It can be hard to know what “behind” means when your child is learning two languages.
Maybe your toddler uses fewer words in English than other children at preschool. At home, though, you are also wondering whether they are saying enough in Spanish, Polish, Mandarin, or another home language. Instead of seeing one clearly stronger language, you are starting to worry that your child may be struggling in both.
That is an important distinction.
Bilingual children do not need to have equal skills in both languages, and their vocabulary and abilities are often distributed across them. But when communication difficulties consistently appear across both languages, it can be worth taking a closer look.
Quick Answer
If your bilingual child seems behind in both languages, don’t judge their development by counting words in each language separately. Look at their overall ability to understand, communicate, learn new words, combine words, and make progress over time.
Uneven skills between two languages can be a normal part of bilingual development. However, persistent difficulties with understanding or communicating across both languages, especially when your child is making little progress, may be a reason to talk with a speech-language pathologist.
Learning two languages does not cause a language disorder, and dropping the home language is generally not the solution.
What Does “Behind in Both Languages” Actually Mean?
Before deciding that your child is behind, it helps to look at how bilingual language development works.
A bilingual child does not necessarily have the same vocabulary in both languages.
For example, a toddler may know words for foods, family members, and household routines in Spanish because that is what the family speaks at home. The same child may know words for toys, activities, colors, and classmates in English because those are used more often at childcare.
If you count only the English words, the child’s vocabulary may look small. If you count only the Spanish words, it may also look small.
But together, those two vocabularies can give you a very different picture.
This is why total vocabulary in bilingual toddlers can be more informative than judging either language in isolation.
The same principle applies beyond vocabulary. A child’s language skills need to be considered in the context of both languages, how much exposure they receive to each, and where and with whom they use them.
Being Stronger in One Language Is Not the Same as Being Behind in Both
Most bilingual children are not perfectly balanced bilinguals.
One language may become stronger because the child hears and uses it more often. The stronger language can also change as the child’s environment changes.
A toddler who once used mostly Spanish at home, for example, may begin using much more English after starting preschool. That does not necessarily mean the child’s Spanish development has stopped or that something is wrong.
Similarly, a child might understand a great deal in one language while speaking much less of it.
If your concern is mainly that one language is stronger than the other, language dominance in bilingual toddlers may help explain what you are seeing.
The concern becomes different when difficulties are not limited to the child’s weaker language.
If your child has trouble communicating in the language they know best and shows similar difficulties in the other language, that pattern deserves more attention.
Signs to Look at Across Both Languages
No single behavior tells you that a bilingual child has a language delay. Instead, look for patterns.
Questions worth considering include:
- Is your child learning and using new words over time?
- Is your child finding ways to communicate wants, needs, and ideas?
- Is your child beginning to combine words when developmentally expected?
- Does your child understand familiar words, questions, and directions?
- Does your child initiate communication with you or other familiar people?
- Are communication skills gradually becoming more complex?
- Do difficulties seem to occur in both languages rather than primarily in the less familiar language?
The most important word here is progress.
A child does not need to develop both languages at exactly the same rate. But you generally want to see communication growing over time.
If your child seems to have very limited understanding or expression across both languages, is making little progress, or has lost language skills they previously used, those concerns are more meaningful than simply having fewer words in one language.
For a broader comparison of typical bilingual differences and possible language difficulties, see Language Delay vs Bilingual Development.
What About Mixing the Two Languages?
Mixing languages does not by itself mean your child is behind.
A toddler might say “more leche,” use an English word in an otherwise Spanish sentence, or switch languages depending on who is listening.
This can be part of normal bilingual language use.
The important question is not whether your child keeps the languages perfectly separate. It is whether their ability to understand and communicate is developing.
If language mixing is your primary concern, our guide to code-switching in bilingual toddlers explains why children switch between languages and when it is usually normal.
Could My Child Have a Language Delay?
Possibly, but bilingualism itself does not tell you the answer.
One of the key differences clinicians consider is whether a difficulty can be explained primarily by a child’s experience with a particular language or whether there is evidence of difficulty across the child’s languages.
Imagine two children.
One speaks Spanish confidently with family but says very little English after recently entering an English-speaking preschool. Limited English by itself would not tell you that the child has a language disorder.
Another child has had meaningful opportunities to develop both languages but struggles to understand and communicate even in the language used most often at home. The family also reports similar concerns in the other language.
Those situations deserve to be viewed differently.
This is why a bilingual child’s language history, exposure, opportunities to use each language, and communication across different people and settings matter so much.
When Should You Consider a Speech-Language Evaluation?
Consider talking with your pediatrician or a speech-language pathologist if you are concerned about your child’s communication development, particularly if difficulties seem to occur across both languages.
