Comments on: SpanglishBaby Dads | The Best Inheritance: Raising Our Daughter to be Trilingual

By: nermin cox

nermin cox — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 12:43:42 +0000

Lovely article Mario. Another advantage you have is the amount of Turkish and Spanish speakers around Aylin.
My children do understand some Turkish, yet we did not have that community for them to progress further. Sometimes it saddens me to know that because we communicate in English, they lack the true understanding of what I try to convey.Each culture has shorthand methods of communicating, so the bedrock of communication is built upon gestures, looks and even biting the lower lip. So many cues are missed in speaking only in English, so the essentials of the words become distorted and only are viewed through a limited lens of comprehension.
To know where we are going, we have to understand where we came from. More than the trilingualism, it is the basis of a parent-child relationship. From what I see, both sides of the family are actively assisting you in your journey.
You’ll do fine, and Aylin will be even more special than she is now. My little laughing rose chose her parents well.
Love

Hala

By: Mario E. Oña

Mario E. Oña — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 02:41:42 +0000

I believe it is an inspiring article for young parents that want to have their children to grow knowing their ROOTS and being proud of it. How inportat that is………
Congratulations.

By: Betty Oña

Betty Oña — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 16:58:01 +0000

Hola mi hijito, me emociono tu escrito, la verdad es que tienes un don que Dios te ha dado en poder expresar escribiendo lo que piensas y sientes y nos sentimos felices de que tanto tu como Deniz hagan enfasis en seguir lo mismo que nosotros les inculcamos, en amar y sentirse orgullosos de sus raices y aunque de pequeños tu y tus hermanos nos hablaban en ingles y nosotros pretendiamos NO entenderlos, de esa manera los forzamos a aprender el español y eso nos hace felices y orgullosos de que nuestros hijos sepan el idioma nuestro y se puedan comunicar con la hermosa y extensa familia que tienen en Ecuador. Asi nuestra muñequita AYLIN tambien gozara del privilegio de saber nuestro idioma y el de sus abuelitos turcos.t Te amo mucho y bendigo siempre, BETTY

By: Nursel Sevgili

Nursel Sevgili — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 15:53:37 +0000

Dear Mario,

Wonderful article, really loved it. Aylin is lucky to have parents like you and Deniz. Good luck with rasing the little lady. We shall be there to support you, if you need our help.

Love,

Nursel
(Deniz’s mother, Turkish grandma)

By: Suzanne Mateus

Suzanne Mateus — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 15:44:12 +0000

A wonderful story! Thanks for sharing it with us Mario. My husband and I are actually leaving for a 2 week vacation to Quito. My father in law is from there. We are going to a cousin’s wedding. We would also like our bebita to be trilingual, except we are going about it a different route because my husband and I are bilingual. At any rate, suerte!

By: Roxana S.

Roxana S. — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 15:28:55 +0000

Amigo, as you can see, you’re not alone. I so appreciate you writing this essay for us and I’m in awe of what you and your wife are doing with your daughter. I agree with you 100% about how this is the best inheritance you can leave her. I feel exactly the same way.

I would love it if you keep us updated as Aylin grows up and starts answering you back in Spanish, Turkish and English! I know it’ll be totally worth it when that happens!

By: Steven Coxwell

Steven Coxwell — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 21:45:33 +0000

Mario, Great article. I wish you and Deniz all the best in raising little Miss Aylin to be multilingual and also grounding her in your roots and culture. I’m currently trying to do the same with my three year old son Evan, with my somewhat rusty Spanish. It’s good for us both as he is learning another language and I am relearning my Spanish. Thanks for the wonderful post! Swell
PS: Love the pic of the family!

By: Aurelia Flores

Aurelia Flores — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 18:25:26 +0000

I, also, am at the very beginning of my journey in raising tri-lingual children (French, Spanish, English), and perhaps have less of a foundation than you and your wife. Nevertheless, I know my husband and I are dedicated to the effort, and your story gives me hope and reassurance. Thanks for the great post!

By: Tatiana

Tatiana — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:38:00 +0000

En mi casa tenemos una experiencia parecida, hasta ahora mis hijos de 7 y 9 años hablan tres lenguas, aunque escriben y leen dos, por lo que falta hacer más enfasis en una de estos lenguajes,, la gran dificultad surge porque nosotros nos comunicamos en inglés y eso es lo que hablamos en casa aunque los niños hablan en cada uno de nuestros lenguajes con cada padre. Estaré pendiente de tu blog para poder resolver mis dudas. Exitos con tu hija. ( Se me olvidaba que de paso en la escuela ven otras dos lenguas diferentes aunque no con gran enfásis – Mandarin y Francés). Sin embargo no han tenido retardo en el habla y los dos son muy buenos escribiendo y comunicando sus ideas.

By: Susan

Susan — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 13:21:16 +0000

Great post! We are doing the same to raise trilingual boys, but with Spanish, German and English. It is amazing how easily they can move between languages. What surprised me is how well their German developed. That is the language they speak with papi. I thought that Spanish would be so much stronger since they are with me more hours in the day and have pre-school teachers that speak to them in Spanish. This has not been the case. My older son in particular loves having a special language with just papi.

Good luck to you. You have a beautiful family.