Daily Blog

Editor’s note: They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so this holiday season we asked all of our regular contributors – we’re up to nine! – to just send us a photo that expresses what the holidays mean to them for this collection of Bicultural Christmas Photos. What kind of photo would you have sent in? “When the holidays are near, I like to sit and create holiday crafts with the kids. It makes us get in theRead More ...

Santiago, my baby boy’s name, is number one on BabyCenter en Español’s list of 2011′s most popular names… again! In fact, his name has been at the top of the list since BabyCenter en Español started compiling it back in 2007. To be honest, I didn’t chose my son’s name because of its popularity. In fact, I never really knew about it being the most popular until a couple of years ago. He was born in 2009, but we hadRead More ...

We were given some great news yesterday: SpanglishBaby made it to Babble’s Top 100 Mom Blogs of 2011. We are honored and humbled to end an already blessed year on such a high note. And we have to thank all of you, our supportive community, for all the accolades we’ve received. Although the work is hard, your feedback tells us it’s all worth it. Thank you for believing in what we’re doing here and for helping us grow into suchRead More ...

I have to admit the first time I saw a brown Santa Claus I was taken aback. He didn’t seem right. He didn’t fit into the mold of the Coca-Cola envisioned Santa Claus we’ve all grown up with. This was years ago, and I had honestly not given Santa’s skin color any more thought until a couple of weeks ago when a friend asked a group of us (almost all Latinas) if we cared if the jolly man was brownRead More ...

The Christmas season/la Navidad is finally here! The air is quickly filling up with the holiday cheer that our familia and all that great food brings. Along with all of the great traditions that come with the holidays, we cannot forget about music! So let´s get ready to practice our villancicos. Villancicos? Some of you might  know exactly what I’m talking about, and for the rest, you might be more familiar with them than the name leads you to believe.Read More ...

If learning more than one language were a product, and some would argue that it is, I think the label would read something like this, Trilingualism: the key to the past, present, and future! My bebita has reached the phase (17+ months) where the use of language is supposed to take off. That being said, I have gotten a little obsessed with trying to count the number of words she can say or comprehend but does not verbalize, yet. IRead More ...

These days, it seems that the terms “Latino,” “Hispanic,” and “Spanish” are interchangeable in colloquial speech. Few people know the difference, including those who fit into these categories. Much like other racial and ethnic terminology, the words we use to describe Spanish speakers and those of Hispanic origin are confusing, inadequate, and often inapplicable. My son, for example, could be categorized as a white Hispanic. Yet, that’s only because he is part white and he looks white like me; inRead More ...

Embracing your culture can be really good for you – especially if you’re a student. A recent study titled “Culture Predicts Mexican-Americans’ College Self-Efficacy and College Performance” found that Mexican immigrant students who identify and practice speaking their native language have higher grade point averages than those who are put in English-only environments in their schools. The reason? David Aguayo, the doctoral student who conducted the study, found that the stress levels of those students who found themselves in aRead More ...