Hi, my name is Erin, and my husband and I are raising our almost-2-year-old bilingual, using no real method. My native language is English, my husband’s is Spanish. We decided against OPOL because I am a SAHM and I spend the most time with our son (my husband is often gone for weeks at a time for work). My native language is English, so if we did OPOL, my son would get VERY little exposure to Spanish. For the most part, we speak Spanish at home, with some English mixed in. My son understands both, but tends to answer in Spanish, and nearly all of the words he says are Spanish. I know he will learn English, that’s not even a concern of mine, but my concern is… I am NOT a native Spanish speaker. I am fluent, but I have an accent, and I do make grammatical errors. So are we doing more harm than good in that he is with me most of the time, we speak Spanish most of the time, but my Spanish is not native-speaker quality? I’m hoping to put him into a bilingual school, which I’m sure will help with both languages, but for now I’m afraid he’s not going to know either language well
What are your thoughts on our “method” or lack thereof?
Dear Erin,
You say you have no method, but it seems to me that by speaking Spanish along with your husband, you have adopted a perfect method to maximize the amount of Spanish your child hears—and is motivated to speak. From what other people in the U.S. tell me, that’s a very good plan, especially since your husband, the native Spanish speaker, is often away from home.
For the question you ask – Will speaking to my child in a non-native accent do more harm than good — my book, Raising a Bilingual Child, has several sections devoted to the answer. My opinion is that you do *much more good* by giving the child more opportunity and more motivation to use the language that won’t be reinforced by the community (pages 146-148!). The book also provides testimony from at least four non-native parents in the case studies. One very helpful example is a published case about Australian George Saunders, who taught his children German. He has a lot of tips for a person in your position (as does Jane Merrill, also cited in my book).
As long as you are not the ONLY Spanish model the child ever has, he will be very unlikely to pick up your accent, and he will probably end up eventually correcting your errors (which you may find annoying : ).
So, I wouldn’t worry about your non-native Spanish as long as you’re fluent and comfortable with it. But I would work to get some native Spanish models in your lives (for both of you), especially when your husband is away. There are always tapes and videos, and you mention that you want to find a bilingual school for your son, which will be good. Meanwhile, can you enlist any of your husband’s relatives to come and play with you and your boy in Spanish from time to time? Are there any college students you could pay for a few hours of language immersion for the two of you? A play group? A Spanish church? You will be surprised, I think, even in very monolingual towns how many speakers of other languages there are, but you sometimes have to go looking for them.
Remember, as a language model for your son, you are not only providing new words and grammar. By speaking Spanish with him, you are creating an environment where Spanish is welcome all the time. That gives the child more time to practice and consolidate what he’s learning. And you are demonstrating that Spanish is a language worth learning. This adds to his motivation to learn the language. Those are very big gifts you are giving your child. I would be very proud to be doing what you are doing. I hope you keep it up.
Best wishes,
Barbara
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I love Barbara’s answer to this question. I would also like to show support by reminding Erin that millions of people all over the world speak multiple languages with accents. Most monolingual people I know make grammar errors from time to time as well. An accent serves as a reminder that the speaker has the gift of bilingualism. That’s more like a badge of honor than a problem! I know you will find Barbra’s book to be very helpful. Best wishes!
In addition to Barbara and Karen’s excellent comments, I would like to point out that your son will be a million light-years ahead of children learning Spanish in school, that’s how much faster he’ll advance! Also, even if you were a native speaker of Spanish that wouldn’t guarantee that your children would speak “perfect” Spanish. I am a native Spanish speaker from Spain and an specialist in early bilingual education (and I work from home and use Spanish all the time) and even with that my children still speak Spanish “the American way” — which I have learned to understand that it is perfectly fine. By that I mean that while my kids don’t have a thick accent in Spanish (as I have in English or as my husband has in Spanish) they still don’t speak like a native Spaniard and they “adopt” funny constructions from English. They are teens now.
¡Mucha suerte con todo!
Erin, thank you for sharing your question. In our situation as well, my husband is the native Spanish speaker and I am the near-native Spanish speaker but yes, I have an accent and mispronounce words and all those things that one hopes that the kids don’t repeat but they probably will. I think Ana put it well in that while my 7 year old son and 4 year old daughter are quite fluent, they don’t sound necessarily like their cousins from Mexico City for example. With that said, I am very proud of how fluent they are and how little I have to interpret for them when my husband’s family visits, etc. So . . . I would take Barbara’s suggestions of supplementing with family, friends and media and keep up the great work. Enjoy!
This was a helpful encouragement with helpful resource/research ideas.
This is very encouraging for me, as I have almost the exact same situation! Do any of you speak English at home with your kids? or just Spanish?
Dear Barbara,
How about if you are the ONLY English model the child has until the age of 5-6. I am not a native English speaker, and my English is OK, but sure I have an accent and I make grammar mistakes. I am thinking to talk to my 1,5 year old baby in English, and unfortunately we don’t have any native speakers around us. However, I am worried about her picking my accent. And I know from my experience that it is almost impossible to change your accent after a certain age. On the other hand, I am thinking that it might be a good opportunity for her to learn a language. I am just so confused, and need advice from an expert.
All the best,
Deniz