The Expert View:

As soon as possible, even when they are still in the womb. There is research that indicates that babies recognize different languages, even while still in the womb. Therefore, if you can talk to and sing in Irish to your baby before they are born, it's a great start.

Answers from Parents:

1. In the womb
2. From the moment you come into the world 'welcome to the big world my heart'
3. From the beginning!
4. As soon as they are born!

References:

Christine Moon, Hugo Lagercrantz, Patricia K Kuhl. 2012. Language experienced in utero affects vowel perception after birth: a two-country study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3543479/pdf/nihms423946.pdf

Christine Moon, Robin Panneton Cooper, William P Fifer .1993. Two-day-olds prefer their native language: https://infantstudies-psych.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2015/03/Moon-et-al.-1993.pdf

Utako Minai, Kathleen Gustafson, Robert Fiorentino, Allard Jongman, Joan Sereno. 2017. Fetal rhythm-based language discrimination: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5611858/pdf/nihms866255.pdf

The Expert View:

There will be no problem. English will be around you and the children will hear it often as they grow up. Because of how strong and popular English is, there is a greater risk of losing the minority language, the language of the town.

Answers from Parents:

1. No, I was brought up with Irish and I picked up English from the other kids at school naturally. I never felt like I was struggling with English.
2. It will not. English everywhere around them.
3. It will not. English is everywhere and they will pick it up with ease.

4. Seaweed! Not at all
5. No! English is everywhere!
6. Not at all! English is always around them and life is the same
7. My own children picked it up with ease and reading in English as well.

References:

Directions in Research: Intergenerational Transmission of Heritage Languages. Editors:
Russ Campbell, University of California, Los Angeles; Donna Christian, Center for Applied Linguistics (long list of research cited in this article): https://international.ucla.edu/media/files/russ_and_donna.pdf

Joshua A. Fishman 1991, Reversing Language Shift

The Expert View:

Plenty of research has been done which recommends the 'One Parent, One Language' method as the best way to raise children with two languages. It is an effective way but it is not enough on its own. It is necessary for the child to hear a wide vocabulary regularly so that they can develop ability in the language. It is necessary to have equal input in terms of both languages ​​if the child is to make equal progress. It would be important for the children to hear Irish from other people, both adults and children if possible, rather than just from the parent. There are some parents who speak different languages ​​with their children and that works for them as a family. The most important thing is that the child has a fair chance to hear and use Irish.

Answers from Parents:

1. Whatever you are comfortable with.
2. As much Irish as possible. English is available everywhere else
3. A combination if your partner does not speak Irish. If so, speak Irish to them

References:

Ní Shionnain, U. 2020. Modern Irish communities: viability and minority language communities in a world under globalization. PhD Thesis, University College Cork.

Hoff E, Core C, Place S, Rumiche R, Señor M, Parra M, J Child Lang. 2012; 39(1):1-27. Dual language exposure and early bilingual development.

Andrea AN MacLeod, Leah Fabiano-Smith, Sarah Boegner-Pagé, Salomé Fontolliet, 2012. Simultaneous bilingual language acquisition: The role of parental input on receptive vocabulary development.

The Expert View:

This is not a reason not to speak Irish at home. Many people have done it and different strategies are involved than families who have an extended family around them with Irish. There will be plenty of other people in the same boat as you! Try to find other Irish-speaking people to create your own Irish-speaking community and give the child opportunities to speak, listen and spend time with other Irish-speaking people.

Answers from Parents

It will not be without difficulties but it is well worth doing. Gather other Irish-speaking people around you and spend time with them!

Reference:

The Extra Advantage. 2017. Mark MacRoyrie

The Expert View:

They will not be confused. Children are able to deal with many different languages ​​without any problem. There is research that indicates that children find it easier to pick up a second language if they have a strong foundation in their home language.

