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Welcome! ¡Bienvenidos! We’re so thankful you are here! In case you didn’t know: SpanglishBaby was born out of a real necessity almost two years ago. Two professional, successful, bilingual Latina amigas became mothers and had nowhere to turn for answers to their burning questions about how to raise their daughters not only to speak both their languages, Spanish and English, but also to be very proud of their Latino raíces. While we know a lot of you have been withRead More ...

It’s been a while since the last time we took a look at the media buzz regarding bilingualism. In the past, we’ve let you know our reaction to newspaper articles, blog posts or videos related to bilingual education, Latino culture and the Spanish language. Now, we constantly share them on our Facebook page and strike up a conversation there. But what was in the news last week deserves a more in-depth look. The Los Angeles Times, printed three op-ed articlesRead 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 ...

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 ...

I used to be pretty harsh on myself if I couldn’t finish a sentence without going back and forth between English and Spanish when speaking with other bilinguals, an action commonly known as code-switching among linguists. Like many bilinguals and monolinguals alike, I simply believed this was wrong. I thought it meant I wasn’t really proficient in either language—even when I knew this not to be the case—or that I was simply forgetting my Spanish. I was wrong! In theRead More ...

“He’s confused.” This seems to be the refrain of my interactions with monolinguals these days. Talking is the big milestone for two-year-olds and would be the topic of conversation even if I weren’t speaking Spanish with my son. Because I am, though, it feels like a rather contentious subject. SpanglishBaby readers are already familiar with the debate over code-switching and its role in fluency. We know that experts confirm that mixing languages is a sophisticated linguistic skill, not a signRead More ...

This post was originally published on Feb. 3rd, 2009 under the title Away with the Myths. 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.Read More ...