Daily Blog

Here it is. A bilingual show for our niños with a live cast that sings, plays, dances and educates in Spanish and English: Dos y Dos. I found out about them over a year ago but had not been able to watch the show. I finally got my hands on a DVD and put it to the test with my daughter. I have to admit that she was not immediately drawn to the DVD cover since it features the fourRead More ...

This week my daughter and I met up with a Spanish-speaking amiga and her 3 and a half year old son.  Camila and him have a preschool, platonic-love relationship and are always looking forward to their play dates.  While at the park, my friend mentioned that the only other kid her son interacted with in Spanish is my daughter.  I thought that was a little odd since my daughter is still at a stage where she is sorting out bothRead More ...

The first time I set foot outside of the U.S. I was 21 and,  quite honestly, it had never occurred to me to visit a foreign country. A friend of mine invited my sister and I to go to Guadalajara, Mexico with a group of students who were going as part of a class. Guadalajara happened to be where my maternal abuelita is from. Since then, I have made it a point to travel every summer to a different country.Read More ...

My mom just got back from a month-long trip to Perú, our homeland, and as soon as she landed, I wanted to know when she’d be over. Not only did I miss her and wanted for her to see her nietos (especially since my baby boy, Santiago, has changed so much in the past few weeks), but also because I knew she was coming back with a suitcase full of awesome goodies from back home. As soon as my momRead More ...

Prepare yourself to fall in love with Buzz Lightyear in a whole new way!  Toy Story 3 opens today and I can honestly tell you-because my daughter and I already got to preview it-that all the raves it´s already getting touting it as the best family movie this summer are completely merited. I will go one step further and call it the best movie made with our bilingual niños in mind! Why?  Well, because Disney-Pixar came up with the brilliantRead More ...

I have what could be considered a textbook American family on my dad’s side of the family:  one aunt and uncle, two cousins, a few great-aunts, great-uncles, and other more distant relatives I’ve gotten to know to one degree or another.  On my mother’s side:  seven aunts and uncles, more cousins than I can count, and I couldn’t keep track of my extended family without a seriously detailed family tree. People have tried to convince me that in Latin America,Read More ...

  There are certain words that are universal in meaning, no matter which language you speak. One of them is ‘Disney.’  Say ‘Disney’ or ‘Mickey Mouse’ to a child who speaks Spanish, German, Mandarin or any other language and her eyes will most likely light up. I know Camila has already developed a love for many things Disney, including fairies, the mouse and, now, Woody from Toy Story. She was ecstatic last week when we got invited to spend theRead More ...

It’s starting to happen. English is slowly creeping into our house. My almost four-year-old is consistently using more and more English. She never fully speaks solely in English to me, but whereas before she’d say an English word or two in a sentence, lately she’s been known to say full sentences. I know there’s nothing wrong with this and I was expecting this would start happening, but it seems like it’s happening a bit faster than I anticipated. I can’tRead More ...