In September of this year my husband and I got our first child. Since my husband is an Igbo and I want him to speak Igbo to our boy, so that he will not look like a stranger in his own fatherland. But my husband refuses to talk his mother tongue to him, saying it would only confuse him. (I know that it doesn't confuse children to grow up with up to 4 languages and I told him several times).
Please help me find ways to convince him, I don't want our children to miss the opportunity to learn this wonderfull language and culture...

How Old is ur Kid?i commend your sincerity for such accolades on the igbo language.Nice One.i'm not an igbo lady,but Asusu ndi igbo ka' mma.

Am Igbo, born and raised in Lagos. i speak fluently in my mother tongue lgbo, also Yoruba.Am eternally grateful to my parents that they exposed me to the language from childhood, Truth is the more language you can speak the better, more opportunity.

Just concentrate on speaking Igbo to your child while the father continues with his english language development. The child will pick up both and even another. Kids are like that.
Most children born outside Igboland speak Igbo, English and the language where they were raised.

First thank you all for your answers! Im Swiss,so I cant teach my child proper Igbo..So I depend on my husband... I speak German to my child (he is only 12 weeks old,so there is still time for me to convince my husband but my arguments dont seem to be good enough for him..)
I told my husband that it is always best to speak ones mother language to ones child. I told him about studies that showed a child could learn up to 4 languages. Of course I told him how important it is for our son to learn Igbo properly in order to represent him when once we may have died...Also it is important for him to speak it since we are planning to go and live there in the future... I dont know what else to say to convince him.. Most Igbo fathers here dont speak Igbo to their children,why is that?

unoguli: First thank you all for your answers! Im Swiss,so I cant teach my child proper Igbo..So I depend on my husband... I speak German to my child (he is only 12 weeks old,so there is still time for me to convince my husband but my arguments dont seem to be good enough for him..)
I told my husband that it is always best to speak ones mother language to ones child. I told him about studies that showed a child could learn up to 4 languages. Of course I told him how important it is for our son to learn Igbo properly in order to represent him when once we may have died...Also it is important for him to speak it since we are planning to go and live there in the future... I dont know what else to say to convince him.. Most Igbo fathers here dont speak Igbo to their children,why is that?

I must say a big commendation to you for your selflessness and insistence on having Igbo spoken to your child by his father. The quite popular trend among a few Igbo families is to speak English to the child at first and later Igbo as he grows up. In the midst of all the westernization and global consciousness, speaking English instead of the native language to children has become the desirous thing to do among certain parents who deem it as a mark of sophistication.

You were very right in your stance and the reasons you gave. Keep insisting to your husband that he speaks Igbo to his child. It is to the advantage of the baby. The baby has no one else to learn Igbo from other than his father given that you all are away from Igboland and in Switzerland. And when he's grown up he'll certainly return to his native land, and speaking the language will make him integrate easily. That way he won't feel like a stranger in his own father land. Make his father realize all these.

Daalu rinne.(Thanks so much).

Andre Uweh: Just concentrate on speaking Igbo to your child while the father continues with his english language development. The child will pick up both and even another. Kids are like that.
Most children born outside Igboland speak Igbo, English and the language where they were raised.

That is not usually how language works if one parent fails to speak the language then the language will eventually go awry. Both parents would need to speak it and then the child can pick up English or w/e other languages from outside the household by interacting with other youths or picking up other languages at school. I can tell you that no "westernised" school in Nigeria instructs in native languages.

I've also seen a situation where a household is bi-lingual, but for some reason the youngest child at almost 2 years old was unable to speak audibly. It may be the child had other developmental disabilities, but I've often wondered why that particular child out of 3 or 4 (perfectly bilingual 4-12yr old) children in the home, was the only one that could barely speak any language at all! Most children his age he was around were speaking and hearing, and were very capable of expressing themselves and carrying on a mini-conversation with adults and other children.

So, it's probably important to not confuse the child with too many languages and end up with a non-talking 2 year old.

Note that the people above are not Nigerians - not even half.


Personally, my friends's daughter (who lived in USA at the time) was speaking English and understood Yoruba at 2 years old, but I just don't know the magic trick to getting there.