Ana’s Blog

This post is long overdue, but I didn’t want to not share this super cute video with you and our experience at the Kallpachay Winter camp last month. These last holidays we decided to stay in Los Angeles because we had already taken a trip to Playa del Carmen earlier in December for a friend’s wedding. As much as I wanted to go back right away, we needed to stay put y tranquilitos at home. That meant that Camila wouldRead More ...

I have to admit that packing a lunch box for Camila every single day has been more challenging than I imagined. She just started school back in September, but it seems like I’m still getting the hang of it all and the snack and lunch box are my biggest challenge. When she was in preschool I had a lot more options because I could serve her warm meals and the teachers could heat it up for her. Now, she barelyRead More ...

In December I got an email from Deepa Fernandes, early childhood development correspondent for 89.3 KPCC Public Radio in Southern California. She wanted to interview me and visit Camila’s elementary school because she was working on a series on bilingual education. The 3-part series finally airs this week and I got to listen to the first one live this morning. You can listen to it here or below. The series called “Bilingual Learning: The science, options and dilemma of dual language education”Read More ...

One of the things I love about living in Los Angeles are the incredibly fun options we have to choose from every single weekend. Really, in how many cities do you have weekends when you can choose between ir a la playa o a la nieve, and both are just a short car trip away? This last weekend was one of those. I had just finally started to feel better after spending a whole week in bed with that flu,Read More ...

It’s no secret my passion is to convince everyone I can that exposing your child to a second language is one of the most amazing and beneficial gifts you could ever give him. The benefits of a bi- and multilingual brain keep receiving praises on national news as more and more scientific research keeps coming out exalting the pros — and practically no cons! — of growing up being able to effortlessly switch your brain from one language to another.Read More ...

One of the most wonderful things about having published our book “Bilingual is Better” is that it’s put me in even closer contact with parents and educators raising bilingual kids. I’ve sort of broken the cyber wall and gotten out there more to talk about our common passion. I’m excited to have met Yesenia, the founder and director of the Language Garden Community Preschool, thanks to a connection via my new amiga Rebecca, author of The Cultured Seed blog. YeseniaRead More ...

Cars Land, the newest land in the Disneyland Resort, is now also going down in history as a 125-foot long float in the 2013 Rose Parade! I’ve been a fan of watching the Rose Parade ever since I can remember. I used to wake up early on New Year’s Day after staying up super late the night before in some classic Salvadoran party-all-night style (yes, even when I was just a child!) just to watch the Rose Parade in itsRead More ...

It’s funny how one slowly starts becoming just like one’s mamá. You notice it when you start blurting out your wisdom in dichos or when you scold your child with words that ring in your head like ghosts from the past. But little did you know that even those remedios caseros (home remedies) you thought were a pain to swallow or deal with as a child and that your mom or abuela so lovingly administered, actually became engrained in youRead More ...