Has anyone taken a child who does not speak any english????

[Mom of 3]

I have a potential interview for a child that is two almost three. He speaks no english. Can anyone help me on this one???? I don't know that he understands english either. The family speaks hungarian at home.
Have you done it?
Did it work?
??????????
HELP!!!!

[mom-in-alberta]

NO english?? None at all? Yeesh. Have they just moved here, or have they not taught him any at all?
Well, he is going to have to learn sometime. And if you are okay with taking it on, I say go for it!!
Perhaps you can make up some sort of flashcards? With pictures of your basic communication ideas? You can use it to ask him things (ie: hold up a picture of food and say "are you hungry?") or just to try to let him know what is going on (ie: hold up a picture of a playground and say "it's time to play outside!")
On the plus side, kids that age learn amazingly quickly.
Good luck!

[Inspired by Reggio]

I have not done it in my home - but in centre care lots of times.

Generally like mom-in-alberta mentioned we ask family to provide card with the English word and Hungarian word for the 'major' communication needs around transitions - aka eat, dress, sleep, bathroom, help, all done and so forth for the first few days ... and generally within a week children that age were communicating in English with others ... they really do pick up language quickly but in the in between time be prepared for anxiety and frustration as they learn how ... and depending on the personality that means either crying / withdrawal / aggression depending on if they are fight or flight geared thinker

[Momof4]

I would be more concerned that the parents understand English completely and will follow all my contract rules and will be able to communicate problems regarding their children. I've heard people with teacher friends say that they don't mind having children come into school who don't speak English because they can teach them how to speak properly. I guess teaching a child to speak English no matter what the age, baby or 3 years old is part of our daily job anyway.

[Mom of 3]

I guess it wouldn't be to difficult and i could do a trial period/probabtion period? I still have to meet him. Th father seems to speak english quite well which is why i'm confused as to why the child knows none?

[sunnydays]

It is quite common actually for a family to speak their native language at home to the kids so that the kids are fluent in that language and then when the child starts school or daycare, they learn English or French. Many parents choose not to introduce the dominant language too soon because they want to be sure that their children have a good grasp of the native language first and that it is not lost in the new culture. He will learn quickly and as the others said, if you could get some of the basic words from the parents, then you will be able to understand some of his basic needs while he is learning.

I guess it wouldn't be to difficult and i could do a trial period/probabtion period? I still have to meet him. Th father seems to speak english quite well which is why i'm confused as to why the child knows none?

[playfelt]

I have had several children. My first was Egyptian and the family spoke Arabic. The dad spoke almost fluent English and they moved to Canada when the little boy was 18 months - he hadn't learned to speak Arabic or English. The dad had tried to speak a bit to him and his school age sister but he was away for long periods of time due to his work. The mom spoke almost no English so it was dad I dealt with. The mom tried to learn English - the daughter was about 8 and picked it up quickly at school. Mom started ESL classes. Over time she would come with the dad for pickup and try to talk to me asking about the child's day. I had to speak slowly, distinctly, use lots of hand gestures with her but at least she was trying. The child was over 2 before he said much of anything. He quickly learned to understand the basics in both languages. He followed the others around and I spoke to him in segments like Mark shoes off - as in leaving out unnecessary words so he was concentrating only on the basics. Over time I could add in the other words and he still understood.

I have had a couple of Asian children - one that was adopted at 13 months and one where the family spoke both languages but the mom that was with the child spoke only Chinese to him. He learned to follow instructions faster than Mark because he was already familiar with some of the words.

In Ottawa of course there are often French/English to deal with. I have had parents that used only French at home bring their child to me so they would learn English - ie by immersion. What they didn't want was a bilingual daycare because they were afraid the child would be able to function totally in French and not have to rely on learning English.

I try to ask the family how to say certain words in their language for basics like eat, hungry, come, sit, basic commands we would do or the child might say like dog or tree or bird, block, ball. Not so much that I would use the words but that I would understand what the child was referring to and I would say the word in English as I gave them what they asked for.

You might luck out and they have learned some sign language or be able to teach them some basics like more.

[Mamma_Mia]

It is quite common actually for a family to speak their native language at home to the kids so that the kids are fluent in that language and then when the child starts school or daycare, they learn English or French. Many parents choose not to introduce the dominant language too soon because they want to be sure that their children have a good grasp of the native language first and that it is not lost in the new culture. He will learn quickly and as the others said, if you could get some of the basic words from the parents, then you will be able to understand some of his basic needs while he is learning.

I only started to speak English when I went to school! My parents did the same and only spoke Portuguese at home. I picked up quickly and now I'm very thankful that I'm fluent in both! I only wish I was able to do the same for my DD....it's harder now that we only speak english at home, but she understands everything my parents or inlaws say to her (All of them except my mother speak VERY little english). We hope to put her in a 'after school' program to learn the language better.

So its doable at that age and kids are smarter than we think!

[Mom of 3]

Thank you for all your feedback. It has been extremely helpful. It makes total sense that the parents would want their son fluent in their native tongue first and I know at this age they learn so fast. I just want to be sure it will be more of an exciting experience rather than a daunting one.