Answers from Parents:

1. It would not
2. I never spoke English to my daughter; and her mother only speaks English. This does not seem to confuse her. It's pretty natural in her head that Dad speaks in Irish and Mom in English
3. English is available everywhere, it is special to speak Irish together as a family and to use English with other people.

References:

Kendall King and Lyn Fogle. 2006. Raising Bilingual Children: Common Parental Concerns and Current Research

The Expert View:

If you speak English to your children when your partner is with you, you will reduce the opportunities your child has to hear and use Irish. It would be much better to speak Irish with them. This will give your partner the opportunity to learn Irish by listening to you talking to the children.

Answers from Parents:

1. No - There is plenty of support available from Glór na n'Gael
2. It would not.
3. It is difficult, especially if you were not brought up with Irish but it is worth the effort.
4. The extended family learns, in my experience, that they are sympathetic, supportive and proud.
5. You shouldn't - if your kids think they should speak English whenever there is someone without a Gaelic in their company, he/she very rarely speaks Gaelic. Also, your child needs to hear a good part of the language every day to hold it properly - he/she would not hear enough if you were avoiding him/her around your partner.
6. I speak Irish to them alone & a mixture of Irish & English when we are together. This suits us.
7. No….your partner can speak English with the patch. My partner didn't speak any Irish either.
8. That's what I do but every family is different. Have a chat with your partner to make sure they are comfortable with the plan and follow through. The more Irish spoken in the house, the better.

The Expert View:

Different families use different methods to get the children to speak Irish with them as parents and with each other as siblings. It is worth talking to the child about why you want them to speak to you in Irish. It is worth explaining to them that it is an integral part of the family's life and that you feel proud when they speak Irish. It is recommended that whatever the patches say in English be repeated to them in Irish but without correcting them.

Answers from Parents:

1. Repeat what they said next in Irish. Give them great praise when they answer in Irish.
2. Continue to speak in Irish, that's the only thing you have power over, other strategies depending on age.
3. My son is still doing the same thing….He's a teenager now!
4. Don't make a big deal out of it. We add Irish to whatever our daughter says in English.

Reference:

Sabine Little (2020) Whose heritage? What inheritance?: conceptualising family language identities, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 23:2, 198-212, DOI: 10.1080/13670050.2017.1348463

The Expert View:

It is natural for children who speak more than one language to use different languages ​​in one sentence. Most of the time, as they get older and have a wider vocabulary in the different languages, that habit stops. But people are often still doing it as adults! You can support the child by making sure they have the opportunity to hear a wide vocabulary and even say sentences back to them in the language you would like the child to use in such a way that they have the opportunity to hear the whole sentence in the that language. Rather than correcting the child, it is worth repeating in Irish what they have said in English so that they hear the vocabulary they need. There is also evidence that people mix languages ​​together because they hear fast people doing the same thing!

Answers from Parents:

1. Try to get monolingual "domains" in Irish for your child as support. Code mixing is natural. It happens in every context with every language.
2. If you keep your advice in Irish only, they will get used to that habit with the parent. It is not a problem because English is everywhere around them and it is impossible to do anything to deny English.
3. Create a site for them where Irish is the only language - watch Cúla4 together and talk about the program in Irish only with them e.g.

4. Praise them when they speak Irish together

References:

Liane Comeau, Fred Genesee and Lindsay Lapaquette. 2003. The Modeling Hypothesis and child bilingual codemixing, International Journal of Bilingualism. 7: 113 Meisel, J. (1994).

Code-switching in young bilingual children: The acquisition of grammatical constraints. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 16(4), 413-439.

Smolak E, de Anda S, Enriquez B, Poulin-Dubois D, Friend M. Code-switching in young bilingual toddlers: A longitudinal, cross-language investigation. Billing (Camb Engl). 2020 May;23(3):500-518. doi: 10.1017/S1366728919000257. Epub 2019 May 16. PMID: 33776543; PMCID: PMC7994944.

