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.

My 5 y/o daughter has been doing great in both languages. Both parents are native Spanish speakers so it hasn’t been ‘so’ hard to keep her Spanish active: we only speak Spanish at home.
Last year, in PreK, she had Spanish class once a week and complained of getting bored during that class. Now in Kindergarten, she is dreading going to Spanish class even more. I spoke with the Spanish teacher and expressed my concern, but her response was that 95% of her class is monolingual (English) so she can’t really do much for my daughter. I understand the teacher’s situation, but I don’t want my daughter to associate Spanish with an ‘uncool’ or boring experience. I will talk to the principal but feel I have to offer suggestions for other activities my daughter can do during Spanish class, or strategies to motivate her.
I need your help ¡por favor! Any suggestions?

–Andrea

Hola/Hi Andrea ~

These challenges of getting bored during class occur often with children, and as a classroom teacher I hope my suggestions and real-life experiences will provide you, your daughter’s teacher and your daughter with some fun and practical solutions.  Five is such a fun year, full of exploring and learning and sharing!  The ideas below will take into account various learning styles:

1.   Ask your daughter’s teacher to allow your daughter to be a co-teacher on a particular finger play, song or activity that she is doing each class.  The communication for the co-teaching can take place via e-mail between you and the teacher so that excuses of missed phone calls do not interrupt accomplishing this goal.  Allowing your daughter to become part of the teaching will make her cool to the other kids, boost her self-esteem while speaking her native language, and allow the other children to learn right along with a peer.  Stress that you are asking for only one song or one activity – not for your daughter to co-teach the entire time!

2.    Encourage the use of music during the Spanish teacher’s class without telling her what or how to teach. At this age of 5 (and through the early elementary school years) children love learning with music, and the retention of concepts introduced through music is for the long term.  Perhaps even pull some things off the internet prior to speaking with her that incorporate teaching math with music and both languages or weather with a song in Spanish.  Kindergarten students LOVE learning with music, and your daughter will find herself more engaged with movement as part of a class where before she had been bored.

3.    Offer to volunteer in your daughter’s Spanish class once a month (or if you are unable, your husband or friend who speaks Spanish could volunteer).  The goal here is to incorporate other styles of introducing Spanish as a second language – be it a new visual approach with an engaging bilingual big book, a cool puppet show with two of you introducing Spanish through the characters, or even a finger play that you grew up enjoying with your Spanish-speaking family.  When parents offer to volunteer to help in a class where their child is challenged with a situation it shows the teacher and your child that you have a vested interest in making things terrific.

On a side note, I would suggest not going to the Principal of the school until you have approached the teacher with a willingness to help.  Make certain you express your need for help from her to maintain your daughter’s love of her native language (which could easily be diminished should she continue dreading going to Spanish class).  Again, it’s all about the way in which you approach the teacher.  Try to keep her on the offensive by asking her for help and offering the above suggestions in a non-threatening manner.

Parents and teachers working together can do wonderful things for the future of our children and our world!

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

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.

I’ve been researching how to accomplish this and I’m extremely overwhelmed with the amount of information I’m finding and have no idea where to start. There are so many products out there that claim to help teach a child English and Spanish that I don’t know which one to go with (or what combination to use). Any tips? Any starter kits that I should look in to?

Many thanks!

Roxanne”

Hola / Hi Roxanne ~

I agree that there is an overwhelming amount of information, myths, products and free advice from family and friends when it comes to raising your child to be bilingual!  It’s enough to make your head spin.

Fear not – that maternal instinct is so often what we all need to listen to and follow when it comes right down to any big decision surrounding our child’s well being and development.

I hope to provide you a few places to turn to in the following bullet points:

• Always, always, always I refer moms and teachers to the book titled The Bilingual Edge which is chock-full of great advice for monolingual and bilingual parents who hope to raise their children speaking more than one language.  When advice in this format comes from moms who are in the trenches daily with their own families it takes on a lot more credibility.  Once you read this book you will be better prepared to make a great decision on how you and your husband want to introduce Spanish and English to your child – a way that fits your lifestyle and beliefs.  The book (Kindle edition or hard copy) is easily found on Amazon.com.

