I love having a child who’s a perfect example of how well the Minority Language at Home method (or mL@H) really works. If you’ve been following SpanglishBaby for a while, you know that, at this point, my daughter Vanessa, who’s almost 6-years-old, is fully bilingual and biliterate. Although the days of me worrying that Vanessa wouldn’t get enough exposure to English because we’ve only spoken to her in Spanish since the day she was born are long gone, the funny thing is that I’ve barely ever heard her speak English… until this weekend.
I mean, I’ve obviously heard her read and say a few words and phrases in English here and there because, even though some people find it hard to believe, we really ONLY speak Spanish at home. Therefore, I’ve never really been around her as she goes about her life in English. But this weekend, we had a long-time friend come visit us from Miami with her 4 1/2-year-old son whom Vanessa met when he was a baby. Although they didn’t really know each other, they became inseparable little friends almost instantly.
While Vanessa’s little friend understood everything that was said to him in Spanish, he only spoke English and so Vanessa knew to switch languages instantly. Since they were staying with us, I got to see and hear Vanessa interact in English more than I ever had. It’s not like I had any doubts about her abilities, but I have to say I was pretty amazed by how truly fully bilingual my daughter is. I know that might sound kind of weird, but I’d never had an opportunity to hear communicate in English for such extended periods of time. I felt like I was eavesdropping, but for a good cause!
In any event, I only wanted to share this with you because I know that using the mL@H method can be kind of disconcerting — especially at the beginning. I know I’m not the only mom who worried about the amount of exposure to the majority language our children get at the very beginning, particularly if they’re mostly staying at home. In other words, for Vanessa’s first two years of life she really mostly heard Spanish pretty much all day long since I was home with her so her exposure to English was minimal. And yet, both her languages are now flawless and, while I’m obviously biased, she seems to speak both like a native.
Do you have any of your own stories that prove the mL@H method really works? Please share with us.
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I totally ‘get’ what you are saying and yes, it is very cool. We carpooled with an English speaker this kinder year so I got to listen to my kids speak English on the way to school. It’s pretty exciting (and comforting) that it all worked out.
I am curious, does your kid have an accent in English? Listening to other kids that do ml@h, some seem to have an accent in kinder and some don’t. My kinder kid certainly does. I think my 4 year old has an easier time with language and I figure he will have lost the accent by kinder.
I don’t think she does have an accent, but I might be biased. I know there’s some words she doesn’t pronounce right, but I think the same would be true even if she only spoke English. To be honest, I’ve never really understood why some people think that having an accent is such a big deal. Maybe because I have one when I speak English, but I’ve never let that affect me. Who knows…
I couldn’t agree more – I’m not sure why people think having an accent is such a big deal. To be honest, I used to be concerned about that, but I’ve learned not to care as much about it. However, some people (especially employers) do discriminate to those who have one – which is unfortunate, because who has the accent is all perspective.
First of all, I want to say I am so glad that I found this website. It’s so comforting to know that others really value the importance of retaining your native language. When my husband and I got married, we knew we wanted kids – and that we wanted our kids to speak Spanish. However, we realized – from just looking at other family members – that the majority of kids lose their native language by the third generation. We certainly didn’t want this to happen to us. We wanted our children to be able to speak to our parents. And, we didn’t want our kids to just be “passive” Spanish learners – meaning, they understood it, said one or two words, but didn’t speak it. No, we wanted our children to be truly bilingual. My husband and I realized that in order for our children to speak Spanish, WE had to speak Spanish. So, we chose the ML@H method (or the “Hot House” approach as we read the Bilingual Edge book).