The Expert View:

There is no need to teach English first. Children do not have difficulties in acquiring languages, as adults would. English is all around us, and the child will learn it without a problem. If both parents speak Irish, it is recommended that they use it in any communication with the child. They will not be at a disadvantage in terms of English because it will be heard regularly around them. They will pick up English naturally from the surrounding community, from television, at school and otherwise. If only one parent speaks Irish, every effort must be made from the beginning so that the child hears Irish as often, or more often, than English. It is better that the children have the opportunity to hear a wide range of people speaking Irish in different aspects of their lives, including other children.

Answers from Parents:

1. It would not. English is everywhere around them. They will pick it up easily
2. There is enough English in every corner of the country, the same is not true of Irish. Start learning Irish as soon as possible

References:

Video: https://www.ucd.ie/psychology/newsandevents/latestnews/inputandexperienceinminoritylanguageacquisition/;

Nic Flanchadha, Siobhan, Hickey, Tina, 2019/05/29. Article: Assessing children's proficiency in a minority language: exploring the relationships between home language exposure, test performance and teacher and parent ratings of school-age Irish-English bilinguals

The Expert View:

The 'One Language, One Parent' method can be a very effective way to raise children with Irish, especially if both parents speak Irish. But there can be difficulties with this method if you are raising a child with a minor language and only one parent speaks that minor language. For example, if you are an Irish-speaking parent and only English is spoken by your spouse, the extended family and the community around you and your child, your child will have very few opportunities to hear or use Irish compared to the English. In order to support language acquisition, it is very important that the child has regular and qualitative opportunities to hear Irish and that these opportunities are equal to or greater than English. To achieve this aim, parents can undertake to raise children with Irish in any strategic way that works for them but ensures that the child has qualitative and quantitative opportunities to hear and use Irish regularly. It would be worthwhile to be aware of the various other ways that have been proposed in terms of raising children bilingually so that you can choose a method that is suitable for you as a family and that gives your children rich and regular opportunities to speak Irish, hear and read.

Answers from Parents

It would be important to have more than one person who speaks Irish in the child's life so that they have regular opportunities to use Irish

References:

Thordardottir E. The relationship between bilingual exposure and vocabulary development. International Journal of Bilingualism. 2011;15(4):426–445.

Lanza E. (2004): Language mixing in infant bilingualism: A sociolinguistic perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2004.

Sonia Wilson (2019): Family language policy through the eyes of bilingual children: the case of French heritage speakers in the UK, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, DOI: 10.1080/01434632.2019.1595633.

https://bilingualkidspot.com/2016/05/30/how-to-raise-a-bilingual-child/ (article)

The Expert View:

Different families use different methods to get the children to speak Irish with them as parents and with each other as siblings. It is worth talking to the children about how proud you feel when they speak Irish to you or to other people. Praise them when they speak Irish to you. Talk to the children about why you speak Irish as a family and how important it is to you as a parent. The most important thing is to set a good example for your children by continuing to speak Irish to them. Talk to them often about different and varied subjects so that they have the opportunity to learn and use a wide and varied vocabulary.

Answers from Parents:

Repeat what they said next in Irish. Give them a big compliment when they answer in Irish.
Continue to speak in Irish, that's the only thing you have power over, other strategies depending on age
My son is still doing the same thing….He's a teenager now!
Don't make a big deal out of it. We add Irish to whatever our daughter says in English.

References:

https://mothertongues.ie/2018/04/02/why-my-child-is-refusing-to-speak-my-language/ (article).

Annick De Houwer (2007). Parental language input patterns and children's bilingual use. Applied Psycholinguistics 28(03):411-424.

Satomi Mishina-Mori (2011). A longitudinal analysis of language choice in bilingual children: The role of parental input and interaction.

The Expert View:

If your heart's desire is to raise children with Irish, challenge yourself to learn the language. Families often make a habit of changing their language from English to Irish with gradual strategies. Many parents have learned Irish side by side with the children. The most important thing is to start the language journey together.