• Next I point you to a comprehensive article on raising bilingual children that I published a couple years back (look to point #5 specifically for Spanish-speaking families).

• Lastly (see – I told you I would give you just a FEW so as not to overwhelm you!) I suggest you stay on SpanglishBaby.com as an active member.  Listening in, contributing as you can, and learning from others mistakes, experiences and life lessons will certainly add to your ammunition as you create the best learning ground for your bilingual baby, toddler and preschool age child.

The key to remember is that the first five years of life are in fact THE MOST FORMATIVE.   Wire that little brain with as much quality, enriched learning as possible so that he will be ready to take on all of the global greatness of our communities!

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

To send us a question now, just submit an email to madre@spanglishbaby.com with the subject: QUESTION FOR THE EXPERTS. Please make sure you include your name as you would like it to appear on the post.

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.

I had some Spanish in high school and college and when my son turned one I decided to pick it back up and start teaching him. I have a tutor and my Spanish has improved tremendously over the last year, but now that he’s two I feel like I’ve hit a plateau and he is now soaking up everything! Also, I’m the only one who speaks it, so keeping it up is very hard since I can’t speak to other adults in Spanish.~Kate”

Hola Kate –

I love that you have chosen Spanish as the second language for your son – particularly since you have quite a nice personal history with the language yourself.  (Not to mention that with the latest 2010 Census Stats being released, the second majority language in our United States remains Spanish and is hands-down the 2nd language your son will find himself using on an every day basis.)

You asked for two things – advice and resources.

Let’s go after advice first:

1.    The experts are agreeing that it is just as easy for a child to learn two words for one item as it is to learn only one word.  Weaving in your own knowledge of Spanish vocabulary words and phrases as you go through your day is wonderful for your son’s young brain.  Saying both the English word, then the Spanish word as you encounter an object is highly recommended.

2.    Even when you feel you hit a plateau, know that that is a temporary state.  Adults and children go through various learning phases/stages on their second language journey.  You have taken on the challenge of improving your personal language growth in Spanish while trying to jump-start your son’s!  You are to be congratulated and celebrated (particularly since you have no one else helping your son with his Spanish).

3.    Not knowing your take on allowing TV come into play, I would suggest a little preschool TV in Spanish (see resources below).  The immersion in Spanish via a quality preschool program will be a nice addition to your personal interaction time with your son.

4.    When using your Spanish tutor for your Spanish language development, try often to hold conversations and not simply focus on the grammar, etc of the language.  For example, I used Skype to communicate weekly with my tutor from Costa Rica, and he would have pre-planned discussion themes around news items of the past week.  Using topical discussions keeps the second language real and near to your life.

Now for resources amiga Kate:

1.    I highly suggest reading the book The Bilingual Edge.  This book is written by two moms who are Ph.D.s in linguistics plus they have children of their own who they are raising to be bilingual and trilingual!  They live what they write about.  The book gives hope to us non-native speakers that we CAN give the gift of a second language to our young children – using interaction as the key to our success.

2.   OnLineFreeSpanish is a site that, as your son progresses to using a computer (again, I do not know your home situation and the use of media in your daily routine), will provide him many, many bilingual lessons, downloadable activity and coloring pages.

3.    Use a Google search to find other bilingual resources that will bring together the English and Spanish language for your child in a fun way.  At the age of two, it’s all about making the learning fun.  Music tends to be a much sought after medium for instructing toddlers and preschool age children (retention tends to be longer when music is involved in the learning process).  My own site, BocaBeth, has an abundance of free resources in our area titled Free Bilingual Resources.

My suggestion is to continue to combine your knowledge with the existing resources out there that will make the Spanish learning fun, relevant and practical for your every day routine.  ¡Feliz educando!  Happy Educating!

“My son is enrolled in a Spanish immersion elementary school. This is our first year and he is in first grade. Prior to this, he had very limited Spanish language exposure. He is loving it and we are happy with his acceptance with the new environment and routine.

Neither my husband or I speak or read Spanish. How can we foster his learning to read Spanish at home? I go to the library and am overwhelmed with all the choices of children’s Spanish books. He will sit and read them, but I can’t really help him sound out the words, nor do I have the vocabulary to know what most of the words mean.

