Mixing languages at home doesn't cause speech delay in children, though it can make it harder for listeners to understand what they mean. Kids can still map words to different languages and learn separate vocabulary.
July 8, 2023.
No — the speaker states that having different languages at home does not cause language or speech delay, though mixing languages can be a risk factor.
Language environment sometimes makes or breaks a child's language environment. Whilst it's not a cause, it's a huge risk factor and it actually helps a child to learn language faster. However, some would say, how about if I speak two to three languages at home? Having different languages at home doesn't cause language or speech delay. Will it hinder a child's development in terms of language? Maybe. And I say that is because if you mix the languages together, it makes it very difficult for anyone to pick up what you want to say. First of all, they're dealing with two languages that had two set sets of rules. So if you mix the rules together, it's very difficult. But a child who is learning first language or a second language together, it's very easy for them to at least pick up one word with one language. At least they can address that. This is a cup in English, as a cup, they don't need to remember. Like, if they can remember one word in one language, then I don't think adding one or two or more languages is going to be a problem because they're just going to learn different words in different languages.