Answers from Parents:

1. It doesn't matter. Speak it as often as possible. Use any Irish you have!
2. Don't worry. You can learn with them by watching cartoons / reading books with them!
3. Use small, simple terms - would you like a biscuit? Do you have to go to the toilet. This will normalize Irish and bilingualism

Reference:

King, K., & Fogle, L. (2006). Bilingual parenting as good parenting: Parents' perspectives on family language policy for additive bilingualism. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 9(6), 695-712. https://doi.org/10.2167/beb362.0

The Expert View:

If you are raising children with Irish, Irish education, from Kindergarten to post-primary school, can be an additional support for you, especially if one parent in the home uses a common and strong language such as English. But don't worry if you don't have access to Irish education. The most important thing is that the children have continuous and regular opportunities to hear Irish from a wide range of people. Read plenty of Irish books with them and buy them a nice selection of books to develop reading habits in Irish. Look for opportunities for the child to have fun and spend time with other children with Irish regularly. Sing rhymes and songs in Irish with them & watch cartoons and television programs in Irish that would be suitable for children often together.

Answers from Parents:

1. Contact Glór na n'Gael or the local Officer
2. Attend Irish language events in the area
3. Put Irish on things that are used every day - a spoon, a cup of tea, do you want to come to the shop?

Reference:

Immersion : A win or a win. 2015. Selected papers from the First All-Island Research Conference on Immersion Education. Organized by TJ Ó Cellaigh and Muiris Ó Laoire.

The Expert View:

There are many children with Down Syndrome and various learning disabilities around the world with more than one language. From the research that has been done on the subject, there is no evidence that the second language causes any additional problems for the child. There is no difference between the communication skills of children with developmental delays who are bilingual compared to children of the same developmental ability who are monolingual. But it is necessary for the patches to have regular and good quality opportunities to hear both languages ​​in qualitative, interactive and practical ways to support the acquisition of both languages.

References:

Kay-Raining Bird, E., Cleave, P.L., Thordardottir, E., Cupit, J., Demers, L., Randell-Gryz, A. & Nowell, G. (2002). Language learning in children with Down syndrome: the impact of linguistic context.

Buckley, S. (2002) Can children with Down syndrome learn more than one language?. Down Syndrome News and Update, 2(3), 100-102. doi:10.3104/practice.180.

Ward, R (2020) Bangor University. Profiling the Language Abilities of Welsh-English Bilingual Children with Down Syndrome.

Kay-Raining Bird, E., Genesee, F., and Verhoeven, L. (2016). Bilingualism in children with developmental disorders: A narrative review. Journal of Communicative Disorders, 63, 1-14.

http://talknua.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/MultlingualChildrenWithDS.pdf (articles)

The Expert View:

The majority of research shows that there are many advantages to being bilingual, rather than the other way around. Children's minds are very open to language learning and are not restricted by the feelings of adults who grew up in a monolingual society.

Answers from Parents:

1. Not invited! More advantages in the future when they are built with two languages.
2. No. It will help them.

References:

Nameera Akhtar and Jennifer A. Menjivar. 2012. Cognitive and Linguistic Correlates of Early Exposure to More than One Language.

Claire Stephens BSc. 2013. Executive Function Development: A Comparison of Monolingual and Bilingual Children in Ireland.

Ellen Bialystok, PhD. 2017. Second-Language Acquisition and Bilingualism at an Early Age and the Impact on Early Cognitive Development.

The Expert View:

Children with autism can learn and use more than one language if they are given many opportunities to hear and use the different languages. The second language will not delay the child's speech further. There is evidence that bilingualism supports abstract thinking, which greatly supports children with autism It would be important for the child to have access to child development tests, speech and language assessments and others in the two languages ​​they have so that development is possible assess the child accurately. There is evidence that people with autism who are bilingual or multilingual have better social lives than people with autism who are monolingual.