Any tips or suggestions for what we can do at home to supplement learning to read in Spanish? Are there certain types of books we could read together? He is an excellent reader in English and he’s super interested in learning to read Spanish. I don’t want it to become a frustrating experience for him.

Deonne”

Don’t despair Deonne!  There are lots of ways to bring reading into your home in Spanish even though you do not speak or read Spanish yourself as the parent.  Tips are as follows:

• Seek out a baby sitter who speaks Spanish and English.  So often there are students in our communities trying to make some extra money while still in school.  Utilize the sitting services of a bilingual student instead of a monolingual one and allow this once-a-week visit be not only date night for you and your husband but also ‘tutor night’ for your son.

• Using an online search engine, find read-aloud with CD books for kids in Spanish.  I personally know of Me & Mi Publishing company that has a CD accompanying their Spanish books so that you and your son can read and listen along to some terrific stories in the new language.

• Ask your child’s teachers for resources.  These teachers are with your child every Monday – Friday and see what sparks his interest and his passion for Spanish as his second language.  Enlist their aid in gathering items for home use that will reinforce what is being learned in the classroom each day.  Believe me, as a teacher I would be all over helping any parent who asked for additional ideas, tips and resources to continue the educational process in the home.

• Take your son to any and every story time that is age-appropriate for him at local libraries and recreational centers.  What?  You can’t find any?  Why not start your own then?  Build a network of families whose children are also enrolled in this immersion elementary school and have each family take a week and plan a 30 minute story time in Spanish.  Story time could include a guest reader (think local Latino news anchor, some child’s grand parent, or even a community helper such as a policeman, fireman or doctor).  It could also include an art activity that is conducted in Spanish and follows the theme of the story.

Lots of ideas start to roll around once you get brainstorming.  Hey!  That’s another idea.  I am sure you and your husband are not the only ones facing this challenge.  Have a meeting of the minds of all parents from the elementary school who are hoping to foster their children’s learning to read Spanish at home.  You will find you are not alone.

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.

–Andrea

Hola/Hi Andrea ~

These challenges of getting bored during class occur often with children, and as a classroom teacher I hope my suggestions and real-life experiences will provide you, your daughter’s teacher and your daughter with some fun and practical solutions.  Five is such a fun year, full of exploring and learning and sharing!  The ideas below will take into account various learning styles:

1.   Ask your daughter’s teacher to allow your daughter to be a co-teacher on a particular finger play, song or activity that she is doing each class.  The communication for the co-teaching can take place via e-mail between you and the teacher so that excuses of missed phone calls do not interrupt accomplishing this goal.  Allowing your daughter to become part of the teaching will make her cool to the other kids, boost her self-esteem while speaking her native language, and allow the other children to learn right along with a peer.  Stress that you are asking for only one song or one activity – not for your daughter to co-teach the entire time!

2.    Encourage the use of music during the Spanish teacher’s class without telling her what or how to teach. At this age of 5 (and through the early elementary school years) children love learning with music, and the retention of concepts introduced through music is for the long term.  Perhaps even pull some things off the internet prior to speaking with her that incorporate teaching math with music and both languages or weather with a song in Spanish.  Kindergarten students LOVE learning with music, and your daughter will find herself more engaged with movement as part of a class where before she had been bored.

3.    Offer to volunteer in your daughter’s Spanish class once a month (or if you are unable, your husband or friend who speaks Spanish could volunteer).  The goal here is to incorporate other styles of introducing Spanish as a second language – be it a new visual approach with an engaging bilingual big book, a cool puppet show with two of you introducing Spanish through the characters, or even a finger play that you grew up enjoying with your Spanish-speaking family.  When parents offer to volunteer to help in a class where their child is challenged with a situation it shows the teacher and your child that you have a vested interest in making things terrific.

On a side note, I would suggest not going to the Principal of the school until you have approached the teacher with a willingness to help.  Make certain you express your need for help from her to maintain your daughter’s love of her native language (which could easily be diminished should she continue dreading going to Spanish class).  Again, it’s all about the way in which you approach the teacher.  Try to keep her on the offensive by asking her for help and offering the above suggestions in a non-threatening manner.

Parents and teachers working together can do wonderful things for the future of our children and our world!

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

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.

