February is a great month not only because I get to celebrate another year of life, but because it also marks SpanglishBaby’s anniversary. We’re on our fourth year now and in our constant effort to offer even more resources for parents raising bilingual and bicultural children, we’re super excited to announce our very first SpanglishBaby Live Google+ Hangout.

WHAT: An opportunity for you to ask questions and discuss topics on bilingualism LIVE with Ana, myself and one of many experts on bilingualism, including many who contribute to our Ask an Expert series, on a biweekly basis. If you’ve never joined a Google+ Hangout, let me explain that it’s just like hanging out with a bunch of friends except that you’re not all in the same room.

WHEN: Our very first Hangout will be taking place next Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 1:00pm EST.

WHO: We’re super happy that the first expert joining us is also the very first expert who agreed to work with us for our Ask an Expert series: Simona Montari, PhD. Simona is an Assistant Professor of Child and Family Studies at California State University in Los Angeles. She is the department’s expert in early multilingual development and has a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Southern California. Simona is Italian and she’s also a mommy to trilingual daughters aged 3 and 4 1/2. In addition, she conducts a workshop titled: “How to Raise a Bilingual Child” in the Los Angeles area.

In our first Hangout On Air, Simona, Ana, myself and other special guests will be discussing the very popular topic of dual language immersion schools and what parents can do to make these programs a reality in their communities.

HOW: If you’d like to have your question related to raising bilingual and/or bicultural kids answered by ourselves or one of our experts, please fill out this form. If you’re interested in participating in one of our SpanglishBaby Live Google+ Hangouts, you’ll be able to let us know in the form too.

There are many ways for you to be part of this Google Hangout online.

1. First of all, RSVP on the event page.

2. Add the SpanglishBaby Google+ Page to your Circles.

3. On Tuesday, Feb. 12, starting at 1:00pm EST the SpanglishBaby Live Hangout will go on air and you’ll be able to watch it on the event page, here on SpanglishBaby and on our YouTube channel.

4. The hashtag for all our SpanglishBaby Live Hangouts is #BilingualKids and you can use it on Google+, Twitter or Instagram and we’ll find you!

5. Once the Hangout is over, a recording of it will be made available for all to view, share and/or embed on the SpanglishBaby YouTube channel.

That’s it! If you want to learn more about Google+ Hangouts On Air, check out this page. Feel free to leave us any questions or suggestions in the comments area below, on the event page or our Google+ page and Community!

I have spent my professional career teaching Spanish to high school-aged students and older. However, now I am working with a few friends’ children; their parents want them to be exposed to Spanish and to become possibly bilingual. I know the latter is nearly impossible since none of the parents speak Spanish and the girls have little exposure to it outside of their time with me. There is a chance for a babysitter to attend to their needs but the majority of the parents are looking for a more academic approach to their learning.

My concern and question is…what do you think the best approach is for me during my one-hour a week with them? They enjoy games but become frustrated when they are losing because of language and they refuse to use Spanish during the competition (they are 5, 6, 7, 8 years old). Their competiveness spirit is not helping them use the language. Songs are not their thing. We have used art to describe and speak but I believe they are getting tired of that as well.

Second, do you think one hour is enough since they are not hearing Spanish outside of my time with them; should I recommend time with bilingual families?

Again, I am at loss and a bit frustrated. Any guidance?

Thank you.

Andrea Romano Vespoint”

Hi Andrea / Hola Andrea,

As most of us realize one hour each week is not enough to help these young ones become bilingual.  I applaud anyone attempting to expose their children to more than just their native language, but the research has shown that once-a-week-exposure will not help you raise a bilingual child.

What are the benefits of once-a-week-exposure?

1. Neural pathway connections are formed for later language learning
2. A genuine curiosity about second languages, other cultures and their people is stirred
3. Exposure to more than one language is helpful to the cognitive development of a child

What can you do with this particular mix of 5-8 year olds to keep the Spanish learning at its optimum experience?

1. Incorporate storytelling with puppets assigning each child a part in the story based on their personality, level of Spanish proficiency, and their interest in this medium
2. Use cooking during your time with them – alternating the week’s lesson with arts & crafts, cooking, games that are not competitive but simply playful, and music.  (I know you mentioned they are not into music but given the right props to use with the songs they could be coaxed to try it.  Using bilingual songs with a catchy beat combined with props from the Dollar Store will make the music relevant, and we all know how much music lends itself to long term retention in learning.)
3. Allow a child to be the “maestro/teacher” for a part of each week’s time together.  Give them the ‘assignment’ the week prior so that they might prepare something ahead of time using their parent’s computer, iPad, Android App or simply a library book to bring to your Spanish fun time the following week.  Kids love being teachers to their peers, and it allows for the learning to grow organically.

What should you suggest to this group of parents to increase the exposure to Spanish as their children’s second language?

