Full time helper - effect on child's acquisition of English?

[ElizaD]

I wondered if anyone could share their thoughts as to whether having a child cared for by a helper full time, from the age that they start to talk up to when they go to school, has affected the child's acquisition of English? I'm worried that having a non-native speaker as primary carer will confuse the child as to what is correct and what is not, or slow the process down.

Would be very interested in your experience to help me make some big decisions about going back to work.

 

[m_c]

If this is a concern for you then you should probably ensure that you employ a helper with a high level of English.

 

[elle]

If you are worried, make sure to employ a helper who speaks excellent English (there are many). You will also need to speak to your child a lot yourself, read to him/her, etc. A toddler doesn't speak English correctly anyway, so as long as you and his/ her school are consistently correcting grammer I can't imagine any long term issues with language acquistion. Of all the things I have heard friends/ colleages/ acquaintences in HK moan about relating to their helpers and children, this has never been one of them.

 

[howardcoombs]

If this is a concern for you then you should probably ensure that you employ a helper with a high level of English.

If someone is *that* concerned, they should not be living in a city where the vast majority of the population speaks a non-English language as their mother tongue. The child is going to get exposed to foreign languages in all kinds of places all day long.

Of all the things to worry about in Hong Kong, this is the first I've heard of this particular one...

 

[evgreen]

I think this is a totally normal concern. Your child's English is certainly affected by exposure. My sister was mostly raised by our helper and her English acquisition wasn't perfect but it soon smoothed out with proper schooling and lots of reading - nothing that isn't reversible. A child's mind is very pliable.

 

[carang]

it really didn't make much difference to my kids' language development. we had our helper from a week before my first was born until he was almost 6. there were a few things that they said differently, such as "drawer" but that was about it.

if you and your husband still speak english with your child, then really, having 1 person around who speaks english as a second language won't be that big a deal.

 

[nicolejoy]

I know many people who were children of immigrants - the parents English language skills are often inferior to many of the domestic helpers who work over here, but the children universally have native or near-native English language skills due to being raised in an English speaking environment (depending on how old they were when they migrated). When I was in Australia, I taught some Philippino kids who moved to Australia when they were between 3-10 years old (there were 5 siblings). None of them spoke any English upon arrival, but after a few years, they were doing great - particularly the younger kids. If they can thrive then how much more so can our kids who are mostly in English speaking environments (schools, playgroups etc), even if one of the three main adult influences in their lives does have "non-native English". There may be minor issues, but I'm sure they would be easily corrected.

 

[ElizaD]

Many thanks to all for your interesting and helpful responses. With the notable exception of HowardCoombs:

If someone is *that* concerned, they should not be living in a city where the vast majority of the population speaks a non-English language as their mother tongue. The child is going to get exposed to foreign languages in all kinds of places all day long.

Of all the things to worry about in Hong Kong, this is the first I've heard of this particular one...

Of course I am delighted that my child (like me) will become accustomed to hearing Cantonese, Mandarin, Tagalog, Indonesian and a plethora of other foreign languages - rather offensive of you to suggest otherwise. My concern was about sustained exposure to incorrect English at a crucial developmental stage. But it seems that this is nothing to worry about.

 

[howardcoombs]

Of course I am delighted that my child (like me) will become accustomed to hearing Cantonese, Mandarin, Tagalog, Indonesian and a plethora of other foreign languages - rather offensive of you to suggest otherwise. My concern was about sustained exposure to incorrect English at a crucial developmental stage.

I fail to see the difference between exposure to your helper vs exposure to Cantonese, Mandarin, French, Hindi and countless other languages your child will get exposed to at school, friends house and at the playground.

But it seems that this is nothing to worry about.

Indeed.

 

[howardcoombs]

..I taught some Philippino

A small nit to pick.
The nation is called Philippines
The people of that nation are called Filipinos
http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/49101/philippines-vs-filipino