Reasons to seek professional guidance can include:
- very limited progress in communication over time
- difficulty understanding familiar language in both languages
- persistent difficulty expressing basic wants or ideas
- communication difficulties that are noticeable even in the child’s stronger or more familiar language
- loss of words or communication abilities the child previously had
- concerns from both family members and other caregivers who see the child in different settings
You do not need to determine on your own whether your child’s development represents a language difference or a language disorder. That is one of the purposes of an appropriate evaluation.
If you’re trying to decide whether an assessment is the next step, When Does a Bilingual Child Need a Speech-Language Evaluation? goes into that decision in more detail.
Why Both Languages Matter During an Evaluation
If your child does need an evaluation, looking only at English can give an incomplete picture.
A child may know concepts, vocabulary, or grammatical structures in one language that are not apparent when testing the other. Language exposure and opportunities to use each language also need to be considered.
An appropriate bilingual evaluation therefore tries to understand the child’s abilities across their languages, rather than treating performance in English alone as the complete measure of language ability.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that every part of an evaluation will look identical in both languages. The goal is to gather enough information from both languages and from the child’s language-learning history to make a fair assessment.
You can learn more about this in Should a Bilingual Child Be Evaluated in Both Languages?.
What Can You Do at Home While You Monitor Your Child?
You do not need to turn everyday conversations into speech lessons.
Instead, continue giving your child meaningful opportunities to communicate.
Talk during meals, dressing, bath time, errands, and play. Read books together. Follow your child’s interests. When your child says something, respond to the meaning and add a little more language.
If your toddler says “dog,” you might respond, “Yes, the dog is running!”
If your child uses English while you normally speak Spanish, you do not necessarily need to insist that they repeat the sentence in Spanish. You can acknowledge what they said and naturally model the Spanish language you want them to hear.
Most importantly, don’t stop using a home language simply because your child seems delayed.
The home language connects your child with parents, grandparents, relatives, culture, and everyday relationships. If you are concerned about development, the better next step is to understand your child’s abilities across both languages rather than removing one of them.
Focus on the Pattern, Not One Language
When you’re worried about your bilingual child’s development, it is easy to focus on what seems to be missing.
“She doesn’t know as many English words as the other children.”
“He understands Spanish but answers me in English.”
“She mixes the two languages.”
Those observations can be useful, but none tells the whole story.
Instead, ask:
Is my child communicating, understanding, learning, and making progress when I look across both languages?
A child who is stronger in one language than another is not necessarily behind. A child who mixes languages is not necessarily confused. And a child who speaks less in a newer or less familiar language does not necessarily have a language delay.
Persistent difficulties that appear across both languages, however, deserve closer attention.
Final Thoughts
If you’re worried your bilingual child is behind in both languages, you don’t have to choose between ignoring your concerns and assuming something is wrong.
Start by looking at the whole child rather than measuring English and the home language separately. Consider what your child understands, how they communicate, what they can do across both languages, and whether those abilities are growing over time.
Keep speaking the languages that are important to your family. Keep giving your child opportunities to communicate without pressure.
And if difficulties persist across both languages or your child is making little progress, consider discussing your concerns with a qualified speech-language pathologist who understands bilingual development.
The goal isn’t to determine whether your child looks exactly like a monolingual child in each language.
It’s to understand whether your child is developing the ability to communicate and learn language across their bilingual world.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a bilingual child really be delayed in both languages?
Yes. Bilingual children can have language delays or language disorders just as monolingual children can. The important distinction is that learning two languages does not itself cause the disorder. When there is a genuine language difficulty, concerns may be evident across the child’s languages rather than only in a less familiar language.
Does learning two languages cause speech or language delays?
Learning two languages does not cause a language disorder. Bilingual children may distribute their vocabulary and skills across languages, which can sometimes make them appear behind if each language is considered separately.
Should I count words from both languages?
When considering a young bilingual child’s vocabulary, words from both languages provide important information about what the child knows. Looking only at English or only at the home language can underestimate the child’s overall vocabulary.
Is mixing languages a sign of a language delay?
Not by itself. Mixing words or switching between languages is common among bilingual speakers and does not mean a child is confused. What matters more is the child’s overall ability to understand, communicate, and make progress.
Should I stop speaking my home language if my child seems behind?
Generally, no. Removing the home language does not address the underlying cause of a language difficulty and can reduce your child’s opportunities to communicate with family members. Continue providing rich, natural language interaction in the languages that are important to your family.
How do I know when my bilingual child should be evaluated?
Consider seeking professional guidance when your child has persistent difficulty understanding or communicating across both languages, makes very little progress over time, or loses communication skills they previously had. An evaluation can help distinguish a bilingual language difference from a possible language disorder.