Daily Blog

  I read with great interest the Wall Street Journal article featured in Spanglishbaby’s Week in Links regarding parents who move to China so that their children can learn and improve their language abilities. Learning another language and experiencing another culture can be a great experience for anyone, and it is especially valuable for children who tend to have an advantage at second language acquisition. The question that I was left with after reading the article was: Why Chinese? NoneRead More ...

Over the weekend, my husband and I had a freelance television production gig and we got to meet a pretty neat Mexican family. The story they shared with us for the TV program we were working for has nothing to do with bilingualism, but I had to conduct all the interviews in Spanish and I must say I was very impressed by how well it was spoken by the children in the family. What surprised me the most is thatRead More ...

Hablando Español and Other Ways Travel Has Affected My Children from NYCityMama — I absolutely LOVE this post by our friend Carol Cain. Her family and her just came back from a trip to Costa Rica, which obviously did wonders for her children’s bilingualism and understanding of other cultures. Nothing like exposing our children to language and customs through travel. ‘The Translator’ – The story of Angel Pagan from FoxNewsLatino — For all the baseball lovers out there, this articleRead More ...

With babies and toddlers there is always a time when a lullaby comes to our rescue. And yes, I mean rescue because lullabies are fundamental to sooth a crying baby or simply to create the right bedtime environment. These songs are useful not just to lull the baby to sleep but also any little brothers and sisters who may be around. Lullabies in all languages have put to bed millions and millions of babies, all over the length and breadthRead More ...

My good friend Sisi — the mastermind behind our Spanish book club — has been hosting a Fourth of July parade for the kids for the past three years. I had never been able to take my kids because of work until this year… and I’m so happy we finally did. The kids had a blast decorating their bikes and wagons and when everyone was ready Sisi turned on the Sousa marches (that reminded me so much of my dad)Read More ...

I’ve had ample quality time with my stepdaughters this summer, which means I’ve been watching them interact with my son in surprisingly bilingual ways. The girls are 12 and 10 years old, entrenched in English at school and accustomed to using Spanish only at their abuelos’ house. One of them is much more comfortable with Spanish than the other and it sometimes appears that they have rejected the language altogether, but observing their play with my 4-year-old tells a differentRead More ...

One of the main concerns parents raising bilingual children –or considering it– have is what to do when they refuse to speak Spanish (or whichever minority language). We know the bilingual rebellion is pretty much a fact and we’ll all have to face it eventually. For some it starts as early as 3 years of age and for others when the child enters kindergarten, especially if they don’t have the option of a bilingual program like dual or full immersion.Read More ...

It’s obvious summer is in full swing because I’ve very little to share in this installment of Week in Links for #BilingualKids. Plus, honestly, I’ve been way too concerned with the wildfires consuming my state to be able to concentrate on anything else. Have you seen the images? They’re devastating. Hope you don’t mind me asking you to say a little prayer for Colorado. ¡Gracias! Amazing Bilingual Writers II from Life as a Bilingual/Psychology Today — As a bilingual writerRead More ...