Our child is growing up with two languages.
Is this a delay, or just bilingual?

What is normal for a bilingual child

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association summarises the research plainly: using more than one language does not confuse children or cause speech or language delays. Some things that worry parents are in fact ordinary features of growing up bilingual:

• Mixing languages in one sentence. An expected part of learning and using two languages at once, not a sign of confusion.
• Uneven vocabularies. Children know some words only in one language (daycare words in Japanese, home words in English). Counted together, the total is what matters.
• A quiet period when a child is newly surrounded by a second language, for example on starting a Japanese daycare.
• Different pace in each language, depending on how much each language is heard and used. The amount and type of exposure shapes the pace.

What is not explained by bilingualism

ASHA's rule of thumb: if a child has a communication issue, it shows up in all the languages they use. So the question is not "is their Japanese behind?" but "is communication itself behind, in every language?" Signs worth checking include:

• Very few words in any language at an age when single words are expected
• Understanding seems limited too — simple requests ("give me", "come here") in the home language are not followed
• The child often does not turn when called, or you have any worry about hearing
• Little pointing, showing, or back-and-forth with you, in any language
• Speech is hard for even family to understand well past the age when it usually clears up

The milestones used in Japan

Japanese health checks and classrooms use rough reference points such as: meaningful single words by around 18 months, and two-word combinations starting after age 2. For a bilingual child, count words across both languages. Reference points are guides, not tests; what matters is the overall picture, which is why an assessment by a speech-language therapist is the useful next step when you are unsure.

What to do first

1. Rule out hearing. If there is any doubt, ask your paediatrician for a hearing check.
2. Use the ward. The public health centre (保健センター) runs the 18-month and 3-year health checks and developmental consultations; the ward's child development support centre (in Shinjuku, "Aiai", 03-6273-8701) does developmental consultation and assessment.
3. Visit a classroom. You do not need a diagnosis or the certificate to visit us and talk. If you cannot manage in Japanese, English is available for the first consultation.

What we do

Four speech-language therapists are on staff. They assess where your child's communication is now — in the context of the languages spoken at home — and design the individual program from there. Sessions are in Japanese, because that is the language your child needs at daycare, at school and with friends here; you are told what to practise at home, and you can do that in your home language. Tell us about your family's languages at the first consultation; it changes how the assessment is read.

What you can do at home

• Put words to what your child is looking at, in whichever language comes naturally to you.
• Do not get ahead of them — leave a pause for them to ask, point or try.
• Do not make them repeat it correctly. Model the word back naturally instead.
• Keep speaking your own language to your child. A strong home language helps, it does not hinder.