Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyororin
In tests of children acquiring both languages, they acquire both at about 70% the speed of a child acquiring a single language. So when it comes to speech and comprehension they do appear behind - but have actually acquired 40% more than the monolingual child. It`s just split between two different languages.
After around 75% of both languages is cemented, generally one of the languages takes the forefront and will remain the dominant and preferred language throughout the child`s life. There are very few truly 50/50 bilinguals out there - one language is almost always a bit better than the other.
For us, 30% more time to start talking for my son would have been unthinkable. It already took him 4 years to say his first word... *sigh*
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That's some interesting information.
Funnily enough, all my friends with kids similar age to my son are amazed how much he does actually speak. He seems to have picked up a lot of vocabulary fast, but I do think English is dominant with him so far. I guess that could also have something to do with him living in an English speaking country.
Are you saying your son started to speak when he was four years old?