Having Abby be bilingual in Mandarin and English was never mandatory, but a wishful thought. I knew we would give it a good try, but living in an English-speaking household, I didn't feel that disrupting our normal patterns to force a second language on our child would be natural.

I read an article once that to become bilingual, a child will need to be exposed to a different language at least 30 percent of their waking time. That sounds about right. To be immersed in an environment with a different language for a few hours a day is absolutely necessary to become fluent. Knowing a few nouns and verbs in a different language means little. So, when teaching Abby by holding up objects and giving them names in both Mandarin and English, or repeating requests directed at her in both languages, is probably enough to allow her to be familiar with the sounds of Mandarin - to be able to understand, but not speak - however, she will never be fluent with this small effort. She still needs exposure to Mandarin in the form of passive conversation between others to fill up parts of her day if we should wish for her to know Chinese as well as she will English.

The importance of passive conversation in helping a baby learn another language was evident last week when Abby requested a cup of milk in Chinese and also her usual sign language, having NEVER been directly taught it in Chinese. It's silly, but my mom would ask me if I thought she was thirsty for milk and I would actually translate that into English when I asked Abby. We talked about buying milk and pouring or heating up a cup for Abby in Chinese, but never used the word directly with her. Yet, a week ago, she toddled up to us right before bedtime, signed milk and shouted, "Nai! Nai! Nai!" (signing "Please" when we didn't immediately respond) and she has consistently requested her milk this way ever since.

Another really cool thing about teaching Abby some Chinese is that I'm noticing that she will select words from whichever language is easiest for her to say. It's nice that she can pick and choose to build her own vocabulary. In a way, she's being lazy and taking the easy route. I have heard that in some bilingual households, the mastery of both languages may be delayed, but fluency will usually be achieved before age 5. At the very least, giving her "easy means" to communicate however she wants - just as teaching her baby sign language was meant to achieve - gives her an early start in mastering overall communication.

With learning a second language becoming a cultural norm in America these days, we're very lucky that we can give Abby a chance to learn Mandarin. I still don't want to force the language on her, but it sure would be a waste to not at least give her as much exposure to it as practical and natural. Having moved back to Colorado and being so close to my family and the Chinese community I grew up with, her exposure to Chinese will certainly increase.