My Multilingual Baby

Background

I am from Korea. My wife is from Thailand. I speak Korean and English. She speaks Thai and English. We talk to each other in English. My son, 2 year old, is destined to have three mother tongues. Sounds like a piece of cake? It wasn't so easy to me though. For a baby to learn languages, the country where he lives really matters. Since we've decided to live in Thailand, this has been my No. 1 concern.

'What if he end up speaking Thai language only?'

Of course being healthy and happy is the most important thing. So let's call it my No. 2 concern.
I have to go to work in the morning, no one can speak Korean to him until I'm back in the evening. Turning on the TV, conversation with neighbourhood, everyone else speak national language.
By quick research, I was able to catch basic principles.

• Start early, even before the birth.
• One language per person. Mommy speak Thai only. Daddy speak Korean only.

Early days

Before he was born, I felt it was weird to talk on my wife's tummy. I could hardly see any visible reaction. So I just said hello, and introduced who I am, then I read out some books. I think he could also listen to the conversation between me and my wife.
After he was born, everyday was battle. Couldn't really think much about teaching languages. His peaceful sleep, having some free time was the sweetest thing ever. I sang Korean kids songs quite often. It was very effective to make him sleep while I'm holding him. As he grew, he started to copy what we're saying. He started to show strong willingness to learn how to speak.

Mommy, Daddy and Son

EOM-MA 엄마 means mommy in Korean.
AH-BBA 아빠 means daddy in Korean.
AH-DLE 아들 means son in Korean.

Teaching mommy was easy. Mommy is the most important, ultimate favourable person in the world.
I just indicated my hand to her, eye-contacting my son, and I said 'EOM-MA'
After that, he called her 'EOM-MA' which is Korean word. But our rule is Thai language between mom and son.
It took few months for my wife to correct him how to call mommy in Thai. 'MAE' is the answer.
At last, he can call her 'MAE' when I'm not around.
When I am with him, he can indicate her by his hand and say 'EOM-MA' eye contacting me. That is just like how I taught him. By doing so he wants to be recognised about what he can do and he wants to see my happy reaction. I don't hide my feeling when I see him picking up some Korean words. It seems he knows what I like.

Teaching daddy was not easy at all. It seems he don't speak it out intentionally.
I often call him by his name or I call him 'AH-DLE' which means son. He picked it up. But, sometimes a baby get confused. The other day, when I came back from work, my wife said in English

"Hi, dad~"

She taught 'Hi Dad' couple more times. Now 'AH-DLE' and 'Hi Dad' are mixed. He calls me ID[ahy-dee].
I correct him every time of course.

"I am your daddy and you are my son"
(내가 아빠고 니가 아들이야)

I put my hand on my chest and said

"AH-BBA"
(아빠)

Then I put my hand on my son's shoulder and said

"AH-DLE"

(아들)

He replied with smile.

"AHY-DEE"
아이디(?)

I am sure he knows already. Same have been repeated hundreds of times. From how he can copy what I do, from how he can play with his toys, I can tell he is smart enough to know. My wife told me when I was away from home, he saw my photo and said AH-BBA. Cheeky boy.

English

At the moment English is not the highest priority. Looking for some good way to teach. I read out some English story books for him, my wife and I talk in front of him but these are less frequent than own languages. Our main focus is our son, so when 3 of us are together, we tend to just focus on our son instead of talking to each other. When my wife and I do speak English, it's the occasion where we really have to talk about something. During the conversation I feel he tries to get our attention.
Quite often I find some nouns are irreplaceable pure English words.
Pasta, Coffee, Kangaroo, Panda, Ice cream, Dunk shoot(we play basketball), pass(we play soccer) and so on...
So these words become easy free pass. One word works for all 3 languages.

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That's it for today. There are heaps more episodes. I might continue next time.
Cheers
I.D.