Answers from Parents:

1. No. My son has Autism and loves languages!
2. It helps them by being more social

References:

Elizabeth Kay Raining Bird, Fred Genesee and Ludo Verhoeven (2016) Bilingualism in children with developmental disorders: a narrative review. Journal of Communication Disorders.

Sharynne McLeod, Linda J. Harrison, Chrystal Whiteford and Sue Walker (2015). Multilingualism and speech-language competence in early childhood: impact on academic and social-emotional outcomes. Early Childhood research Quarterly 34:53-66.

Mirko Uljarević, Napoleon Katsos, Kristelle Hudry, and Jenny Gibson (2016). Practitioner Review: multilingualism and neurodevelopmental disorders- an overview of recent research and discussion of clinical implications. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

Elizabeth Kay Raining Bird, Erin Lamond, and Jeanette Holden (2012) Survey of bilingualism in autism spectrum disorders. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders 47(1):52-64.

Jill M. Petersen, Stefka H. Marinova-Todd and Pat Mirenda (2012) Brief report: An exploratory study of lexical skills in bilingual children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 42: 1499-1503.

Kaori Ohashi, Pat Mirenda, Stefka Marinova-Todd, Catherine Hambly, Eric Fombonne, Peter Szatmari, Susan Bryson, Wendy Roberts, Isabel Smith, Tracy Vaillancourt, Joanne Volden, Charlotte Waddell, Lonnie Zwaigenbaum, Stelios Georgiades, Eric Duku, Ann Thompson, the Pathways in ASD Study Team (2012) Comparing early language development in monolingual-and bilingual-exposed young children with autism spectrum disorders. Research in Autism spectrum disorders 890-897.

Catharine Hambly and Eric Fombonne (2012) The impact of bilingual environments on language development in children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorder 42: 1342-1352.

Stefka Marinova-Todd & Pat Mirenda (2016). Language and communication abilities of bilingual children with autism spectrum disorders in Multilingual Perspectives on Child Language Disorders.

Bérengère G Digard, Antonella Sorace, Andrew Stanfield, Sue Fletcher-Watson (2020). Bilingualism in autism: Language learning profiles and social experiences.

The Expert View:

Will not be. This is a myth and there is no modern research to support this view. Children can have speech difficulties, like monolingual children, but these difficulties have nothing to do with the language practices of the child and their family. Bilingual children can have the opportunity to store more words, terminology and more than monolingual children.

Answers from Parents:

1. Seaford. It will help a lot in the future to talk
2. It helped me when I was growing up when I was afraid to speak out loud. Therefore, it will help children

References:

Dr Mary-Pat O'Malley - http://talknua.com/what-to-say-when-the-doctor-gets-it-wrong/ (Article)

Lauren Lowry, Hanen Certified Speech-Language Pathologist. Bilingualism in Young Children: Separating Fact from Fiction (Article)

The Expert View:

It is possible to access a speech and language service in Irish but it is not readily available or in every county. Under the Official Languages ​​Act (1993) it is the duty of the state to provide public services in Irish, including speech and language services, and it is the right of people to seek services in Irish. But, even if it is possible to find a therapist who speaks Irish, the standardized assessments used are in English and there is often little understanding of the clinical markers in languages ​​other than English.

Answers from Parents

Try to find an SLT who understands bilingualism and is sympathetic to Irish. If they speak Irish, it's an added advantage!

References:

Sarah-Ann Muckley. 2015. Language assessment of native Irish speaking children: towards developing diagnostic testing for speech and language therapy practice.

O'Toole, C. and Hickey, T. M. (2012). Diagnosing language impairment in bilinguals: professional experience and perception. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 29(1), pp. 91-109. doi: 10.1177/0265659012459859

Dr Ciara O'Toole. Assessment of language abilities in Irish-English bilingualism (presentation) - https://gaeledicoadhas.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Meas%C3%BAn%C3%BA-ar-deachrachta%C3%AD -language-in-language.pdf