My Child Won’t Speak English at All, So I Can’t Tell Whether It’s Working...

People do not constantly say every word they know.

We use language because we want to tell someone something, ask a question, have our wishes understood, or solve a problem.

That purpose is what makes language necessary.

In many families doing Home English, the everyday language between parent and child is Japanese.

If a child speaks in Japanese, the parent understands. They can ask for what they want and explain what is wrong in Japanese.

In that environment, it is not unusual for a child not to choose English.

Knowing English and routinely using English with family members who understand Japanese are two different things.

For example, even adults who have studied abroad may hesitate if another Japanese person suddenly says, “Say something in English.”

Likewise, if someone overseas asked you, “Please say something in Japanese,” you might struggle unless they gave you a topic.

Being able to speak a language and having a reason or topic to speak about in that moment are not the same thing.

In child language development, there is often a stage when the range of words and expressions a child can understand is broader than what they can actively use on their own.

They understand when they hear it, but they do not say it yet on their own.

If given choices, they can pick the correct one, but recalling and pronouncing the word themselves is still difficult.

They understand a picture book, but they are not yet ready to create their own sentences and explain it.

This gap between understanding and speaking also happens in second-language development.

If speech alone becomes the standard for success, it is easy to miss the growth in understanding that happens first.

Some children who enter a new environment where a second language is used go through a phase in which they listen to the target language but speak very little on their own.

This stage has commonly been called the “silent period.”

In Krashen and Terrell’s (1983) Natural Approach, learners are not forced to speak before they have built enough understanding, and instruction begins with comprehension-centered activities.

Tabors (1997) also describes second-language development in young children who enter preschool settings where a different language is used from the one spoken at home, including a stage in which speech in the target language is limited.

That said, not every child shows the same silent period in the same way or for the same length of time.

The length and form of a low-speech period can be influenced by age, personality, level of understanding, environment, relationships, and how necessary it is to use English.

The silent period in Home English is not exactly the same as the silent period in local schools.

Research on the silent period mainly looks at children who enter preschools or schools where a different language is used from the one spoken at home, and who must live with others through that second language.

That is not the same situation as a child in a Japanese-speaking home who is exposed to English materials but has very little need to speak English.

So rather than assuming, “If my child is not speaking, it must be the silent period, so everything is fine,” it is important to check for other growth as well, such as comprehension and reading.

Saville-Troike (1988) observed children in second-language settings who did not speak much in public and reported that some of them used “private speech,” or quiet self-directed talk.

Children may softly imitate words and sentences they hear around them, repeat them, or rehearse them before using them.

More recent reviews on the silent period also report that children who speak little may still interact with the people around them in the following ways.

From the outside, a child may seem silent, but they may still be actively understanding, observing, imitating, remembering, and practicing.

In local preschools or schools, children sometimes need the second language to tell friends what they want or ask a teacher for help.

In contrast, in Home English in Japan, parents understand Japanese.

If a child says in Japanese, “I want water,” they can still accomplish their goal.

In that situation, there is no real need to go out of their way to say, “Water, please.”

For that reason, we cannot evaluate a child who does not speak English at home in the same way we would evaluate a child who cannot speak in an English-speaking environment overseas.

If you want to see spontaneous English at home, you need to create meaningful situations where using English feels natural and useful.

That does not mean you should ignore a request made in Japanese or withhold what a child needs until they say it in English.

The goal is to create experiences in which using English feels enjoyable and successful.

You do not need to keep testing your child by asking, “What does this English mean?” Over time, you can observe growth in comprehension through natural reactions in everyday situations.

Do not judge these reactions based on a single moment. Look for change over several months.

A child may freeze when put on the spot, yet show clear understanding in a more natural setting.

Speech requires several layers of processing.

First, the child must hear and understand the other person’s English.

Next, they must decide what they want to say, select the needed vocabulary and grammar, arrange them in the correct order, and then produce the sounds aloud.

If a child cannot answer, you cannot tell from speech alone which part of that process was difficult.

Several layers of understanding and processing come before speech.

That is why, at first, it can be more useful to check whether a child can follow an English instruction or choose the correct picture than to insist on an answer in English.

Once comprehension is confirmed, you can gradually build from one-word answers to set phrases and then to short sentences, all within a comfortable range.

When a child does not speak, parents naturally want to check for progress by asking for spoken English again and again.

When this kind of pressure continues, speaking English can start to feel less like communication and more like a test or performance.

Even if children understand, they may stop speaking because they want to avoid mistakes or unwanted attention.