This was a difficult task for us – because our relationship was in English. Sure, I spoke Spanish but only to my parents. But to my husband – ay Dios! That really felt weird. So, we transitioned into Spanish slowly – we started off with “Spanish Sundays” where we’d only speak Spanish on Sundays. Once we felt comfortable, we then transitioned to “Spanish Weekends” and so on. When my husband and I had our first child in 2009, we were very comfortable speaking in Spanish. I am happy to say that my son will be 3 years old in August and he only speaks Spanish. He starts preschool this year, and I was also very concerned about him going to school not speaking English. But, after finding this website it’s so comforting to know that the transition should be fine. Also, my sister in law also has the same ML@H method, and her daughter (our niece) is just doing great in school (she’s in dual immersion program). Our niece started off in kindergarten speaking only Spanish, and she can now speak and read in both languages. Yes, she had an accent at first but now it’s disappeared. So, the mL@H method does work. Yes, it’s a lot of work, but it’s so worth it!
So glad you found us too! Yes, in the three years we’ve been around, we’ve put all our passion into nurturing a community where other parents raising bilingual children would come to find comfort and to share their highs and lows. I’m really grateful that you shared your experience with us and I’m in total awe of your and your husband’s commitment to raising bilingual children! Would love to know more about your experience because it sounds super interesting.
I’ve written several posts about the worries I’ve had throughout the years regarding my daughter’s limited exposure to English. You can find some here:
http://spanglishbaby.com/2009/02/i-still-cant-believe-it/
http://spanglishbaby.com/2010/04/they-will-learn-english-i-promise/
http://spanglishbaby.com/2011/03/how-truly-bilingual-is-my-daughter/
http://spanglishbaby.com/2011/01/my-bilingual-daughter/
Hope those helps and congrats again on raising your son bilingual!
Roxana, thank you so much for the links! These will be VERY helpful! I commend Spanglishbaby for being such a great advocate for bilingualism! It’s unfortunate that we live in a county that doesn’t really value bilingualism. From our experience, even living in Southern California, we get so many stares from other parents who hear us speak Spanish to our sons. At times, we even get questioned by other parents as to why would we do such a thing. Really, it’s a breath of fresh air to find a community like this – so much so, that I asked my husband to post a response to another topic about fathers reading to their children (his response is under the name Bolero). He has also found the website very informative. Thanks again! I will definitely read up on the links you provided…
Thanks for letting me know there is an offcial name to it: mL@H!! That’s what we do with our boys, Spanish at home and among us wherever we are and exposure to English outside. It has worked and, like you, I am amazed when I listen to their conversations in English with their friends using phrases that I had never teach them. It’s amazing! We can’t undersestimate their capacity to learn, absorb and adapt!
Mayra, a lot of people don’t even know there’s a name to the method. I was one of them before we started SpanglishBaby. In the end, I guess it doesn’t really matter because you should go with what feels right. And you are so right… our children’s capacity to learn and adapt is amazing!
So, when you aren’t at home, do you speak to her in English? Ive often wondered IF I chose to do that if Sabrina would lean towards English more once we got back home.
Just came across this site today and I have to say I love it. I have a 16 month old and I only speak to him in Spanish and dad does all the English. Many times I have feared that he isn’t getting enough Spanish, but after reading this post I feel inspired and motivated to continue my quest in raising a bilingual and bicultural child. Thank you!
So excited to read this! Congratulations on already having decided to speak only in Spanish to your little one. It’s such a gift!!
I don’t know where to begin here so I will start with this; Thank you!! Thank you for being here for all these families who are working hard (or in my case coming back) to teach and pass onto their children the importance of our language. I’m guilty of not doing this and regret it. Recently I hit a life “roadblock” that woke me up and I realized what I was (or wasn’t) doing, was far from being in the best interest of my children. Not teaching them spanish. I even changed the name of my blog because my original title just didn’t……fit. I am trying now to speak more Spanish to them but it’s hard because I have forgotten some of it. That will change though. I made a promise to myself to keep learning and teaching what I already know to my kids. My husband and I have already looked into a Spanish immersion school that we will most likely be sending our children to. My oldest will start kinder next year. In the meantime we’re practicing our Spanish more each day and I just know that I will be getting some good pointers here. Thanks again! I’m excited to be following you.
Thank you for your lovely note!! So happy for you and your family that you’ve decided to embrace bilingualism and the joys and challenges that come with it. We hope to provide the resource, encouragement and community for your journey!
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