Must Reads

I hate to use the word “mistakes” because I think the journey can be difficult enough without adding any more pressure. Mostly I just wanted to compile a list of some of the things that parents have been known to do which have hindered the process of raising a bilingual child. They’re really meant more as reference than as a list of “thou shalt not” dos. While I was researching this topic, ...

One of the biggest challenges we face in our bilingual journey is being consistent and finding ways to nurture the minority language outside the home. No matter which method your family chooses to use–OPOL (One Parent, One Language) or mL@H (Minority Language at Home)–it’s important to have resources and strategies to immerse your child in the second language in fun and playful ways. ...

¡Hola y bienvenidos! Thanks a million for coming to visit. We hope you take a few minutes to check out SpanglishBaby so you can see for yourselves what we are all about… As two Latina, first-time mothers, Ana and I found ourselves with lots of questions about how to raise our daughters bilingual in a monolingual society. SpanglishBaby is the answer to all those doubts…and more! We hope to become the online community to go to when anyone (not onlyRead More ...

Before Vanessa started preschool a couple of months after she turned two, I often wondered how she was going to survive for four hours surrounded solely by English.  I worried that others would think she had no manners because even though she already understood the concept of “gracias” and “por favor,” she knew nothing about “thanks” and “please.” I explained the situation to her teachers and they reassured me everything would be fine. You see, up until then, her lifeRead More ...

In most parts of the world, being bilingual is seen as an advantage. Back in Peru, my maternal grandfather sent my mother and her sisters to a bilingual (English/Spanish) school from kindergarten on. My parents sent both my sister and I to that same bilingual school. I hope to do the same for my daughter – send her to a bilingual school, that is. And, it seems like we’re not alone. According to some estimates, 75% of the world’s populationRead More ...

It Can´t Hurt I never really questioned whether or not Vanessa would grow up bilingual. As far as I knew, we would talk to her in our first language, Spanish, from the moment she was born. English, I figured, she would pick up from her surroundings – we live in Colorado – and eventually in preschool. In fact, the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that I want Vanessa to be multilingual. It can’t hurt. ItRead More ...