Dear Richard Madeley: ‘I'm scared my bilingual son will lose the ability to speak English'
My Polish wife and I have a four-year-old son who we've brought up to be bilingual. This seemed like a good idea – well, it obviously is a good idea.
I've picked up a few words of Polish in the seven years we've been together, but I hit a wall early on – I just can't get the vowel sounds right. So mostly he has spoken English to me and Polish to his mum.
We are preparing to go and live in Poland for a few years and while it's a great move in terms of work and family support with childcare, realistically I'm going to be the only person speaking English to my son for much of the time.
I will talk to him as much as I can, and read to him in English, but he's going to a Polish-speaking school in a not wildly cosmopolitan city – and I don't want his English to wither.
I suppose I don't want to lose the bond of speaking to him in 'my' language, either – also with the best will in the world I don't see my Polish getting much better than it is now.
Short of watching lots of videos, what's the best way to support his bilingualism?
Just to add, my wife's English is good but she's not comfortable in it, so we speak a strange mangled mixture of languages when we're alone. It's not going to help anyone develop their language skills, though it works for us.
– Rob, via email
Dear Rob
I'm no expert in this field but from the little that I do know, and from the observed experience I have, I think you may be overthinking things a bit.
Children – particularly those as young as your little boy – are incredibly adaptable with languages, so much so that there's long been a debate about starting them with lessons in, say, French, while they're still at nursery.
Their brains are like sponges at that age and are programmed to absorb and retain new words and phrases.
If your son is already bilingual, you're already more than halfway there. Obviously, he'll get all the stimulation he needs in developing his grasp of Polish once you're living there.
As far as his English goes, then yes, make sure you speak it to him as much as possible and, yes, download plenty of English-language films and TV programmes to expand his vocabulary and keep it up to date.
You should also encourage him to make regular Zoom calls to family and friends in England.
Even if he has dropped a little behind in his English as and when you eventually move back here, he'll quickly get up to speed again. Being truly bilingual, his language 'muscle' will be unusually well-developed.
In short: ' Nie martw się.' Which is (as I'm sure you know) Polish for, 'Don't worry'.
You can find more of Richard Madeley's advice here
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