The Linguistic Quirks of a Spanish-Speaking Toddler
The last time I wrote about raising my baby in my second language, Spanish, she was only 2 months old. I can’t believe that in just a few weeks she will be 2 YEARS old!! By age 1 she had many one-syllable words, and by 15 months she had an extensive but primitive bilingual vocabulary. I was not prepared for how her language would take off after that!
By 18 months, she had so many words I couldn’t keep track anymore (I had previously been writing them down), and she was starting to put two and three words together. Most impressive was when one day around 18 months I flippantly asked in Spanish “do you even know the word for that in English?” and she answered! I then started testing, “how do you say cat in Spanish?” “gato!”, “cómo se dice pelota en inglés?” “ball!”. It was so cool that she could answer that question! She already understood that there are (at least) two languages, and (at least) two ways to say each thing!
Two-year-old Spanish
Even though I have spoken to her almost exclusively in Spanish since birth, I am still surprised by how much my daughter can understand and speak. And I am fascinated by the idiosyncrasies of her language development. Here are some of her most common “errors” in pronunciation and grammar so far. I’ve done some research online, but have not been able to determine which of these are common for Spanish-speaking toddlers, and which are unique to mine. I welcome any resources for learning more about Spanish language development in toddlers that detail more than just the common developmental milestones!
L for R
| What she says | Spanish | English |
| Lana | Rana | Frog |
| Pelo | Perro | Dog |
| Pala | Para | For |
L for Y and W sounds
| What she says | Spanish | English |
| Lelo | Hielo (“ye-low”) | Ice |
| Blen | Bien (“bee-yen”) | Good |
| Agla | Agua (“agwa”) | Water |
T for R and L at the end of words
| What she says | Spanish | English |
| Comet | Comer | Eat |
| Llevat | Llevar | Bring/ carry |
| Azut | Azul | Blue |
C for J
| What she says | Spanish | English |
| Pácalo | Pájaro | Bird |
| Nalanca | Naranja | Orange |
| Abeca | Abeja | Bee |
Flipping consonants
| What she says | Spanish | English |
| Palan | Pañal | Diaper |
| Macadilla | Mantequilla | Butter |
| Cabalaza | Calabaza | Pumpkin |
My favourite combos of the above rules
| What she says | Spanish | English |
| Loco | Rojo | Red |
| Makinat | Imaginar | Imagine |
| Cacalot | Caracol | Snail |
Using second person for herself
| What she says | Spanish | English | What she means |
| Quieles pan | Quieres pan | You want bread | I want bread |
| Para ti | Para ti | For you | For me |
| Dame plato | Te doy el plato | Give me plate | I give you the plate |
English constructions
| What she says | Spanish | English |
| Roco camión | Camión rojo | Red truck |
| Grande one | El grande | This big one |
| Qué huele a? | A qué huele | What does it smell like? |
And other Spanglish
| What she says | Spanish | English |
| Gleen pácalo | Pájaro verde | Green bird |
| You want fluta | Quiero fruta | I want fruit |
| No like eso | No me gusta eso | I don’t like that |
I’m not worried about her Spanglish – I’m confident that if I keep talking to her in Spanish and others keep talking to her in English, she will speak both languages accurately eventually. However, I worry sometimes about my ability to keep up with Spanish if she speaks more and more English to me. Some (but not all) days she uses more English than Spanish, and I sometimes find myself responding in English too. It will take discipline not to fall into English patterns, but I know that right now I have a bilingual child and it’s up to me to help her become a bilingual adult!