We are expecting our first bilingual baby in August 2010 and would like to speak mostly Spanish in the home. (I learned Spanish as young adult and my partner was raised in a Spanish-speaking household in the U.S.). How can I convince my monolingual English-speaking mother that this choice is not rejecting “my side of the family” or closing her off from her grandchild-to-be?

Thanks,  Megan.“

Bueno, Megan … let’s habla!  I so remember my mom being full of free, unsolicited advice during the birth of all three of my children so realize that this is not the first, nor will it be the last time she (and other well-meaning family members) throws in her two cents worth of advice and/or commentary!

Convincing someone of something so personal takes diplomacy and tact!  Tread lightly amiga and with kindness and smiles.  You will accomplish much with a positive approach.  I know you probably already know that but during the last few weeks of pregnancy, being kind to all of these free advice givers is not always easy.

Here is a step-by-step path to follow to help win her over to you and your husband’s bilingual efforts:

1.    Place post it notes around your home reminding you to smile and be kind.  Daily reminders in writing work wonders. Make them funny, kind of like an inside joke between you and your husband.

2.    Check out the book titled The Bilingual Edge or, better yet, buy it for your mom and ask her for a favor.  Ask her to read it before your child is born.  The book is an easy read and one that’s very convincing from two moms who happen to be Ph.D.s in linguistics.  Let these authors do the “expert” convincing for you!

3.    Invite your mom to family gatherings where both English and Spanish are spoken – before the birth of your baby and as your baby joins your family.  She will witness the amazing flow between both languages and perhaps even inquire as to how she can pick up some basic vocabulary in Spanish.

4.    Find out about local library events that showcase Spanish or Spanish and English, local arts & crafts festivals where the flavors of Latin American culture are highlighted via the sights, smells and sounds, and encourage your mom to join you and your husband and baby.

5.    Avoid taking the defensive when the subject is brought up by your mom.  Realize that being close to you and your family is one of her top priorities in life, and she views the language barrier as an obstacle for getting and staying close to all of you.  Instead, take the loving, upbeat approach and speak Spanish with a sonrisa/smile … one large enough to melt any mom’s heart and win her over.

¡Buena suerte Megan!  You can do this and have everyone come out feeling great!

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.

“I have 2 sons: a 6 year old and a 3 year old. We read books in Spanish, watch v-Me, sing songs in Spanish and my husband and I communicate to them mostly in Spanish. However, my 6 year old refuses to speak it. He understands most of what we say to him but seems to have trouble recalling words when he needs them, so he’d rather not try.

At the moment I’m homeschooling my kids and I try to incorporate Spanish into as much of what is being taught as possible, but being that I only studied Spanish in elementary school I sometimes have to fall back to English to explain the subject more clearly. Sometimes, it seems like no matter what I try, English will win the race. Can you give me some suggestions on how to motivate my son to speak Spanish?”

Hola Marlene ~

First of all, I commend you and your husband on making certain to bring Spanish into your daily routine for your sons.  Daily exposure is the key to making certain that they learn and retain both Spanish and English.  I have presented at several homeschooling conventions, and there are two things that stand out in my mind that I feel you might want to incorporate as soon as possible to help your 6-year-old begin to verbalize his Spanish more often and with enthusiasm.

1.    Enlist the assistance of your older son to be the maestro/teacher for your younger son.  Have him sing a song with his younger brother while using props to make the song come alive or bilingual language cards to bring the learning to life!  If they are watching a segment on TV in either language, ask your older son to help explain the main vocabulary words from the segment to his brother.  (Perhaps you and he could create a word list from the show – about 6-8 words per segment should be sufficient.)  Begin having him read a book to his brother and have him ask his brother questions in Spanish about the story, the characters, the pictures, etc.  Giving him the chance to show off for you and his brother might be just the spark of motivation he needs!

2.    Across our country there are homeschooling co-ops, and I urge you to join one in your local area that will provide your sons an opportunity to learn with other children – whether it’s on field trips, co-op group meetings, or perhaps language sessions – these occasional co-op meetings might be the key to showing your sons that it’s cool to speak more than one language because all of the other children are learning a second language as well!  *One note here:  If this does not appeal to you, I urge you to find a playgroup or start one of your own that focuses on Spanish learning for young children.  Your boys need to witness other children enjoying speaking more than English.