1. Encourage attendance of any and all local festivals, library events, and beyond that feature Spanish food, music and language.
2. Suggest they visit their local library for free resources that appeal to their individual child’s learning style using the Spanish language.
3. Inform them of FREE online resources that provide them tools as parents to learn right along with their children (here are two FREE ones:http://www.bocabeth.com/Bilingual_Resource_Area/default.php  and http://www.onlinefreespanish.com/ )

 
With these suggestions, tips and tools I am certain you will feel positive about the gift you are providing this future generation of children.

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!  ~ Boca Beth

Beth Butler.-Bilingual educator of young children and strives to create better communication within our increasingly diverse society. She is the founder of the internationally acclaimed Boca Beth language learning series which has garnered various parenting awards.  Ms. Butler lived in Chile and Mexico where she learned Spanish as her second language and has been bilingual and biliterate for more than 30 years. She has spent over 25 years in the field of preschool and elementary education writing and recording four bilingual music CDs in Spanish and English, as well as producing three bilingual educational movies for children.  Read Beth Butler´s answers here.

Hi, my name is Erin, and my husband and I are raising our almost-2-year-old bilingual, using no real method.  My native language is English, my husband’s is Spanish.  We decided against OPOL because I am a SAHM and I spend the most time with our son (my husband is often gone for weeks at a time for work).  My native language is English, so if we did OPOL, my son would get VERY little exposure to Spanish.  For the most part, we speak Spanish at home, with some English mixed in.  My son understands both, but tends to answer in Spanish, and nearly all of the words he says are Spanish.  I know he will learn English, that’s not even a concern of mine, but my concern is… I am NOT a native Spanish speaker.  I am fluent, but I have an accent, and I do make grammatical errors.  So are we doing more harm than good in that he is with me most of the time, we speak Spanish most of the time, but my Spanish is not native-speaker quality? I’m hoping to put him into a bilingual school, which I’m sure will help with both languages, but for now I’m afraid he’s not going to know either language well

What are your thoughts on our “method” or lack thereof?

Dear Erin,

You say you have no method, but it seems to me that by speaking Spanish along with your husband, you have adopted a perfect method to maximize the amount of Spanish your child hears—and is motivated to speak. From what other people in the U.S. tell me, that’s a very good plan, especially since your husband, the native Spanish speaker, is often away from home.

For the question you ask – Will speaking to my child in a non-native accent do more harm than good — my book, Raising a Bilingual Child, has several sections devoted to the answer. My opinion is that you do *much more good* by giving the child more opportunity and more motivation to use the language that won’t be reinforced by the community (pages 146-148!). The book also provides testimony from at least four non-native parents in the case studies. One very helpful example is a published case about Australian George Saunders, who taught his children German. He has a lot of tips for a person in your position (as does Jane Merrill, also cited in my book).

As long as you are not the ONLY Spanish model the child ever has, he will be very unlikely to pick up your accent, and he will probably end up eventually correcting your errors (which you may find annoying : ). 

So, I wouldn’t worry about your non-native Spanish as long as you’re fluent and comfortable with it.  But I would work to get some native Spanish models in your lives (for both of you), especially when your husband is away.  There are always tapes and videos, and you mention that you want to find a bilingual school for your son, which will be good.  Meanwhile, can you enlist any of your husband’s relatives to come and play with you and your boy in Spanish from time to time?  Are there any college students you could pay for a few hours of language immersion for the two of you?  A play group?  A Spanish church?  You will be surprised, I think, even in very monolingual towns how many speakers of other languages there are, but you sometimes have to go looking for them.

Remember, as a language model for your son, you are not only providing new words and grammar.  By speaking Spanish with him, you are creating an environment where Spanish is welcome all the time.  That gives the child more time to practice and consolidate what he’s learning. And you are demonstrating that Spanish is a language worth learning. This adds to his motivation to learn the language. Those are very big gifts you are giving your child. I would be very proud to be doing what you are doing. I hope you keep it up.

Best wishes,

Barbara

Barbara Zurer Pearson, Ph. D. – A bilingualism expert with over twenty years of research experience in the fields of bilingualism, linguistics, and communication disorders, Pearson is the author of the informative and extremely useful book Raising a Bilingual Child. She is currently a Research Associate at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her pioneering work on bilingual learning by infants and children and on language assessment has been published in scholarly journals and in the book Language and Literacy in Bilingual Children. You can see her answers by going here and follow her work through her blog.

Do you have a question for our experts? Remember no question is too big or too simple. So, to send us your question, please click here or leave a comment below. Thank you!

“Should I speak to my child in a language not my own?”

