Daily Learning

I posed the following question on our Facebook page last week: Do you think it’s rude to speak the minority language with your children when you’re around people who don’t speak it? What do you do? These are a sample of the first responses we got: I kind of new what to expect, but I was still curious to get a feel for how you deal with this situation which doesn’t seem like a big deal when you have babiesRead More ...

My daughter, Vanessa, loves languages. Nothing could make me happier because I love languages too! We’re about a little over two months into our Trilingual Adventure with Little Pim – our journey to expose Vanessa to her third language: French, and I’m happy to report that things are going much better than I expected. I try to speak to her in French every single day, even if it’s not for an extended period of time. We either listen to LittleRead More ...

It’s been a little bit over a month since we jumped into our language-learning adventure with Little Pim. While there has definitely been some progress – Vanessa’s vocabulary in French has expanded a bit – I must admit I have an even bigger appreciation of those who don’t speak the minority language and are still raising their children bilingual. As I admitted to Julia Pimselur, Little Pim’s founder, during our monthly Skype “consultation,” this first month has been a realRead More ...

We got back from our trip to El Salvador just last week, and it already feels like it was so long ago.  Yet, the memories and benefits we gained from this trip are still well alive.  Some weeks ago I shared about Camila’s cultural immersion with her familia, and promised I’d be back to tell you more about her experience at a local, Spanish-language preschool. I made the decision to enroll her to a local preschool for two reasons: 1)Read More ...

By now, you probably know that I’ve decided to make a conscious effort to expose my daughter to a third language and that the one of choice is French. There are many reasons why I’ve chosen French, including the fact that it’s my third language, I love it, and there seems to be a good amount of resources to expose her to French in our area. As I mentioned in the past, my 4-year-old daughter, Vanessa, attended two weeks ofRead More ...

Author´s Note:  Last year I wrote this post because I was highly inspired and motivated to help out the RMHC Day of Change after a visit to one of the Los Angeles Ronald McDonald Houses and the families I met there.  In support of this year´s Day of Change, happening this Thursday, September 9th, I´m re posting this article so it can continue to inspire us to give our change in those little red boxes. They really do help familiesRead More ...

Many of you know through our tweets and our Facebook updates that my daughter and I are currently in El Salvador visiting the family for one whole month. It has been two years since the last time we were here and a trip was long overdue, especially for Camila. My daughter, who just turned three, has a long-distance relationship with everyone in her family, except for mamá and papá. I always feel guilty that, not only will she be anRead More ...

My four-year-old daughter, Vanessa, just finished two weeks of an immersion language summer camp…in FRENCH! I’ve been wanting her to go there since last summer, but things didn’t really work out the way I’d plan them and so we had to wait until this year. And, I’m actually glad we did! French is my third language and I’ve spoken to Vanessa in French in the past although not in a consistent or structured way. In fact, before her brother wasRead More ...