Remember that your children go through ‘stages’ in many things, including their desire to speak in different languages.  They will default to what is easier (just as you expressed that you do) at times, and the key to success is to stick with it with a smile!  Try your best to model what you want from your sons – flowing back and forth between English and Spanish is fine and will give them the clues and cues that they need to feel success in both languages.

I will never forget the day I visited a preschool as ‘Ms. Music,’ and a group of 5 year olds insisted that they knew their days of the week in Spanish from a Spanish song they have been singing for months.  They proudly sang through the song (with wonderful pronunciation I might add!) and when asked, after the song was over, which day of the week was ‘Monday’ not one of them could tell me.  Nor could they tell me the word for ‘Friday.’  My point here is that, as your children are learning one language, it’s easier and often times more effective to give them both languages.  So, don’t worry if you end up speaking English even though you were hoping to use only Spanish.

You are doing what a minority of parents around our country are doing and that is to give your child the gift of a second language before the age of eight!  ¡Excelente amiga!  Excellent friend!

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.

Today we welcome yet another new expert to our ever-growing Ask an Expert panel. Please welcome bilingual educator and founder of the Boca Beth Spanish learning series, Beth Butler.

Christine, mother to one girl, sent us this question:

“I am very fluent in English and probably about 75% fluent in Spanish. Although I am a native speaker, I lost most of my Spanish when I moved to the US at age 6, and only brushed up once a year on trips back to Central America.

My husband does not speak any Spanish nor do most of my friends. I have been speaking Spanish to my daughter (although there is no accent I am pretty rusty in my vocab) since she was born. I speak Spanish to her all day and then switch to Spanglish once her daddy comes home or when we are with friends. I thought initially this would be enough, but the more I read about raising a bilingual child and the more moms I meet who are trying to raise their children bilingual the more I start to feel that what I am doing isn’t enough. It is tough for me to speak 100% Spanish as my vocab isn’t perfect.

My question: IS WHAT I AM DOING ENOUGH?

Thanks for any advise I can get.”

Dear Christine:

Any amount of Spanish you speak with your daughter is a gift to her, Christine!  Remember that what you are able to do (Spanish AND English) is more than what most parents can do who have command of only one language.  Start off being super proud of yourself and feel confident about being your child’s first teacher.

Do you know how well-wired your own brain is for Spanish?  Experts agree that getting the neural pathway connections made for language learning before the age of five is the optimum experience, and you, my friend/amiga mía, are there! Now it’s your responsibility to give your daughter this same gift (though from your question, I am not certain how old she is right now.)  Using music with the Spanish will help to wire that native language in her little brain.  Don’t we all remember learning concepts, facts, languages with songs?  This universal language of music does not change and is very powerful in the young child’s learning.

Incorporate Spanish TV while at home with your daughter – not only to expose her to other mediums using Spanish, but this will also allow you to have a daily refresher on your own Spanish vocabulary and grammar.  (Personally I watch las noticias/the news to maintain my fluency, but I would not recommend that for you and your daughter’s quality mommy/daughter viewing time.)  Check into children’s TV programming by visiting sites such as Sorpresa TV and V-me Niños, and remember that many children’s shows now incorporate some Spanish, such as PBS Kids Dragon Tales.

You want to become more confident in your Spanish, and I would recommend (in addition to your adult Spanish TV of las novelas or las noticias during your alone time!) finding an online Spanish instructional course that features a live exchange of dialogue in Spanish only.  I have personally looked into www.myplt.com and know that this type of personal commitment to your native language will help rebuild your confidence level.

Remember what fellow moms and Ph.D.s in linguistics Kendall King and Alison Mackey remind us all of in their book The Bilingual Edge:  Rich, dynamic, and meaningful interaction is critical and more important than having a perfect native-speaker model.  As parents we are often our children’s very first and most meaningful teacher.  Be proud of that job and feel confident in the tools you possess to give your child the best start in life.

Beth Butler

Beth Butler is a 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. Beth Butler shares her passion for second language instruction with children, parents and educators via interactive children’s concerts, keynotes, workshops, a YouTube Channel and her company’s bilingual product line. Read more about Beth Butler and Boca Beth here.