I have a question that is similar to the June 1st week question – “Should I speak to my child in a language not my own?” however, my situation differs slightly, and so perhaps the answer will be too:  My daughter, Zaya, was born in Brazil a year ago and grew up among her father’s family and community hearing Portuguese.  At home, her father and I spoke mostly English to each other (my native language), and to Zaya, we each spoke our mother tongue. Now, at 13 months, Zaya is living in the United States and her father is still in Brazil. There are very few people in her life who are speaking to her in Portuguese except for the occasional Skype phone calls.  I would like to continue to use Portuguese words while building her vocabulary, since she already knows and responds to them.  I would also like to speak to her in Portuguese, even though it’s not perfect and I’m sure I’m making some mistakes. But I would hate for her to return to Brazil in a year to visit and not understand what her relatives are saying to her.  Do you have any advice?

Thanks,
Carly

Hi Carly!

This is such an excellent question, and one that plagues me and other non-native speakers of languages who would like to pass their languages on to their children.

I think the answer to your question: “Should I speak to my child in a language not my own?” warrants the timelessly frustrating response: “it depends.” It depends on your goals. If you are interested in exposing your child to the language, keeping the language fresh, maintaining a connection to the sounds and syntax of the language, then I think sí!, by all means speak to her in Portuguese.

However, your child will likely only develop a similar proficiency to your own, though likely not greater. You can supplement your child’s acquisition of the language (once she gets a little older, perhaps) with online resources like videos, podcasts and other web-based tools in Portuguese. Here are some good examples for kids:

• MidiSegni – coloring pages, games, activities using basic vocabulary in Portuguese.
• SoccerLingua – games and fun exercises to learn new phrases in five different languages: English, French, Portuguese, Swedish, and Turkish.
• ClubPenguin – a fun and safe virtual world in which kids take on the persona of a penguin and travel to different areas to play games and “meet” other penguins.

And the best way for your daughter to speak and understand Portuguese well, is for you to keep your proficiency level high. I also think it’s good for her to see “mamãe” learning Portuguese alongside her daughter! Here are some resources for maintaining your own proficiency:

• ieLanguages podcasts in Brazilian Portuguese.
• LyricsGaps music videos with gap activities.
• BBC Languages – vide-based language-learning tools online.
• LanguageGuide – visual picture dictionary in Portuguese organized by themes.
• Hello-Hello – learn English, Spanish, French and Portuguese in an interactive online forum from native speakers.

Boa sorte, Carly!

My wife Deni and I are trying to raise our daughter to speak three languages. My wife only speaks in Turkish. I speak in Spanish, and eventually her environment will teach her English. Right now, we have her in daycare on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Obviously, she gets little exposure to Turkish or Spanish on those days. My wife and I have been debating if it makes more sense to have her in day care three days in a row, or if for the purpose of trying to immerse her in our languages, it makes more sense to break it up. Right now, she’s exposed to Turkish and Spanish: Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and mostly English on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Would it make more sense to have her in day care every other day, like Monday, Wednesday, and Friday? My sense is this doesn’t make a big difference. What do you think? Any other advice for trilingual families? Take care, Mario

Dear Mario and Deni,

This is an interesting question—that we could easily debate all day. If you have a choice, should you try to avoid a 3-day gap when your daughter will hear less of your home languages and will hear mostly English?

I don’t think principles of language learning will decide it for us. As I tried to make clear in my book, there are many, many different ways to arrange your family’s language landscape to help your child learn your languages—and they all can work, provided they’re relatively consistent and give the child strong motivation to use the different languages when she is exposed to them.

For me, the important question is “what is your daughter’s temperament?”  How does she react to changes?  I remember my son as a toddler.  It was hard to get him to stop what he was doing to go somewhere.  Then once I got him there, it was just as hard to get him to leave!  If your daughter is like he was, she’ll take precious time away from today’s language by making a slow transition from yesterday’s language.  If so, she may do better with larger blocks of time before changing, as you currently have it.

Most likely, though, your daughter will accept whatever system makes the most sense for you and your work schedules.  We have lots of examples telling us we can associate each language with a person or place, not a time.  If you stay with your current system, I’d be careful during her daycare days to make sure I stayed in my language and didn’t also follow her to English. After all, you don’t mean for them to be “English days,” just a day when she hears more English in the mix.

The key is to watch your daughter’s reactions–as I’m sure you are doing anyway.  Does she show any distress when people change languages?  Is she slow to follow?  You don’t say how old she is, so we don’t know if she can tell you what she is feeling, but I think this aspect of temperament is evident in behavior from very early on.

Remember, too, that what you decide today can be modified later if you feel the need.  In my experience, language changes take about two months to take hold, so I don’t recommend flip-flopping.  But most children, like most adults, are amazingly flexible.

This is a good question to open up to other people who have been in your situation.  What do other Spanglishbaby readers have to say about Mario’s question?

