Why does my child understand English but not speak it?
Understanding often comes first. Saying a word asks more of a child than finding it.
Two studies show this pattern. In one study, Spanish five-year-olds learning English had three 30-minute lessons built around one song. Afterward, they recognized new words from the song, but for most children it was not enough to say them yet (Coyle and Gómez Gracia, 2014). In another study, 2-year-olds understood new words well in every condition. They said the words more when they had met them on more different days (Childers and Tomasello, 2002).
Some teachers call this quiet stage a "silent period". How long it lasts is different for every child. Hearing the same words again on many different days helps.
How can I help my child speak without pushing?
Start with questions your child can answer without speaking, then make speaking easy and safe.
- Ask them to find, not to say. "Where is the cat?" "Show me the red one." Pointing is a real answer.
- Give a choice. "Is it a cat or a dog?" The right word is already in the question.
- Leave a gap. Count together, "One, two, three…", and stop. Wait, smile, and let your child say "four!"
- Give a hint. "It's a b… b…" Then wait for "ball!" Practice at remembering helps most when it takes some effort but the child succeeds. For young children, that means hints and feedback (Fazio and Marsh, 2019).
- Sing together. In a small study, children who learned an English passage as a song remembered it word for word better, and pronounced English vowels better, than children who learned it as a spoken poem (Good, Russo and Sullivan, 2015). Singing is not a shortcut to speaking, but it is an easy way to try English sounds.
- Let your child be the teacher. "How do you say this in English? I forgot!"
- Praise the try, not the result. "You said it! Great try."
You don't need stickers or prizes. In a study with preschoolers learning names for toys, rewards did not help them remember the names, but practice at recalling the names did (Fritz and colleagues, 2007).
What if my child refuses to speak English?
We did not find research on refusal at this age, so here is plain advice.
- Don't make it a fight. "Say it in English!" puts a child on the spot. Ask once, kindly, and move on.
- Don't make English a condition. Avoid "No tablet until you say it in English."
- Keep your English time short. Stop while your child is still having fun.
- Keep using English yourself. Your child can keep learning by listening, even while they answer in your home language.
- Give English a reason. A puppet that "only speaks English", an English song in the car, or a video call with someone who speaks English.
- Try again another day. "No" today does not mean "no" forever.
My child mixes English and our language. Should I worry?
No. Mixing words from two languages, even in one sentence, is a normal part of learning two languages (Byers-Heinlein and Lew-Williams, 2013). The same review says that babies who hear two languages "readily distinguish their two languages and show no evidence of confusion."
When your child mixes, answer what they mean. For example, if your child says "Look, a…" and then the word for dog in your language, you can simply say, "Yes, a dog! A big dog." Our guide Will learning English confuse my child? explains more about growing up with two languages.
Should I correct my child's English mistakes?
Try not to say "No, that's wrong." Instead, say the sentence back the right way, warmly, and keep talking. This is sometimes called "recasting". It shows the right words without stopping the fun.
- Your child: "Two cat!" You: "Yes, two cats! Two big cats."
- Your child: "Apple red." You: "Yes, the apple is red."
- Your child: "He goed outside." You: "He went outside? Where did he go?"
You can also invite your child to say a word with you, once: "Let's say it together: cats!" If they don't want to, that's fine. In one study, 3-year-olds still remembered a new word a month later when the word was made to stand out, repeated six times, and they were asked to say it. With only one or two of these, they still forgot it (Vlach and Sandhofer, 2012).
When should I see a speech-language professional?
If your child is quiet only in English but talks easily in your home language, that alone is not a sign of a speech or language problem. ASHA, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, says that using more than one language "does not confuse children or cause speech or language delays." It also says a real communication problem "will show up in all the languages they use" (ASHA's public information site).
Talk to your child's doctor or to a speech-language pathologist (also called a speech and language therapist) if:
- your child also has trouble understanding or speaking your home language;
- your child is hard to understand in every language they use;
- your child was late to say first words or to put two words together (ASHA says children who learn more than one language typically use first words by about age 1 and two-word phrases by about age 2);
- you, or your child's teacher, are worried. Asking is never wrong.
If you can, find a professional who works with children who speak more than one language. Tell them about every language your child hears.
How Kadoo fits
Kadoo works on the listening side first. Children hear each English word and show they understand by finding, feeding or coloring the thing it names, so a child who is not ready to speak can still take part. Kadoo does not use the microphone, so it can't hear your child speak or correct their pronunciation. The songs invite children to sing along, and the parents' area shows the words your child has recognized and suggests words to say together at home. The speaking practice comes from you, with words your child already knows from the game.
Sources
- Coyle and Gómez Gracia (2014), Using songs to enhance L2 vocabulary acquisition in preschool children, ELT Journal.
- Childers and Tomasello (2002), Two-year-olds learn novel nouns, verbs, and conventional actions from massed or distributed exposures, Developmental Psychology.
- Fazio and Marsh (2019), Retrieval-based learning in children, Current Directions in Psychological Science.
- Good, Russo and Sullivan (2015), The efficacy of singing in foreign-language learning, Psychology of Music.
- Fritz, Morris, Nolan and Singleton (2007), Expanding retrieval practice: An effective aid to preschool children's learning, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology.
- Byers-Heinlein and Lew-Williams (2013), Bilingualism in the early years: What the science says, LEARNing Landscapes.
- Vlach and Sandhofer (2012), Fast mapping across time: Memory processes support children's retention of learned words, Frontiers in Psychology.
- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, public information site, Learning More Than One Language.
