Does Speaking Two Languages Cause a Speech Delay?

If your child is growing up with two or more languages, it’s natural to wonder whether that’s why they’re talking later.

The short answer is no. Learning two or more languages does not cause a speech or language delay.

Children learning more than one language often split their vocabulary across those languages. So they might know a word in one language but not in another, and that’s completely normal.

You might also notice them mixing languages in the same sentence. That’s a normal part of bilingual development and doesn’t mean your child’s confused.

Some parents wonder if they should stop speaking their home language and switch to English only. For most families, this isn’t recommended. Children learn language through everyday conversations, play, stories, and routines, and parents are usually able to provide the richest interactions in the language they speak most naturally.

There are situations where a therapist may recommend focusing on specific activities in one language for a time, based on individual therapy goals. That’s an individual decision and shouldn’t be taken to mean that bilingualism causes delays.

When a child has a language difficulty, signs of that difficulty are seen across the languages they use, although they may not look exactly the same in each language.

That’s why Speech & Language Therapists consider all the languages a child hears and uses when building a picture of their communication.