Comments on: 5 Essentials to Successfully Raise a Bilingual Child

By: Ana Flores

Ana Flores — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 07:37:14 +0000

Thanks for sharing this B.H.! Yes, it’s so priceless and really one of the only gifts we can give them that no one can take away!

By: Ana Flores

Ana Flores — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 07:35:39 +0000

Nikki, your worries, fears and exhaustion are all very normal. I know for sure I’ve gone through the whole range of emotions and consider that my girl has been exposed only to Spanish at home since she was born. Yet, it’s been difficult and even now it’s not her language of choice because once she started an all-English preschool at 3.5 years she started to respond mostly in English.
Yet, I know that the foundation of Spanish and of bilingualism we laid down for her is what really matters and what makes it all worth it. She know goes to an immersion school and it I can see how that foundation is now starting to bloom.
Keep at it, find ways to make it fun for both of you and reach out to this community anytime. We’re here, on Facebook, Twitter and on SpanglishBabyPlayground.com!

By: Ana Flores

Ana Flores — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 07:31:29 +0000

Totally agree, Olga!

By: B.H.

B.H. — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 17:40:49 +0000

Hang in there mama! I too wondered the same questions. My son is 4 now, we made the decision early bilingual was the only way. We figured spanish only since he would be exposed to english at school just like we were raised. When he has born Spanish felt natural since he could not talk and I didn’t get into deep conversations yet, but as he was getting older I felt I could not express myself as we’ll as I could in English, although I learned spanish first it became my second language as I went to school. The other is yes for sure it is hard, my hubby and I speak English to each other so he has heard it that way and I how we talk to peope so he picked up a lot of English that way. Last year he started preschool and at the time he spoke only Spanish and understood English, I was worried he wouldn’t be able to communicate with his teacher (potty etc.) to our surprise in a week or so he began English only! I guess he knew more than I thought his teacher said he would talk to her in English! Now he is a little resistance at times to speak Spanish but we make it a rule to speak spanish at home. I can tell you first hand it will get harder but so worth it, you just have to change the way you think. I would also feel rude speaking to him in Spanish with monolinguals around but I found that sometimes I just say we are teaching him Spanish and it makes me feel better not sure about them but I know there are lots of people who don’t understand it. Parenting is hard but Bilingual parenting is much harder but your giving your son 2 languages is priceless! Us bilingual mamas all feel overwhelmed keep up the good work your little Chicito is listening!! Mucha suerte!

By: Nikki Scully

Nikki Scully — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 17:16:15 +0000

This is so timely for me. I feel like I DO use/have all these essentials in my efforts of raising my son bilingual, but many days I can’t help but think..”is this worth my effort?” I know these are just the days I feel discouraged. He is only 20 months, and he is learning, so that’s good. I was raised bilingually and although my Spanish is very good, it’s still my second language. Therefore,there are times when I just think “this would mean more/make more sense to me if I said it in English!” But, I keep plodding on. He has many words in Spanish, but I can’t help but think that other kids his age are stringing together more words (in English), and then I worry…is this my fault, am I confusing him? I am, however, worried about what will happen as he grows older, or possibly goes to preschool a couple of days next fall. I know his English will explode. Will it become even harder for me to stay in Spanish at home? I think I’m just tired today.

By: Olga

Olga — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 17:52:25 +0000

Two more points: 1) Creativity! It takes a lot of creativity to raise a bilingual child, so you have to have many ideas to do it. And 2) Fun: Without fun nothing will work, neither for the child nor for the parents.