When encouraging speech, start with situations that are easy to respond to rather than questions that demand a correct answer.

A child’s spoken English does not necessarily begin with creating long original sentences out of nowhere.

At first, what comes out may be chunks they have heard often, such as a familiar song, a line from a picture book, or a routine lesson phrase.

That is not necessarily meaningless memorization.

Children use these familiar chunks in matching situations, then gradually begin to swap out words inside them or combine them with other phrases.

If you begin to hear memorized recitation or set phrases, do not dismiss them. Help your child use them in meaningful situations.

Being able to hear and understand English is an essential foundation for speaking.

However, even with enough audio input, we cannot guarantee that free conversation will naturally appear on its own one day.

To speak, children also need experience retrieving the English they understand, building it into sentences, and using it appropriately with another person.

Especially in an environment where life can be lived entirely in Japanese, the gap between comprehension and speaking can remain large unless opportunities to use English are created intentionally.

At PalKids, we do not stop at background listening alone. We connect input to activities like these.

By adding gentle opportunities for output on top of a strong input base, children can turn the English they understand into English they can use.

Speaking changes depending on the person, the situation, the child’s personality, and whether there is a need to speak.

Reading, by contrast, is a form of progress that is often easier to observe.

Can the child connect English letters to sounds? Can they read a simple unfamiliar word for the first time? Can they read a picture book aloud? Can they understand the meaning of a short English passage?

When you see this kind of reading growth, you can confirm that English sounds, vocabulary, and sentence understanding are developing inside the child.

Other visible signs of English ability include naturally reading English on signs and products around town, enjoying the content of English picture books, or being able to work on tests such as Eiken.

This is one reason PalKids places so much emphasis on reading after speech perception formation.

Even if there are few reasons to speak English at home, once reading develops, families can objectively confirm the English that has accumulated and children can begin building new English on their own.

When checking a child’s English ability, do not look only at how many English words they said that day. Look at what has changed compared with before.

Change does not always appear in a straight line.

Sometimes there may be little visible change for a while, followed later by clear growth in comprehension or reading.

At the same time, it is not wise to assume, “If we just keep going for years, results will definitely show up later,” without ever checking whether the approach itself is working.

Every few months, review whether the audio, lessons, print, and reading materials match your child’s level of understanding and development.

If you see little change not only in speech, but also in comprehension and reading, review the following points.

Rather than increasing listening time blindly, it is important to check whether the English your child hears is connecting to understanding and print.

If you want to know how much English your child can use, it is better to create situations where the message is clear than to say, “Say something in English.”

If the child answers with one word, do not correct them by saying, “Say it in a full sentence.” Instead, the parent or teacher can naturally expand it into a sentence.

For example, if the child says, “Dog,” you can respond, “Yes, it’s a big dog.”

Instead of evaluating the form of the speech, prioritize giving the child successful experiences of making meaning through English.

Some children talk a great deal even in Japanese, while others speak only when necessary.

Some enjoy speaking in front of many people, while others speak only with family or people they know well.

The amount of English a child produces is also influenced by personality, caution, a desire to say things perfectly, and nervousness about speaking in front of others.

Even if other children speak a lot of English, your child does not need to produce the same amount, at the same time, or in the same way.

If you compare, compare your child not with others, but with their own earlier level of understanding, reading, and response.

If a child does not speak English at home but can converse in age-appropriate Japanese, understand instructions, and communicate well in play or school life, there is usually no need to worry too much about the fact that they are not using English at home.

On the other hand, if you have concerns about language development overall, including Japanese as well as English, it is important not to assume, “They are quiet only because this is a second language,” or “It must just be the silent period.”

In the following cases, consider consulting a specialist.

As a first step, consult your pediatrician, your local child development support service, a speech-language pathologist, or your child’s preschool or school. When evaluating children in multilingual environments, it is important to look not only at English, but at all of the languages they use and their full language history.

At PalKids, we do not define the first sign of success in English learning as speaking English alone.

First, children are exposed to English sounds consistently and build experience noticing sound patterns and chunks of language.

Next, through online lessons, pictures, and situations, they connect the English they hear with meaning.

Then they begin connecting spoken English with print and move toward being able to read English sentences on their own.

Through reading, they expand vocabulary, grammar, and knowledge, and through writing, they learn to organize their own ideas into English sentences.

From there, they connect that understanding to the ability to speak English in real situations with real people when needed.

We turn hard-to-see understanding into visible abilities: reading, writing, and speaking.

This does not mean speaking is unimportant.

It means we first build the listening, comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, and content knowledge that free speech depends on.