Can Toddlers Pick Up Multiple Languages Easily?

Did you know that toddlers pick up language quite quickly and embraces it as his or her own? And there is a scientific reason behind this phenomenon. It is a proven fact that a baby's brain can process all the different sounds each language produces and hence he or she can easily learn different languages being spoken in the family.

When Do Babies Learn A Language?

It is a known fact that a baby recognises the mother's voice from the womb. So when he or she is born, the baby is able to differentiate between the mother's voice or the language she speaks, from the language spoken by other family members.

The brain of a baby becomes tuned to whatever language he or she is exposed from birth. So a monolingual brain becomes tuned to the sound of one language while a bilingual or a multilingual brain becomes tuned to the sound of two or more languages.

Will It Confuse My Baby If There Are Two Or More Languages?

The simple answer to the above question is no. Since the baby who has been exposed to two or more different languages from birth picks up all the languages like a native and become adept at all the languages spoken.

Bilingual babies show an equally strong brain response to English sounds just as the monolingual babies. Bilingual babies might even borrow a few words from another language unlike monolingual toddlers which might confuse the parents.

Will There Be A Speech Delay In My Toddler?

No, there will be no speech delay, however, just ensure that you and your spouse stick to one language with your toddler.

What Are The Advantage For Bilingual Toddlers?

There are numerous advantages for your toddler if you are a bilingual or a multilingual family. Some of them are mentioned below.

So if you are a bilingual or a multilingual family, then don't worry about your toddler not picking up the languages easily. In fact it will be the other way round.

1. Babies from monolingual households are specialized to process the sounds of that one language – whether English/Hindi/Bengali/Punjabi.
2. Babies from bilingual English-Hindi households are specialized to process the sounds of both languages, that is, Hindi and English
   1. Bilingual toddlers pick up third language easily: When your toddler is adept at two or more languages picking up third or fourth language comes easily to him or her
   2. Bilingual/multilingual toddlers tend to become good problem solvers: When your toddler is exposed to two or more languages his or her brain is already adept in switching back and forth to these languages thus making him or her good at problem solving
   3. Ability to learn new concepts easily: Toddlers who are born to multilingual or bilingual families have an enhanced ability to learn new concepts quickly, as his or her brain is already active because of back and forth switching between the languages