Reply to how much does a non-English-speaking nanny impact a child?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here- thank you for your responses!  As an educator, I've met a lot of children who know very poor English (with an almost intractable desire to use double negatives) and inadequate Spanish.  They are truly at a disadvantage.  This language deficit has come from their parents, however, not from their nannies.  I'm very supportive of true bilingualism.[/quote]

How strange. In my experience in working with very poor children from migrant, native Spanish speaking families, the kids were quite proficient in both languages when young and gradually lost the ability to speak (but not understand) Spanish as they aged, mostly from lack of use as they primarily interacted outside of the home in English and spoke to their parents in English by then as well.  But I have yet to meet a child with "language deficits" brought on by their Spanish speaking parents.  Very poor English and inadequate Spanish?  That truly surprises me.

As for my experience as a parent of a child cared for by a native Spanish speaking nanny, our son started talking extremely early, has had phenomenal grammar and pronunciation since the time he started stringing together two-word sentences, and has a great ear for differing language sounds.  My MIL thought his language development would be harmed by being with our nanny, but he has been by far the most advanced language learner of our children.  He's 7 now and sounds like a pretty well educated adult both in grammar and very, very precise word choice.  I say this not to brag but to say, emphatically, that a non-English speaking nanny most certainly did not harm our kid and may in fact have helped him significantly.[/quote]

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