Today’s Ask an Expert question was sent by James Ratner. “My wife is Vietnamese and bilingual (Vietnamese and English). I speak only English. We are teaching our son, who is presently 2 1/2 both Vietnamese and English, primarily by having my wife speak to him almost exclusively in Vietnamese and reinforcing his learning of this language through Vietnamese books and videos. This process seems to be going very well, as our son can now speak short sentences in both languages.Read More ...
Today’s Ask an Expert question was sent in by Marlene, a native English speaker who is raising her two boys bilingually. “I have 2 sons: a 6 year old and a 3 year old. We read books in Spanish, watch v-Me, sing songs in Spanish and my husband and I communicate to them mostly in Spanish. However, my 6 year old refuses to speak it. He understands most of what we say to him but seems to have trouble recallingRead More ...
One of the biggest challenges for bilingual homeschooling families is the lack of resources and support systems. Today’s Ask an Expert question was sent by Monica, a Latina mom, blogger and entrepreneur who has taken on the challenge to homeschool her kindergartner “I’m a Latina who started homeschooling my kindergartner this year. I would love, love, love to be able to incorporate more cultural lessons, but it has been a real struggle for me to find not only bilingual orRead More ...
Today’s Ask an Expert question was sent by Marcela, a mother raising two bilingual niñas. Don´t forget you can always click here and leave your own question for the experts. “My kids are not babies anymore. They are 12 and 8. The 12 year old speaks better Spanish. It is harder for the 8 year old. I tried to tell them that at home we only speak Spanish, but for the little one that stops her from telling me herRead More ...
The topic of reading in Spanish to our kids is always a loved one. Today’s Ask an Expert is an excellent resource for parents with elementary-age children that need advice finding suitable books for them. The question was sent by Lizette. “My son is in a Spanish dual immersion school. He is in 4th grade and we need more of a variety of Spanish books starting at that grade level. Any suggestions?” Hi Lizette, How fantastic that your son isRead More ...
The following question was sent by Ellen, a teacher who’s concerned her student is refusing to speak Spanish. “A Spanish-speaking native second grade child doesn’t want to speak Spanish anymore. His mom speaks very little English and wants Carlos to preserve his first language. The child is speaking only English and is refusing to speak Spanish anymore. What can the mother do?” Dear Ellen, In your question you did not specify whether the child is in a bilingual or anRead More ...
Today´s question was sent by Jeffrey Chien, father of a 3-year-old girl. “Hi. My question is a slight variation to the one regarding bilingual children with speech delay. We live in the United States. My daughter is about to turn 3 and has recently been diagnosed with severe speech delay with the expressive level at 11 months and the receptive level at 14 months. She has also been evaluated by child psychologists and their conclusion is that she has someRead More ...
I am a native English speaker while my wife is a native Spanish speaker. We would like our 2.5 year old son to have what neither of us never had – a true foreign language to help him through life (most likely German, Chinese, or Russian). However, we are hesitating about doing this out of fear of the implications for his development because the third language would not be a native language spoken at home. Should we wait ’til later?Read More ...
