Becoming Bi/Tri-Lingual

How do you teach your child(ren) to be bi/tri-lingual when you are not? Joel and I really want to expose Kyper (and other future children) to other languages. Specifically ASL (American Sign Language) and Spanish (since that is the one we both took in high school and college).

In regards to ASL, we are trying to make sure we sign words to him when we say them. We don't know ASL fluently, but we learned quite a bit from AM. I also know that kids often can communicate with signs before they can speak. Here is something you may or may not know. When you count in ASL, you can count to 10 (actually you can count a lot higher than just ten) on one hand. Now, you would think everyone would know the first 5, but number 3 is different than what you would think. When you count to three in ASL, instead of holding your pointer, middle and ring finger up, you hold your thumb, index, and middle finger up. I was telling Joel the other day that whenever I count with Kyper I always do it the ASL way. Joel said he does the same thing. Another way I am trying to teach him is by grabbing his hands and doing the signs for him. I realize he is too young to really repeat the action back on his own, but I figure it doesn't hurt to start this early. Plus, before I know it he will totally know what he is doing and be able to communicate with us!

In regards to Spanish, neither of us speak it fluently. It has been a number of years since either of us have used it. I would say Joel is much better at it than I am since he was in Honduras for four months his senior year at college. We do not speak Spanish in the home, so we are thinking of ways to expose Kyper. Kyper has a book of colors and numbers, so since I know those words I try to read them in both English and Spanish, so he hears both languages. The other way we though of exposing him to Spanish, is to try to find children's movies that you can listen to in Spanish. I know he is a bit young to watch television or movies, but the other night Joel put on Finding Nemo on in Spanish. And, when I went to the library yesterday I got some Veggie Tale movies and some Miss Spider movies that you can also watch in Spanish. Joel was talking to someone at the hospital that told him that way he learned English was by watching television. So, although Kyper is a little young to watch a lot of television, we figure if it is in Spanish (and of course very kid friendly) it is okay to put on a movie for the purpose of exposing him to Spanish. Plus, he doesn't pay attention to the whole movie, so the Spanish is more for background noise while he is busy playing with other toys. (Who knows, maybe I will learn more Spanish and become more confident in it if I watch the movies with him?!) Another way we have exposed him is that Uncle JP talks to him in Spanish, since he knows way more than Joel and I. So, Uncle JP you need to come and visit more often to help Kyper become bi-lingual. ;)

Can you think of any other ways to help your child learn another language at a young age?

I just want to add here that I am amazed at the development of children. I feel like I can just see Kyper's brain working and making connections. Not just in regards to language development, but just in general! I remember from sophomore year English class in high school that language does develop early and the older you are the hard it is to learn another language, which is why Joel and I really want Kyper to be exposed early to another language (or two) than just English.