You might remember how worried I was about teaching Vanessa to read and write in Spanish before she entered kindergarten last fall. In the end, I opted not to go that route and instead she’s been learning to read and write at school in English first. When I made my decision, I figured it’d be easier – for both of us – to transfer the skills she learned in English to Spanish and all would be merry.
Little did I know that my bilingual daughter would get ahead of the game all by herself. As evident from the pictures above, she’s been having absolutely no issues transferring the writing skills she’s learned in school in English into Spanish. I’ve been stuck in the library the past few weekends finish our forthcoming SpanglishBaby book and so my husband has been in charge of the children. When I came home after a long day writing last weekend, I found the papers pictured above on top of my desk in my home office. (The ones here are only one example. She actually wrote several more in both English and Spanish).
When I asked my husband about them, he said Vanessa had done them all by herself and had surprised him too. In other words, nobody prompted her to write them or to do it in both languages.
I don’t think I need to tell any of you what a proud mama I am!
p.s. She’s been doing the same with reading… just transferring those skills. I am extremely impressed.
What proud bilingual moments can you share with us?
My proud bilingual moment occurred the other night when I was fighting with Sabrina over night because she just wanted to talk, talk, talk at 2 the morning. Just as she was finally falling asleep she uttered her first 2 word sentence. She said, “bye, pez” My mom had bought her fake fish in a fish bowl. I have been asking Sabrina to say “bye” to whatever we have to stop doing and looking at the fish was one of them prior to fallen asleep hours earlier that evening. I was soooo excited that I almost went to wake my husband but decided to wait till the morning.
Little by little, it starts happening, Suzanne! Thanks for sharing such a cute story! Qué linda Sabrina!!
Roxana,
I loved your story! And the beautiful surprise your daughter had for you! I have eight children, but not all of them enjoy speaking Spanish, but there is one of my boys who just totally resists Spanish as much as he possibly can. Since at home I always speak to my children in Spanish, Andy is always saying, “Huh?” And my little 6 year old daughter, Lorena, translates for him! He hates it, but we love it!
Lorena also corrected her teacher on the first day of school when her teacher was calling attendance and she said, “Looorana Unzuta” Lorena politely stood up, walked to the teacher’s desk and said, “L-o-r-e-n-a…. and I’m Mexican”! You gotta love them!
Elba
Thanks, Elba!
I absolutely love your story about Lorena correcting her teacher! That is priceless! And congrats on raising EIGHT bilingual children… even if some of them don’t enjoy it as much!!
I know that feeling! Congratulations! My kids learned Spanish first and then we moved two years ago to the US with them and now they are showing how much English they have acquired through homeschooling. I’m always thinking about their English development since I’m their teacher, but they confirm me every day that they are doing OK! What a relief!
Children are truly amazing and their brains even more! That’s why the earlier we expose them, the better!!
Glad to hear your children are doing well in their English development. Where were you before?
I picked up my boy from his first day in pre-school and the director comes up to me with a puzzled look on her face and asked me “What language does your boy speak?”. I replied, “Why do you ask?” and she said that whenever the teacher would ask him a question he would reply in Spanish. So they went and got a Spanish speaking teacher and he would reply to her questions in English. Just as she’s telling me this I look at my boy and he gives me the biggest evil smile I’ve ever seen a 2 year old give. Of course I had to pretend that I wasn’t happy with him in front of the director. But as soon as we walked out the door I gave him the biggest hug ever. Woot Woot!
I love this story Ricardo! Your son and my son are cut from the same cloth.
Jajajajaj!!! Excellent story!!! Being bilingual is amazing… especially when kids figure out they can use it to their advantage!!
Thanks for sharing, Ricardo!
Well, Roxana, you have shown Vanessa how important Spanish is, you have helped her love it, and clearly she has easy access to tools for writing, free unstructured time for creativity, and feels confident she can write whatever she wants. Congratulations and I hope you enjoy watching the fruits of your hard work and dedication (and of course love!).
Thanks, Beth! I like to think so too!!
These are papers that I’ll be cherishing for ever! They go in the baúl de los recuerdos right now¡!!!
My daughter is too young for me to have any proud bilingual moments but I really enjoyed your story and it gives me confidence in how her bilingual abilities will develop. You must be so pleased! ; )