Best wishes,

Barbara

Barbara Zurer Pearson, Ph. D. – A bilingualism expert with over twenty years of research experience in the fields of bilingualism, linguistics, and communication disorders, Pearson is the author of the informative and extremely useful book Raising a Bilingual Child. She is currently a Research Associate at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her pioneering work on bilingual learning by infants and children and on language assessment has been published in scholarly journals and in the book Language and Literacy in Bilingual Children. You can see her answers by going here and follow her work through her blog.

Do you have a question for our experts? Remember no question is too big or too simple. So, to send us your question, please click here or leave a comment below. Thank you!

Your son is currently being raised bilingual English and Spanish. Congratulations! As you have probably already realized – bilingualism takes up time and effort. This said a normally developing child can be raised trilingual without affecting development. The challenge is to assure on-going language in-put in all three languages. I would suggest that you discuss with your wife what your goals and proficiency level would you want your son to reach in each language. These goals can and should be amended over time, however they will help you answer the question that you raise: “when should we start and how much effort and what kind of activities should my child be doing in each language?” For instance aiming for written proficiency in one language that a child will get from school, is different from aiming for literacy proficiency in three languages. The later will require intensive training early on. Another important issue to discuss is the choice of language. This is a complex issue with obviously many facets, but as noted above, on-going language input will be key, so considering a language with strong availability for exposure will be important.

Naomi Steiner, M.D.– is a developmental-behavioral pediatrician and clinical researcher at the Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts where she is also an assistant professor in pediatrics. She is interested in how children develop awareness to cope with their emotions, behavior and learning. Dr. Steiner has a longstanding interest in bilingualism and multiculturalism, which is a topic that she enjoys teaching and discussing. After more than a decade of working closely with families around these issues she has written a book, with Susan Hayes, called 7 Steps to Raising a Bilingual Child. She is multilingual and is raising multilingual children. You can read her answers here.

Do you have a question for our experts? Remember no question is too big or too simple. So, to send us your question, please click here or leave a comment below. Thank you!

“My husband and I are expecting our first child in May 2010. My husband’s native language is Spanish, while mine is English. We mix the two languages all the time at home–often in the same sentence. Although I speak Spanish and am fairly fluent, I think I would prefer communicating with my child mostly in English. I am a little worried though that our child would not hear enough Spanish if only my husband speaks in Spanish. Also, if we mix the languages at home, I wonder if that will confuse our child.

I’ve browsed the site and seen references to a few different types of models. Where are the best resources for beginning to educate ourselves as to these models and other relevant information?

Thanks for your help!

Jana”

Dear Jana,

Congratulations on thinking ahead! This is definitely the time to be educating yourselves. Your best resources for it are right here:  books like mine, Raising a Bilingual Child, to let you see a range of experiences, and a website like Spanglishbaby with timely advice and a way to hook yourself up with other parents with similar needs and interests.

With your language background, you have your choice of the major household strategies: You could do “one-parent-one-language.” You could continue to mix languages and both speak in both languages with your child.  Or you could both speak only Spanish at home. How will you decide what’s best for *your* family?

First let’s set aside your worry that your language mixing will confuse your child.  Mixing is probably the most widespread “system” in the world, and there is no evidence that it is confusing for children.  Your child will likely not mix more than you do, or if so, only for a short time.  So, a household with mixed languages is still in the running. On the other hand, you feel you’d rather speak mostly English with the child. So, you need to look for who else could help with the Spanish end of things if you don’t.

I think you need to look further than just you and your husband. In my book (pages 159-160), I present a questionnaire to help you evaluate *all* your language resources.  What other speakers will there be in your child’s life?  grandparents? friends and visitors? household help?  Are any of them monolingual (in Spanish)?  Are there any bilingual schools in your area?  Do you anticipate being able to travel or make long visits in another country? and so on.  Fill out the self-evaluation questionnaire and then see where you stand.

It will help your child choose to speak Spanish, if at least some of the time it’s the only choice.  So, find some monolinguals.  Even if you decide to join your husband in speaking Spanish with the child (my personal preference), you’ll still want to create a broader community for yourselves and your Spanish. Monolingual speakers will help you, too.

You could use the time now, even before the baby is born, to search out as many sources of Spanish as you can.  Sounds like fun to me.

Feel free to contact me if you want to throw around some more alternatives ….

Best wishes,

Barbara

Barbara Zurer Pearson, Ph. D. – A bilingualism expert with over twenty years of research experience in the fields of bilingualism, linguistics, and communication disorders, Pearson is the author of the informative and extremely useful book Raising a Bilingual Child. She is currently a Research Associate at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her pioneering work on bilingual learning by infants and children and on language assessment has been published in scholarly journals and in the book Language and Literacy in Bilingual Children. You can see her answers by going here and follow her work through her blog.

Do you have a question for our experts? Remember no question is too big or too simple. So, to send us your question, please click here or leave a comment below. Thank you!