Photo by Aaron Escobar
Not lots to share with you this first Sunday of June… Although both Ana and I are very excited about a new website related to bilingualism and reading. It’s called Bilingual Readers and it’s actually a “publishing company which provides bilingual resources for families and communities.” Go over there whenever you get a chance and check it out! We can’t tell you how happy we are that more and more sites related to bilingualism are appearing all the time…
1) From LBBC–Father’s Day: Celebrate Dads and Reading – Links to different book lists that celebrate fathers and grandfathers and includes a number of heartwarming books from different cultures and ethnic traditions, including some bilingual English/Spanish books. All these are definitely worth checking out!
2) From Time Magazine: Study: TV May Inhibit Babies’ Language Development – “As most parents of small children will reluctantly admit, nothing can occupy a child quite like television. Unfortunately, the scientific evidence suggests that using the boob tube as a babysitter has its price: the more time babies spend sitting in front of the screen, the more their social, cognitive and language development may suffer. Recent studies show that TV-viewing tends to decrease babies’ likelihood of learning new words, talking, playing and otherwise interacting with others.” Vanessa doesn’t really watch a lot of TV. We don’t have cable and apart from V-me and PBS, there’s not a lot of “quality” programming out there anyway. However, she does watch movies and I often feel guilty about that because she truly loves them and it keeps her entertained for at least a good hour… Now I feel even more guilty. Great.
3) From Bilingual Readers: Want to Help Your Baby’s Language Development Along? Read Together! – “While banning television from your home forever is neither practical nor necessary (thank God), the bottom line is crystal clear: babies learn language best through direct interaction with their parents and other caregivers. This conclusion is even more important for families who are trying to raise their children in more than one language. Of course there are many ways for parents to interact directly with their children, but we at Bilingual Readers believe that one of the most effective ways is through shared parent-child reading.” Thank God Vanessa has picked up my love for reading. I don’t feel so guilty about the movie thing I mentioned above anymore… At least we’re doing something right!
4) From PRWeb: Bilingual Tots Total Immersion Language Schools Success Leads to National Expansion, Hiring Thousands of Teachers – “Bilingual Tots – based in Boulder, Colorado – offers total immersion in the target language with native teachers in order to help them capture the authentic accent and sound system of the language they’re learning. Parents of children 0 to 3 must be present during class, and all parents are given materials that help reinforce the language learning at home. Each 50-minute Bilingual Tots class is limited to no more than six children so that each teacher can devote time to one-on-one interaction in addition to group activities that center on play and simple interaction with the native-speaker teachers.” In my neck of the woods and I didn’t even know about it. I’ll have to check them out and get back to you…
5) From NPR: Weighing Ethnicity When Picking a Spouse – “As the old saying goes: “Love is blind.” But for the American-born children of immigrants, it’s sometimes impossible not to look at ethnicity when picking a partner.” Another great read – or listen – from NPR’s series: Immigrants’ Children. I know how I feel about this one, but I would love to hear what you all think, though! I wonder how Vanessa – who is the American-born child of immigrants – will feel about this topic? Luckily, we won’t have to deal with this one for many, many years to come. Ha!
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