Bilingual babies/kids
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You can learn the same time as baby. You just have to learn enough to speak a few words and as you keep reading books to them, etc it will become easier. You can do things like word of the day. Learn a new word each day and make sure you say it to baby all day. Check out your local library to see if they have French or bilingual children’s books. I’m sure there are YouTube channels for French speaking babies. You might be able to find a French speaker babysitter, nanny or even preschool.
Also you might be able to find French speaking mom and baby groups💜 I’m pregnant with my first and planning to teach them Arabic, I want baby to be fluent so might ask Arabic family members to only speak with them in Arabic ☺️
@Amanda Only my dad knows French and isn't around the baby 24/7, but I asked him to only speak to him in French anyway !
@Hanan Yess that's a good idea! My dad knows French so I asked him to only speak to the baby in French. And French speaking mom and baby groups sounds like a good idea too!
@Rebecca Just downloaded Babbel to try and learn better (apparently it's better than Duolingo lol) so hopefully that helps! And I'll have to pick up some French kid books and find some French YouTube videos!
Thank you all for your responses!!
Yeah! I had a teacher during my degree tenure tell me the easiest way she raised her children bilingual was one parent only speaks the one language, and the other parent speaks the other. Baby will learn both and respond to each parent differently. But like someone else mentioned, you could also learn with them as you go. 😊
I grew up in a fairly bilingual family and the answer is unless you or your spouse speaks another language natively that is different to yours, wait until they're proficient in your native language before adding more, perhaps through school teaching in French or some other means. The reason why is that even if you speak a second or third language very well, studies have shown that mothers instinctively speak in an overpronouced way to help their children learn to speak, but for whatever reason they only make that adjustment only for their native language, and introducing non native languages too early can delay their speech development entirely. My suggestion is if your baby's Dad an/or Grandparents are native speakers and you want them to learn, have them talk to your child exclusively in French and you speak to them exclusively in English. I've had several family members do it this way and all their children are well adjusted to both as adults. Good luck!
@Savanna That's good to know! Definitely don't want his language and speech to be delayed! I'll most likely just have my dad speak to him in French!
Does one parent or someone who will be around the children 24/7 speak the language you want them to learn?