How to approach training a toddler two language.?

i'm trying to teach my child (2 years old) 2 languages. english being one of them and a second one individual chinese (cantonese). is it a good idea to expose the child to 2 languages at one time? i'm considering sending the child to daycare/preschool programs where on earth they teach in chinese. i mainly speak english to her at home however.
I am a french speaking woman who is with a russian speaking man and we both rely on english to fathom out each other. I will soon give birth to our first child and we agreed on this system at home : 2 days a week of french, 2 days of english and 3 days of russian. Since our environment is a french one and since english is easier to learn than russian, we agreed that it be better to give more exposure to the less used language. I suggest you this website that can give support to a lot with different methods of exposure : http://www.multilingualchildren.org/
Of course, you'll need extra moderation and extra perseverence for it to work smooth ! Good luck !

Oh...and I am currently learning russian and even though my husband is not fluent in french, we'll both make an try for the sake of the child.

Nic - thanks :)
It is a accurate idea to expose a child to two languages. She will probably mix them up at first and not know how to separate them, but as she gets elder, she will be fluent in both languages. If you primarily speak English at home, but do use both and send her to a daycare where on earth they teach in chinese, I think she will successfully cram both languages. I volunteered in a preschool where in attendance were english speaking children and spanish speaking children, and a few kids who were familiar beside both languages, but primarily understood spanish. By the end of the academy year, most of the children were understanding english to some degree, and some of the primarily spanish speaking children be beginning to speak english. One little boy went from understanding no english to individual able to express himself quite well. Two little girls have a bilingual mother and could understand english for the most part, but would not speak it at the beginning of the year. by the finishing, they were speaking it fairly well. So, from my experience, your daughter will benefit from have both languages spoken to her.
You should have one entity who always speaks the language you want your child to learn and doesn`t matter what language you speak to your child in keep it consistent. Don't be afraid to focus on the other native tongue at home because your child will be exposed to english everywhere else.
I have heard that when guideline a young child two launguages at a time, it is best to start with one other than English, however if you are planning to sue mostly English around the home and next to family and friends, your child may become confused.
I guess the best thing to do would be go to a child trouble center like what you mentioned and ask them what they think is best.
:)
The younger you expose them to a second language the better. They retain it better and it becomes a division of their everyday life and not just another language. I estimate you should teach it just like you skilled him his first English. It's just like "dinner" and "super" or "car" and "automobile" they both mean duplicate thing and the same would be for teaching a second style. Point to the chair and tell him how to say it surrounded by both languages. He will soon learn that there is more than one bearing to say things.
the window to teach your child a second or even 3rd tongue is birth to 7 years of age. there was a article on yahoo yesterday about it. start speaking it contained by the house a little more. they wont get confused. i am trying to teach my 3 year mature spanish and my 7 month old sign language it is so weird how brisk they learn the information so quickly

yulinka, great comment
Answers:    Speak Cantonese to her rather bit more... I am teaching my son two languages, some times I speak my home language (Afrikaans) and other times we speak English. They *may* be a short time behind children who are only learning to speak one vocalizations at a time, but once they get the hang of both languages they'll be fully bilingual and at an good thing.

Everyone in my family (and most children in my country) are fully bilingual by the time we travel to school (at 6) but I have seen children who couldn't speak a lick of English by the time they started college. It was hard on them to learn a foreign language, but it's not impossible... I just think it's easier to do it when they're small.

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