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We haven’t done this in a while, so we figured this would be as good a time as any… One of our readers has a question and we’re sure many of you would be able to help… Even though she is not a mami yet, her fiance and her have started thinking about raising their future children bilingual and she has been wondering about a few things. ¡Vamos a ayudarla!
Is my Husband too Old to Learn Spanish?
This question comes from Juliana Reyes who is bilingual and is engaged to a man who only speaks English. “I know this question does not have anything to do with teaching Spanish to my kids but I still need help on this. I am engaged to a wonderful “gringo” that does not speak Spanish at all. I am fluent in both in English and Spanish and I am fine with the fact that he doesn’t speak Spanish. Now that we have been talking about having kids he is becoming more interested on learning Spanish. He doesn’t want to be leaft out of my conversations with our future kids. Are there any resources I can use to teach him Spanish? How do you teach an adult? He is 33 years old, is it too late for him to learn?”
I say it’s never too late for anything. What do you think? I know a lot of you are in similar situations. Have you done anything special to deal with it? Or do monolingual husbands (or wives) just pick up some of the language as their kids grow up bilingual? It’d be great to hear what you have to share!
Have a question for one of our amazing experts? You can find out more about the experts and leave your question here. Remember, no question is too big or too small and it’s most probably shared by many of us.
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I am 29 years old. My wife is fluent in Spanish and English.
I have been learning Spanish on my commute, mainly by listening to Spanish podcasts. Honestly, I wouldn’t even say it is hard – just slow. I have been listening consistently for about a year, and I now understand a lot of what my wife’s family (Venezuelan) says to each other. I practice short conversations with my wife.
33 is not too old! My method makes use of time that would be wasted anyway. Even if you find yourself learning at a slow pace, you have years to learn. You should be able to follow along pretty well by the time your kids are talking.
Theodore Scott’s last blog post..George Washington Book Prize Winner Announced
The truth is that it is not too difficult but it takes time and a willingness. I am 37 years old and moved to Chile three years ago while my wife (a native of Panama) was 6 months pregnant. We are now raising a bilingual daughter and are expecting a second in two months. To say that my motivation was more of a necesity than a curiousity is an understatement.
After three years I still struggle but in truth I would say that I have given it about a 30% effort. My wife still insists on speaking english at home. I would suggest the Rosetta Stone program since it has been excellent (when I make time to use it). If someone is really motivated I would say that they can be comunicating fluently in 8 months. Good luck and don’t give up.
“communicating” sorry. A spanish keyboard/ operating system tends to always negate the second in a series of repeat letters- your first language lesson.
It’s not too late if he’s motivated. My husband’s really advanced his once very basic Spanish through Rosetta Stone, but even more so, through Notes in Spanish podcasts & worksheets. And by listening to Spanish music, and through watching telenovelas and peliculas with me. And through our intercambios, of course.
Hope that helps!
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LOL! You make him watch telenovelas! Or is he a willing participant?
Your advice is always right on!
Thanks
Ha! I draw him in by, “oh, this is so funny/over-the-top dramatic, just watch a minute” and he gets sucked in. I think he genuinely liked Las Tontas No Van Al Cielo though.
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As Roxana said, it’s never too late to learn a new language. However, it can be harder and it depends on the person–some people seem to have more of a “natural” ability to pick up new languages. Still, I think it depends on how much you want it and your exposure to a new language. My husband has picked up a lot of Spanish in the 3.5 years that our daughter has been around. We have a lot of Spanish books for children (try La Tiendita which goes through Amazon and helps Roxana and AnaLilian) and he usually reads them to the kids and has picked up a lot of vocabulary. Sometimes I have to work with him on the pronunciation, but that’s ok.
My husband has not taken any clases or done anything formal, but he can figure out what the children and I are talking about and he can usually speak with them in some Spanish. This weekend I learned that he actually uses what he can’t understand to his advantage! When the kiddos are whiny and/or trying to convince me to give in on their demands, he can tune them out and not be driven crazy!! UGH.
