Daily Blog

My son Enzo recently started day care. Because I was afraid that full time day care or nursery school would introduce too much English too soon, I decided to go with a part time program. I feel I’ve made the right decision because It’s only been about a month and he already throws around English words in our conversations. I do not act surprised or scold, I simply say, “¿quieres decir _____? ” and insert the word in Spanish. HeRead More ...

The past couple of summers, my family and I have taken vacations that have enabled us to be immersed in Spanish. Our goals have always been to improve our language skills, to learn about and visit the historical sites throughout the country, and to experience the culture. My previous SpanglishBaby posts about our travel experiences always included information about our activities, our Spanish classes, and the home-stays. In the comments section, there were often requests for further information and moreRead More ...

It was back to school for both my children today and while we they had an amazing summer immersed in Spanish, neither is enrolled in a dual language immersion school. This means we have to work hard at home to maintain the Spanish flowing. I’m not really concerned about their speaking skills, as Spanish is the dominant language in our home, but I am concerned about their abilities to read and write in my native tongue. This is particularly trueRead More ...

In preparation for our addition to the family, my husband and I have switched to speaking Spanish to each other nearly all the time. We even text in Spanish. This is a pretty big break from our pattern of communicating in English with each other and Spanish only with the other native speakers in our life. I have always known that it’s difficult for me to use Spanish when I’m upset, angry, or otherwise emotionally out of sorts. However, IRead More ...

Last Sunday July 28, Peru celebrated its 192nd Independence Day. In Peru, the celebrations extend from the 28 to the 30. This period is known as Fiestas Patrias and most people take these days off. There is a big military parade broadcast on TV and the Peruvian flag is hung everywhere. Although we are far from there, I still want my kids to know about my culture and somehow live the experience of Fiestas Patrias. So I had this idea to start teaching G {L knows some things already since we’veRead More ...

I am Polish, my husband is German and we live in the Netherlands. I was raised in a multilingual family — my mother speaks English and my father speaks French and they both speak Polish and German. With our children, we have naturally assumed the OPOL approach in which I speak Polish with them and my husband speaks German. I read a lot about bilingualism. All the books warned that it is normal for children to rebel against parents andRead More ...

Editor’s note: We continue with our 31 Days of Reading in Spanish. Check out the book review below and don’t forget to enter our weekly GIVEAWAY of $100 worth of books in Spanish! This is the last week, so you have until July 31 to enter. BOOK DESCRIPTION/REVIEW Mexican cinematographer Pepe Valle got the idea for the story of Cali y Mona when he read a newspaper article about a blind young lady that had gone her 23 years of life without a guideRead More ...

Editor’s note: We continue with our 31 Days of Reading in Spanish. Check out the book review below and don’t forget to enter our weekly GIVEAWAY of $100 worth of books in Spanish! This is the last week, so you have until July 31 to enter. BOOK DESCRIPTION/REVIEW There are so many good things to say about the series of books written by Peruvian sisters Andrea and Claudia Paz that I truly don’t know where to begin. For starters, not only do theyRead More ...