Comments on: What Will Preschool Do To My Son’s Spanish Skills?

By: 12bet88

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By: Starting Day Care Means Stepping Up Our Language Learning Efforts |SpanglishBaby™

Thu, 15 Aug 2013 15:34:52 +0000

[...] son Enzo recently started day care. Because I was afraid that full time day care or nursery school would introduce too much English too soon, I decided to go with a part time program. I feel I’ve made the right decision because [...]

By: Sonia

Sonia — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 20:23:40 +0000

Just wanted to ad a little something. I have twin 3 1/2 year olds (boy and girl). I speak spanish to them and my husband english. They go to daycare twice a week for 6 hrs, english only. I only buy dvds that have the spanish version, but what I found quite helpful is the Disney Channel and some on Disney Jr. broadcast in SAP. If you go to your settings in your satellite or cable there is an option to change the language to pretty much anything. For the French lady that posted earlier there is an option for that, spanish and many others. Basically any channel that broadcasts in the SAP your able to get that language. Just thought I would let you know!

By: Silvia

Silvia — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 06:41:13 +0000

I think my case is different from others since both my husband and I are native Spanish speakers, have lived all our lives in Spanish speaking countries and came to the US just a year and a half ago. So my fears were the opposite of yours, that my daughter wouldn´t pick up English as soon as it was necessary. I sent her to nursery school at the age of almost 3 and it was a little difficult for her at first, since almost nobody at the school, save for a bilingual teacher that usually officiated as an interpreter for her, spoke Spanish. Despite that, she learned quite a few words and expressions in English and I taught her some, too. Since then we have moved to a Latino neighborhood (quite by chance I should say), so almost all the teachers at her new school are bilingual and many of her classmates have Hispanic parents, but lessons are always in English. She has a large vocabulary in Spanish and she has learned a lot in English, too. Since the language spoken at home is Spanish, she always communicates in Spanish first; but she watches videos in English and Spanish and we read to her both in English and Spanish. So Diana, don´t be afraid to send your child to nursery school, but it would be good if he could have at least a teacher or two that he can turn to and speak in Spanish if he has a problem or needs something. And continue to speak to your child in Spanish. As for the accent, I can tell you that my 4 year old daughter is already picking up a good American accent, even though my husband and I have a strong Spanish accent. Hope this helps.

By: Jose Lira - Learning Spanish every time I help someone get started

Jose Lira - Learning Spanish every time I help someone get started — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 07:27:37 +0000

Hi, I just wanted to congratulate you on the site, I had not seen a personal and professional approach to the education of bilingual kids and it is a topic I have been curious about for quite some time. Nice website, I will share this post on facebook, very interesting. The nice thing about french and spanish is that they are quite similar and thus there should not be any issues with Grammar or pronunciation for your kid.

Talk soon.

By: Diana

Diana — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 19:57:41 +0000

hi Karen,
my particular situation is as follows:
I was first exposed to English in a school setting at 4 years old. Before that, i had spoken Spanish at home with some months of Spanish language preschool. I was not educated in another country, and in 2nd grade, i was in the 98th percentile for reading and vocabulary on the standardized tests. I was initially put in ESL but they realized that i did not need it, so I stopped going to the ESL class. Throughout middle school and high school, I was in the top 5 of my class (5 out of the whole class, not in the top 5 percent.) I did quite well in college too.
I do not speak with an accent. I think, quite frankly, it is a bit prejudiced to think that I would speak with an accent only because I first spoke Spanish, or because my parents speak Spanish to me. Do you believe that all children who are in that situation will have accents throughout life?
I know many people who learned Spanish first and do not have accents in English, and consider English their “first” language. From ages 5-22 my schooling was in English and to this day, English is my preferred language, the language I think in, the one I am more comfortable and fluent in. When i graduated college, I moved to Europe, and my language skills in Spanish helped me learn French (same roots in Latin) and also helped while i was traveling (not only to Spain, but to Italy and Romania as well, all Romance languages). I am near fluent in French, and in case you are wondering, I had nearly no accent when i lived in France.
I am not sure if you have any information on language acquisition, but i invite you to read about a recent study at New York University, where they tested infants’ ability to distinguish different sounds, therefore different types of languages. The study concluded that “the ability of infants to recognize speech is more sophisticated than previously known” and infants as early as nine months old can make distinctions between animal and human sounds., showing that “infant speech perception is resilient and flexible.”
This is the link to the study: http://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2012/07/16/infants-recognition-of-speech-more-sophisticated-than-previously-known.html

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 18:59:23 +0000

My argument was against delaying English language acquisition, not against bilingualism. As a child, did you have to compete in school (K-12) against native English speakers, or were you educated in another country? Do you speak English with an accent?
In most cases one rarely speaks a second (or third) language as well as the first. In a competitive country like ours where people (especially Latinos) are judged according to how they speak, delaying English language acquisition is like playing with fire.

By: Diana

Diana — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 03:01:01 +0000

hi Karen,
thank you for your comment. first, I would like to make clear, I am not delaying pre-school for my child. I am wondering whether putting him in school at 2.5 or at 3.5, which is technically nursery school. My son would not be missing out on any formal or required education.
I would explain why I prefer to teach my son Spanish before introducing him to English… first of all, there is no proof, studies or anecdotal, that I have heard of that point to a delay in English language skills if I speak to my son another language other first. As other people have commented, there is actually quite the opposite, vast research that shows the benefits of bilingualism, benefits that include more job opportunities, more opportunities in an increasingly globalized world, higher brain function, and even as a way to fend off Alzheimer’s!
Second of all, as you stated, we live in a country where English is spoken. Consequentially, my son will be surrounded by English… he will automatically pick up English and will not have a problem with it. I am proof that this learning Spanish first does not hinder academic performance in English, and I know many people who can say the same. I also know parents who have not taught their children a second language and now regret it. Children are sponges, they absorb everything around them. I know my son is not confused, he understands when Papa says soemthing in French and when Mama says something in Spanish.
There are many countries where children learn two languages from birth and perform quite well.
I am sorry you do not see the advantage, I invite you to find out more information on the subject.
Again, thank you for expressing your point of view.
DIANA

By: Diana

Diana — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 02:48:08 +0000

hi BB, thank you for sharing your experience. What you described is what I am afraid of, a rejection of Spanish! i like the idea of explaining that bilingualism is a gift! I think I would say something like “Isn’t it cool that you can communicate with more people and have more than one way of calling things?”
I wish you best of luck, would love to hear how your little one continues doing!

By: Karen

Karen — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 21:49:37 +0000

Actually she wasn’t making an argument against bilingualism, but questioning some of the techniques advocated here. From what I have read on various threads on this site, English speaking people are intentionally raising their children to be native Spanish speakers, even if it means delaying preschool, or taking other measures to limit exposure to English until the child has reached a certain fluency in Spanish (or another language).

I wonder what effect will that have on a child’s ability to become fluent in English, and what effect will it have on his future academic performance? You say that children will learn English no matter what we do, but I disagree. There are many children in America, especially immigrant children, who lack fluency in English, or who only know it at a very basic level. Hearing English on the playground and on TV is not enough. Furthermore, if children fall behind in school because they can’t keep up with native speakers, it affects their self-esteem.

We live in an English speaking country and children will have to compete against native English speakers. Why make English your child’s second language if that doesn’t have to be the case? Why not establish a foundation in English, the language the child will need more than any other, and then introduce Spanish? One woman on another thread even said that her child needs a speech pathologist but because he is now a native Spanish speaker, she cannot find anybody qualified to work with him. Now her son is in a bind.

I don’t see the advantage here…