Comments on: Ask An Expert: What Can I Do For My Four-Year-Old Daughter To Become Fluent in Spanish?

By: Donny

Donny — Thu, 16 Feb 2017 22:40:04 +0000

I´ve got a similar situation. Kids about the same age, only Spanish is the first language and Dutch the second (which I speak to them). What always keeps them motivated is speaking thru Skype with family members that don´t speak the other language (Spanish). Same with going on holiday to ¨the other country¨ where the people only speak the other language (in my case Dutch). Kids are there and want to play with other kids so they really understand the need of learning that language and as they are ´immersed´ they improve enormously. A holiday to my home country keeps my 5 year old motivated for another year!

By: Ellen

Ellen — Sat, 25 Oct 2014 03:01:51 +0000

Hey! You sound like me. I worry about how well I am teaching my kids Spanish. Of course I am not a native speaker and neither is my husband. He speaks English and Russian, which he is teaching with me to our kids. I do have a large Hispanic community in our neighborhood. They have a lot of Spanish-speaking friends. It makes the difference. They are doing much better now. My oldest has been a little more difficult to work with on his learning to speak Spanish. It has been a bit of a struggle. He wanted to learn German, which is my great grandma’s native language. So I made a compromise. If he worked on Spanish, I would help him get into some German. I started with Spanish, because I thought it would be easier given that I grew up with hearing my dad using his high school Spanish. I used what I learned from him to take a Spanish class in high school and did well. I felt comfortable and thought I would be better off trying to teach them something I felt at ease with speaking. I only have a second grade reading level, but it is enough to read to my kids and understand some of what is being said when I play music and movies in Spanish. I love Spanish and all the languages we are learning. It is so amazing taking in all the parts of the language and culture as l put together lessons and homework packets. I try to have some puzzles and pictures to color. It keeps things fun and interesting. We also learn songs and poems. We are also learning sign, Chinese, and French. Sign language helped me develops the kids communication skills when they were younger. It helps us have real quiet time. French is something I started learning from my great aunt when I was little. She speaks French. Chinese was something my youngest son heard in his reading class when they were talking about different cultures. He really likes it, so I started him out on Chinese on mango languages. He is doing pretty well. Well, good luck in your endeavors. -Ellen-

By: Beth Butler

Beth Butler — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:55:43 +0000

Lori is spot on Frank! Her encouragement is sincere and well-founded. With our son, who is now almost 20, we went through peaks and valleys with his Spanish (my native language is English, and my ex-husbands native language was Spanish).

I recall for months Matthew would speak only English; refusing to speak in Spanish pushed my buttons, and he knew it! Then, as he matured and realized the coolness of knowing more than English, being asked to help in class at times with the Spanish language he began to embrace it more.

You will have an “aha” day as I did when Matthew’s high school Spanish teacher called me to remark with enthusiasm over how fluent / qué bilingüe mi hijo was! Your day will come – as your children roll their r’s and speak Spanish with pride. All in due time Frank, all in due time!