Comments on: OPOL Week: An In-depth Look at Most Popular Method of Raising Bilingual Kids

By: Marcia S

Marcia S — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:54:00 +0000

My son and daughter-in-law want to raise their son to be bilingual, but they both speak English, so the OPOL won’t work for them, will it?

By: Lisa Renata

Lisa Renata — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 02:04:27 +0000

Since my first son was born we have been using the OPOL method. And though he understand everything I say to him, he tends to speak more English than anything else. He is now three and his use of language is just exploding, every day he uses more and more complete sentences, but most of them seem to be in English and some mixed. This really worries me. Other than me, he really does not hear anyone else speak Spanish. I have surrounded both him and his little sister (19 months) with books, videos, music (you name it) in Spanish. And they both really enjoy it all, but still don't use the language as much. I really don't know if I should worry as much and just let it be or if I should push it even more. I want both of them to love being bilingual and not feel that it is work. Am I making any sense? .-= Lisa Renata´s last blog ..Feeling Yucky and Spanglish Baby giveaway :: Sintiendonos mal y un giveaway de Spanglishbaby =-.

By: Dariela

Dariela — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:40:23 +0000

This is a great subject for me! GRACIAS!! Actually my day to day life is teaching my son Adrian with this method. I feel that we have made advances on his Spanish since we started this method that was about 6 months ago (he's 2 1/2 now) and he does speak a lot of Spanish but now he's starting to use both languages at the same time, he says a lot of: I want Jugo, Mami, want to jugar con me? I correct him and repeat the phrase in Spanish only sometimes and some other times I ask him ok, but tell me in Spanish please and he does, which is nice, but I want to make sure that this will work and that it's ok what I'm doing? Also, when it's time for preschool, I'm not sure I will be able to find a 2 language one. If I don't, how can I help him with his full English day of teachings and then coming back to speaking only Spanish to mami? .-= Dariela´s last blog ..Yo =-.

By: Silvia

Silvia — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:57:29 +0000

We have been using OPOL since the birth of my first son. My husband speaks English (and some Spanish when the situation arises) and I speak "only" Spanish, and I say only, because of course they listen to me speaking English too with my husband, friends, or in the store, etc, etc. My oldest is bilingual in the sense that he understands and speaks and reads English, and he understands, and read Spanish, but he is not talking much, of course he knows words but it seems that he has a little problem talking in full Spanish sentences. So here are my questions and concerns, Will he be able to start speaking Spanish more fluently in the future with just the Spanish he hears from me? or Do I need to be a little bit more "academic" meaning that I need to spend time just working on his Spanish talking skills? Thanks chicas! .-= Silvia´s last blog ..Y las ganadoras son.../And the winners are... =-.

By: Peggy

Peggy — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:52:58 +0000

With a 3 1/2 week old son, we are just starting out with our OPOL plan. My main concern is that I want to be able to sing songs and read stories to my son in both languages; is this ok? I have heard it is better for the second language speaking parent to be very consistent with only using that language. If I tweak the method and read/sing in both languages, how much will this affect my son's dual-language acquisition? .-= Peggy´s last blog ..Itsy Bitsy Yoga =-.

By: Maria Lopez Davis

Maria Lopez Davis — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:42:25 +0000

I would love for both of my daughters to be bilingual (English/Spanish). My family is Cuban. I grew up in a household where my parents spoke little English and I was fully bilingual. However, as I grew into adulthood I had no social or professional network with which to use my Spanish. As a result of living in NE Florida with few Spanish speaking opportunities, my Spanish skills have diminished greatly. I want to improve my Spanish greatly and have my daughters speak it as well.

I’m curious as to how others have been successful with not only teaching a second language to their children, but having them maintain that language if they are not living in a community that supports that second language. I am a victim of “losing it because I didn’t use it” and I would like to know how to avoid this for my children.

By: MRS.MOMMYY

MRS.MOMMYY — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:30:00 +0000

we live in a large hispanic area and I try to teach the children and anywhere we are when the people speak to them in spanish they absorb what they are learning- me its hard to learn but know it is important for the kids

By: Kalen

Kalen — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:05:23 +0000

Although we didn’t start out strong with the OPOL method, our daughter is getting more and more bilingual every day! At first my husband would speak mostly English and I would pretty much speak only English. He is now making a stronger effort to speak to her in only Spanish and I speak mostly English but try to speak Spanish when I remember (I know it is not text book OPOL). Our daughter is speaking more and more Spanish every day. You can tell she is aware of the language difference and will tell her dad something in Spanish and me the same thing in English. She is better at making sentences in English, but improving in Spanish. She allows her dad to read her books that are in English in Spanish- but insists that I read them in English. Sometimes if I answer her in Spanish, “Si”, she will say “you say YES”. Or if I start reading in Spanish- she will tell me “say …” whatever it is in English. She can also understand Spanish very well- even when she doesn’t know how to answer in Spanish. I am so proud that our daughter is bilingual! Especially since I am not a native speaker but have made an effort to learn the language and now my daughter will be hopefully fluent!

By: Cassidy

Cassidy — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:00:24 +0000

I’m very interested in this, as I would love my child to be able to speak Spanish as well as English. I have taken spanish since 3rd grade ( i went to a private school where it was mandatory) and continued until 11th grade. I just dont know if I know enough to do OPOL.
.-= Cassidy´s last blog ..Dablings Tutti Frutti Minky Blanket =-.

By: Erica L

Erica L — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:13:35 +0000

It is SO important these days to be bilingual, for both career and social reasons. With the understanding of another language comes the appreciation of another culture. The depth of experience cannot be duplicated. I am very interested in effective early teaching.