wang-ta” or an outsider. The men in the family thi [...]
I was planning to teach my baby english, korean, and filipino too. My husband and I talked about it and it’s no problem for him. I just hope my baby can handle it well just like your son did.
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why be worried about raising your child a bilingual. Parang di ka naman pilipino o. halos lahat tayo lumaki na dalawa o tatlo ang natutunang linguaheng pilipino at walang problema. Sa palagay ko lang tagalog ka ano, kaya di mo maintindihan na pwedeng matuto ng sabay-sabay ng dalawa o tatlong lenguahe kung ikaw ay bata.
Omg! where’s Tagalog in there? Where’s Filipino? Shouldn’t it be just as important as English or Korean? I hope he grows up to be proud of both his parent’s cultures..not just Korean, but also Filipino. Please teach him Tagalog…there’s nothing to be ashamed of. What if he grows up thinking Tagalog is less important. I assure you, you will regret not teaching him Tagalog/Filipino, like all those Fil-am Parents who regret not teaching their children the native tongue. Please teach him all 3!!
don’t worry, once they attend school they will learn Korean and then conversational Tagalog na lang since you speak Tagalog at home.
My husband was born and raised here in the US and his parents were afraid that he would be left behind school kaya puro English. He regrets that he wasn’t taught tagalog.
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