Comments on: Bicultural Means Two Cultures, Right?

By: Mirian

Mirian — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 07:35:24 +0000

Hola Roxana, vivo en Nueva Zelanda hace mas de 10 anios personalmente hablo Ruso y la lengua nativa de aqui Maori. Mis ninos tienen la misma edad que los tuyos y desde bebes lo expuse a mi lengua materna Espaniol mi esposo es Ingles, por lo tanto mis hijos crecieron hablando las dos lenguas. Yo siempre les hablo Espaniol donde me encuentre y no cambio al Ingles asi hayan otras personas delante. Esto me ha ayudado mucho a que mis hijos, principalmente mi hija mayor, hable, lea y escriba perfectacmente Espaniol; pero no me ocurre lo mismo con el segundo ya que empece a estudiar y me he descuidado un poco con el. Pero me di cuenta que lee casi a la perfeccion con tan solo 6 anios. Ni decirte lo brillante que es en las materias en Ingles. Yo veo que no le cuesta mucho hacer el cambio de una lengua a otra. Ahora tengo el problema que los dos al jugar obviamente usan Ingles para interactuar (cosa que me molesta) pero siempre les hago hincapie “En Espaniol” y asi estan mejorando ambos. Ahora ellos no ven TV en la semana solo los fines de semana (si tienen tiempo) pero como tienen extras actividades (deportivas) no les queda mucho tiempo libre. Asi que el tiempo que les queda no hay mucho que en TV, no tengo cable (por opcion) asi que tienen varias peliculas en varios idiomas. Ellos solo tienen la opcion en Espaniol, pero lo gracioso fue que la semana pasada se les dio por poner un DVD con clasicos de Bugs Bunny en Frances, te dire que se han divertido, mucho. Luego mi hija lo cambio al Portugues y pudo traducirme casi oraciones completas de lo que entendia. En fin suerte con tu busqueda que yo seguire con mi tarea, continuando con la educacion de mis hijos en Espaniol.

By: Yogamama

Yogamama — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 06:28:03 +0000

Wow, I am so excited to find your blog. I will be coming back and reading everything you’ve got! Thank you. I would love for you to link up with me: http://toddlefast.blogspot.com/2012/06/say-it-two-ways-thursdays.html
You are way ahead of me!

By: Sarah @ Bringing up Baby Bilingual

Sarah @ Bringing up Baby Bilingual — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 16:37:37 +0000

So what did you end up doing with the clown and the birthday party?!

Of course, your fears and concerns about Vanessa’s losing her Spanish when she starts school are valid–we all can empathize!–but I think that you wouldn’t need to worry about alienating the anglophones at the birthday party. Vanessa’s friends (and their parents) surely know that she’s bilingual, and besides, you’re doing them a great favor by exposing them to another language in such a fun, safe way! I bet that a clown’s schtick for five-year-olds transcends language.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Wed, 18 May 2011 09:24:46 +0000

Here’s an encouragement… I increasingly get requests for my kids to talk to people in Spanish (usually teens who need to practice Spanish that they are learning in school). More recently, I’ve received requests from [monolingual English] kids themselves to teach them Spanish so they can talk to my kids in Spanish. I get an overwhelmingly positive response when people hear us conversing in Spanish in the middle of an English-speaking environment. I’m still anxious about the future complaints from my children not to speak Spanish, but I hope that all this attention in the meantime will instill in them a special pride for being unique and knowing something they can share with others.

By: Roxana S.

Roxana S. — Tue, 17 May 2011 05:12:15 +0000

Love it, Tracy! Thanks for sharing your insight and personal anecdote here! That is totally awesome and I hope my children are also exposed to multiculturalism and other languages as they grow up. I really believe in diversity and all the good in can do for all of us!

By: Roxana S.

Roxana S. — Tue, 17 May 2011 05:10:44 +0000

That’s a good one, Beth! And, I’m pretty sure it’ll happen too!

By: Roxana S.

Roxana S. — Tue, 17 May 2011 05:10:17 +0000

That’s a great story about your husband and how he grew up! Thanks for sharing that, Susan! And, I won’t get tired of saying it, I’m in awe of people who are raising their children with more than two languages! What an awesome gift for the boys!

I love that your teenage students are proud of their bilingual abilities. That totally gives me something to look forward to in the future!

By: Roxana S.

Roxana S. — Tue, 17 May 2011 05:08:06 +0000

Elisa, that’s awesome news about the preschool. Do they offer 1/2 hour of Spanish every day? I wish I’d been able to find something like that for Vanessa.

I know the most difficult part of her bilingual upbringing is about to start. I promise to keep you all posted!

By: Tracy

Tracy — Sun, 15 May 2011 22:31:00 +0000

I think in this case, the obsessing is totally valid. Vanessa will get plenty of English and American culture — it is the Spanish language and Latin cultura that she’s in danger of losing if you aren’t persistent and consistent enough.

As a gringa who had a lot of non-gringa friends growing up – don’t worry about when Vanessa brings home non-Spanish speakers. It’s really not a big deal. A lot of my friends parents spoke a different language in the home and stuck to their native culture in the way they dressed, decorated the home, holidays celebrated, etc – they served food from their country of origin when I’d come over for dinner, etc. It’s a good learning experience for the gringa friends. At my Korean friends’ houses, I learned to take off my shoes at the door. At my Hungarian friends’ house, we ate Baba ghanoush on pita for an after school snack. I thought it was super cool.

Buena suerte finding the payaso

By: Roxana S.

Roxana S. — Sat, 14 May 2011 21:26:34 +0000

I know you and lots of others do, Blanca! That’s why I always like to share what I’m going through. I know I’m not alone! Thanks for being a part of our community!