What is bilingualism?

Bilingualism is the ability to understand and use two languages. Mother tongue is defined as the language that the child first learns to speak, communicates in and knows best. If a child uses or understands more than two languages, he is multilingual. Learning two languages can seem like a complex process for children, but it is said that children have the ability to learn two languages as naturally as they can learn one. Bilingualism is not a language problem. When a child has language difficulties in both languages, it is defined as a language acquisition problem or developmental dysphasia. When a child has difficulties, e.g. in English but not in his/her native language, it is not a speech and language delay, it is a language learning difficulty or a natural part of learning a new language.

Based on my experience, I have seen that many bilingual children have a problem in acquiring the Serbian language and developing their speech. This often happens because they are equally, sometimes more, exposed to a foreign language compared to the Serbian language.

That is why it is very important that the parents contact the speech therapist in time, in order to determine what kind of delay it is and, if necessary, to suggest treatment, which will be intensive at first.

This means that, in addition to speech therapy, parents should be involved every day in order for their child to develop language skills.

The therapeutic approach will be adapted to each child depending on his/her individual needs.