Language LearningSpanish

Current Challenges of Our Bilingual 4 Year Old

It’s been a while since I’ve written about our son’s progress in language learning so I thought I’d share the challenges he is facing now. If you’re just reading this blog, my munchkin is 4 years old and he speaks Spanish, English and French. This post is specifically about his progress in learning Spanish and the challenges of our bilingual 4 year old, perhaps they are similar to your little one’s challenges!

current challenges of our 4 year old

It’s clear to us that Enzo’s preferred language is English, since it’s the language he speaks at school. We hear him play in English by himself at home as well. Here are the current challenges we are working through now:

Conjugation: PONER    Using the logic that he uses to conjugate many verbs in Spanish (example comer, yo comí, etc). My son doesn’t know how to conjugate “poner” (to put) so he says “yo poní” instead of “yo puse.”

Para YO VS.  Para MI
My son often uses “yo” (I) instead “mi” (me):  “Mami me compró eso para yo.”

Translating literally from English to Spanish: My son is clearly translating literally from English to Spanish, so he will say things like “Eso es por qué” = That is why when he is trying to explain something, instead of “Es por eso.”

Pronunciation: AHORA: Arora … not sure why.

“Con yo” – My son has not yet mastered the use of “conmigo.”

 

These issues will eventually go away of course. He will learn how to conjugate verbs properly, he will figure out when to say yo versus mi, and will learn to properly pronounce ahora. He will eventually learn how to say conmigo as well. All these issues will resolve themselves in due time, I’m not worried. We just gently correct him when he makes these mistakes.

What challenges are your bilingual kids facing right now? Share below! 

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: 5 Common “Mistakes” Bilingual Kids Make (and why it’s OK!)

 

Diana Limongi
Diana a mom, activist, nonprofit professional, podcaster and writer from Queens, NY. She writes about motherhood, activism, raising my multilingual kids, culture and travel. She and her multicultural family live in Queens, NY.

1 Comment

  1. My daughter is 5 she is also bilingual and even though she lives in Mexico she makes similar mistakes in the conjugations! The irregular verbs in Spanish are tough for anyone! haha Poner, Hacer, Poder. It’s a mess! You can’t blame them for trying to stick to some rule they know of another verb!
    I found it very interesting that your son has so clearly a favorite language I still cannot tell with my girl because outside the house she speaks Spanish but in the house she speaks English with us and while playing alone also. I love their learning processes! 🙂

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