Comments on: OPOL WEEK: Useful Links

By: Ask an Expert: How can we ensure our youngest speaks Spanish first if her siblings speak to her in English? « SpanglishBaby

Thu, 14 Oct 2010 05:04:11 +0000

[...] but it’s not the end of the world to have her hear English. After all, if you were using the one-parent-one-language strategy (OPOL), the child would be hearing English as well as Spanish. You can be pretty sure that if you [...]

By: The Beginner’s Guide to SpanglishBaby « SpanglishBaby

The Beginner’s Guide to SpanglishBaby « SpanglishBaby — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:47:40 +0000

[...] Useful Links: OPOL Method [...]

By: SpanglishBaby--Ask an Expert: My older children speak English, but I want my baby to hear Spanish only.

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 07:07:34 +0000

By: Toni Davalos

Toni Davalos — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:10:30 +0000

Thank you for all of the valuable information. It has been a very interesting week. I learned a lot this week

By: Susan

Susan — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:53:38 +0000

I learned a lot this week. Thank you for all of the valuable information. I would like to know about options for enriching our children’s bilingualism through travel to Spanish speaking countries. What would be some ways to have the kids interact with the local children? Are there any programs for children and their parents in other countries?

By: mom2miahaudrey

mom2miahaudrey — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:50:47 +0000

I am just catching up on all the articles for the week….. GREAT stuff! Thank you! Although I’m not 100% OPOL, I am definitely trying… thats a good….right?!?!

My 8 year old son can understand pretty much anything you tell him in spanish, can hold a simple conversation and can do simple reading in spanish. I have him practice his reading by reading spanish books to the baby. I am still having difficulty with getting him to completely talk to me in spanish, if he is having difficulty remembering a word he starts saying it in english, when I remind him in spanish that we are talking in spanish or that we can look the word up in the dictionary he gets frustrated sometimes and even refuses to continue the conversation by saying “never mind, no importa”. When we are with dad he will ask “mom , can we please just all talk in english?”. I try to remind him why we are talking in spanish but sometimes I have to give in because I respect his wishes and don’t want to force him and push him away from the language.

I would love to hear how family’s are getting through obstacles like these with their older children. The truth is I didn’t really focus on starting “OPOL” from the beginning as I’m doing now with the new baby. It seems the older he gets, the more personality and the more he tries to stear away from spanish in difficult scenarios. Also, what do parents do when friends of your children are over that might not speak spanish, husbands family, your friends…what are the exclusions in a typical household for the OPOL method?

By: Melanie

Melanie — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:58:41 +0000

I would like to hear more from people using the two languages according to time & place. This is the method that appeals most to me (don’t have children yet), but I fear that my future children will not want to speak Spanish to me ever once they get to school age. And although I enjoyed seeing how a conversation goes with the OPOL method, I wonder if that is kind of an illustration of the best case scenario, but maybe not as typical?

I have enjoyed this series and this blog since discovering it.

By: Claudia

Claudia — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:11:55 +0000

Thanks for all the great information about OPOL this week.
My daughter will turn 3 next month and will start preschool. My concern is that she doesn’t speak very clear. She understands both languages. She started talking very late (compared to other kids of her age). She tends to speak mostly in English, but recently she has begun to speak some Spanish too. The problem is that most of the time I am the only one who can understand her, both because she sometimes mixes the languages and also because of her speech.
Could this just be part of being bilingual? Should I consider seeing a speech pathologist or should I wait some time?

By: Donna

Donna — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:59:14 +0000

I have 3 children. The older 2 who are 12 and 9 mostly speak and understand English. We are trying to speak only spanish to the baby who is 2 months old. What can we do to be sure that the baby speaks only spanish first if her siblings are speaking to her in English?

By: Melissa

Melissa — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:03:01 +0000

Thanks for all the useful information although somehow I don’t feel it relates to me 100% as both my husband and I are fluent Spanish speakers and ONLY speak Spanish to each other at home. All our friends are Hispanic and we do not allow our children to speak in English in the house although it is a daily battle. What I have to do, more often than not, is pretend that I do not understand what my children are saying when they speak to me in English, which is a very exhausting process sometimes and constantly telling them to change their mental ‘chip’ when talking to each other as more and more, when they play, they speak to each other in English. It is a great effort to continue to make our children speak a second language but I know, it’ll all be worth it in the end.