You're not too early. You're right on time.
Babies begin life as what one leading researcher calls "citizens of the world", able to hear the distinct sounds of every human language. But that doesn't last. Between roughly 6 and 12 months, a baby's brain begins tuning itself to the languages it hears most, and gradually lets go of the sounds it doesn't. Researchers call this a sensitive period for speech, and a baby's early skill at telling these sounds apart is one of the better predictors of their later language ability. Here's the reassuring part, and it's the part that matters:
- Hearing two languages doesn't confuse or delay a baby. Children are fully capable of learning two at once. The old worry is a myth.
- You don't need to be fluent. What helps most is simple, warm, consistent exposure: the same book, read aloud, again and again. The repetition is the method.
- It's the moment, not the marathon. A few minutes at bedtime, every night, does more in these early years than hours of formal lessons will later.
Based on research into infant speech perception, incl. Kuhl et al., PNAS. Sources on request.