So, will your husband really care if he’s “left out” of conversations between you and your baby? We have not had a problem with that using the OPOL method.
I also taught the children ASL so that they would have the same sign whether they were speaking in English or Spanish.
I commend you for starting this exciting adventure. It will be worth all your efforts.
A light bulb just went off in my head when I read about you using the ASL with your kids. What an excellent tip for parents using the OPOL method! We will definitely explore this in more depth really soon. Thanks, AnaGloria!
You also make another great point about reading to them in Spanish to increase your own vocabulary if you´re trying to learn the language yourself.
@Bob @Theodore Scott–thanks so much for your kind advice! It´s so great and so important to get the male perspective around here.
Both of your wives are lucky to have such dedicated partners. You´re definitely right that the hardest part in learning a language as an adult is the dedication and commitment to do it.
As long as you have the passion for it, you will be able to learn.
One of my favorite podcasts is SpanishPod which is available from the Newbie level to Advanced. Highly recommend it. Also, once you have some learning under your belt, I would also recommend reading aloud. It’s amazing how helpful it is to say the words rather than just read silently.
Regarding ASL – I did that for a while with the boys. Instead of saying the English equivalent, I’d sign it. Definitely worth looking into…
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My wonderful husband started learning Spanish shortly after we started dating–I agree that motivation is a huge factor! I was touched by the huge effort he made, all on his own, and I’m amazed by how well he speaks it considering he’s never taken a class.
He used the Pimsleur CDs, which I recommend based on how well they worked for him. Once he was far enough along, I bought a wonderful book for him called “Breaking Out of Beginner’s Spanish,” which he loved. It answered a ton of his questions.
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It’s never too late to learn a second or third language, I really learn English until I moved to USA and I was 29 years old!! I would say that the first and best thing to do if you have the time and money is moving to a Spanish language country, that’s what my husband did, and his mind clicked (like stop translating and understand the language) like in 4 months!! of course he lived with a family who didn’t speak a word in English, it was tough but he learned fast. He is still learning but he can talk in Spanish to the kids and can understand like 85%
But if this is not an option, besides all the great advice from the other replies, my husband find really helpful to watch movies with subtitles in Spanish and read my Spanish posts in my blog!!
We practice ASL with our kids and it has been a great way to link the two languages together and reduce frustration, I’m actually preparing a post about it, I will let you know when is ready.
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There is research that demonstrates that sometimes it can be easier to pick up a language as we grow older, with pronunciation an exception. Adults are more literate in their primary language, they understand the structure of language to a better extent, etc and so they can pick up a language if they have the motivation.
I agree with the comment about going to another country. There are tons of Spanish language schools where you can go for one week or more, live with a Spanish speaking family, etc and be taught language. One time I was at a school in Costa Rica and I saw a 62 year old man come in with not having known any Spanish at all. Within three weeks I would say that he was at more or less a low intermediate level and could hold basic conversations.
multilingualmania’s last blog post..Another Film on Bilingual Education
It is a very interesting and redundat question in my opinion.In my own experience I would say after teaching Spanish as foreign language to adults for 9 years now, the most successful, hard-working and committed were those on their sixties.
Regards.
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I totally agree that it’s never too late to learn Spanish!!! It is not a very difficult language to learn. One needs to take action and to be systematic. I love Spanish and Spanish culture.
Thank you for your post.
.-= Conversational Spanish Speaker´s last blog .. =-.
Never is too late to learn something, maybe it could be some dificult but if your are perseverant wil do it. Learning spanish is not so easy but just it needs get a good learning method and practice. Maybe traveling to another country, as somene said, where the spanish is spoken could make the things easier.
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It´s never too late to learn Spanish. But as you get older it will get a little more difficult. If you not too young anymore we strongly recommend an immersion course abroad to learn Spanish!
Mundo Antiguo