Comments on: Raising A Spanglish Toddler

By: Will My Bicultural Daughter Be Latina Enough? | SpanglishBaby™

Will My Bicultural Daughter Be Latina Enough? | SpanglishBaby™ — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 18:41:09 +0000

[...] caregiver, and sole Spanish speaker in our home, my own weakness in fluency is ever present. But as I continue to expose, communicate and deposit our second language into my mini Latina, an entirely new question has been posed: can she even be considered a [...]

By: Cooking With My Spanglish Baby | SpanglishBaby™

Cooking With My Spanglish Baby | SpanglishBaby™ — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 07:06:09 +0000

[...] it has been exhilarating to watch Alina’s personality mature. But, as I have mentioned before, I worry that her Spanish exposure is not keeping up with her incredible development. That I, as the sole Spanish speaker in her life, am not keeping [...]

By: Vanessa, De Su Mama

Vanessa, De Su Mama — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 15:58:46 +0000

You are too sweet, Beth! Gracias a ti!

By: Vanessa, De Su Mama

Vanessa, De Su Mama — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 15:58:03 +0000

Sounds like you are doing an amazing job, Yeara! Fostering a love for the language is truly the most beautiful gift. Abrazos.

By: Yeara

Yeara — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 19:10:17 +0000

Thank you so much for writing this. It gives me hope. I speak Spanish (with great effort), but my husband does not. My son (18 months old) attends a daycare where the provider attempts to speak Spanish to those Spanish-speaking children in her care, so I’m pleased that he is getting some exposure to the language outside of the home. I also read and sing to him in Spanish. At 18 months, my son understands most everything I say to him in Spanish, but he only speaks eight or ten words in English. Nonetheless, I often feel like I’m not doing enough. Articles like this make me redouble my efforts. Gracias.

By: Beth Butler

Beth Butler — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 14:41:55 +0000

What a beautiful picture you paint Vanessa! I almost felt as if I could see Alina listening to her grandmother over the phone and coming up with a confused look. . . thank you / gracias for taking the time to share.

You are so right about the “no expiration date” when it comes to language learning, and I know you have such a passion for raising Alina to be bilingual (and proud of it) that the journey will be a wonderful one!

By: Vanessa, De Su Mama

Vanessa, De Su Mama — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 05:33:52 +0000

Thank you both for the encourgaing comments! We ARE Latina, regardless of fluency level, and the love and effort we put forth in raising bilingual children is what we should stay focused on. Good luck to both of you. Abrazos y amor!

By: Ann

Ann — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 03:15:10 +0000

This was the perfect post for me to read today. We have been slacking in our Spanish and it is starting to show with my son. But I needed that encouragement that it is never too late to turn it around.

By: Melissa {momcomm}

Melissa {momcomm} — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 19:30:50 +0000

Thanks so much for writing this. I’m part Costa Rican but sadly, not fluent. After my dad passed away in December (he lived in the US for 40 years but moved back a year ago), I became determined to finally become fluent (I’ve studied it for years in school and college) AND for my kids to at least have a good grasp of it too. I’ve been talking with one of my cousins on Facebook chat daily and it’s amazing how much I’ve learned (we’ll be doing skype soon too so we can talk over the phone).

I’ve started saying certain things in both English and Spanish like venga, te amo or qué estás haciendo. I love hearing you say there’s no expiration date. I get discouraged sometimes but you’re right. I’ll keep chugging along and hope it starts to stick.