As a multicultural and biracial familia, I was pretty clear about wanting to raise a bilingual child. Ah yes! It would be simple! I would speak to our child in Spanish and my husband would speak to him in English. Sound familiar? Yes, we were going to use the OPOL (One Parent One Language) method. However, things are not always as easy as they seem, right? You see, I had the desire but not a plan. I fell into the comfort of just speaking to our baby in English from the day he was born. After all, everyone spoke in English too!

During our son’s 4-year-old annual check-up, his pediatrician excitedly asked, “Is he bilingual?” Those three words weighed heavily on me. Other than counting his numbers and the basic colors that he learned from Dora in Spanish, no, he wasn’t bilingual. That’s when reality hit me! I started to panic! Literally to panic! I felt that the precious years for my baby to learn another language from birth to 5 was quickly slipping through my fingers. What was I going to do? Was it too late?

I started to strategize and make a plan. I started slowly by using the Language Boundary method from the book 7 Steps to Raising a Bilingual Child by Naomi Steiner. In this method, you use the target language during a specific situation, such as, time of day, location, or depending on an activity. I used this method during our bedtime story–speaking and reading to him in Spanish and then translating into English.

Then I had the opportunity to enroll him in a weekly preschool Spanish language immersion program. He was learning Spanish with other monolingual children his same age. He was excited and eager to learn Spanish. This is when I went into full Spanish-speaking mode with my child. At home, I started using the OPOL method. We read books, sang songs and played games, all in Spanish. I created opportunities for our child to speak Spanish, such as volunteering at his preschool summer camp a Spanish-language program and he was my little assistant. We also had the opportunity to spend two weeks in Puerto Rico during the summer immersed in a 100% Spanish environment.

Today I reflect on this past year and our journey into bilingualism. Looking back my only regret was not having started his language learning sooner. Nevertheless, speaking from my own personal experience, I can tell you that it’s never too late to start your child’s language learning.

My now 5-year-old speaks and understands Spanish very well. His language learning is still a work in progress, but if someone asks, “Is he bilingual?” I can happily respond, “Yes, he is!”

Frances is a part-time blogger, mommy and wife of a beautiful multicultural familia. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration with a certification in Human Resources. She blogs about heritage, culture, bilingualism, multicultural children’s books, and discovering the world through her son’s eyes. You can follow her at Discovering The World Through My Son’s Eyes.

{Photo by Que ma en}

When should academic centered schooling begin? This has been the question I have been grappling with for weeks. My daughter is not quite 3 and was accepted to a private dual language school for this coming fall where academics and inquiry-based learning is at the heart of what they do. This past January is also when we switched her to an “English school” where a play curriculum is at the heart of how children’s curiosity is nurtured. She is emotionally and socially thriving there and learning English fast, hence our interest to switch her to a Spanish school as soon as possible.

As I have gone to several observations at the dual language school I cannot help but compare the difference in the ways children are taught to think and socialize between the two schools. At the dual language school children are definitely being asked and taught how to be free thinkers, but at my daughters current child development center she gets to do what 2+ year olds love to do: get their hands dirty and have options of when and how they want to play no matter what time of day it is. In other words, if they want to paint all day, painting all day it is whether they are inside or out on the playground. I am not sure I am willing to give that playful and creative atmosphere up, yet. I am not sure she is either.

One of the struggles I have had on my search for the ideal foreign language school is finding one where there is both a strong foreign language program, yet flexibility in the options children have to learn. A trend I started to notice, at least in my city, was that the foreign language schools were stricter with children’s behavior. For example, it was impossible to find a Spanish immersion or dual language Montessori-based school. One has recently opened up, and I have yet to visit, although it is far from our home. In other words, the options are definitely limited.

I also started to notice how many parents seemed sold on a school based on the reputation it has and are willing to leave a hefty deposit not having visited a single classroom! Maybe I am over analyzing our school options, but what I have concluded that a parents main concern should be, how will the current school meet the needs of my child from an academic perspective, socially and emotionally?

For example, I have learned that my child learns best in a setting that offers lots of socialization and options. It is in those settings where she seems to be developing her intellectual curiosity and emotional well. That is to say, as parents we should be concerned about our children’s overall academic, social, emotional, linguistic and psychological development and in which context those elements are likely to prosper.  A challenging task but one I have decided to continue to try and fulfill even if it means deferring our acceptance to a highly sought out school until our daughter is a little older.

Have you grappled with a similar decision? If so, how did you decide on what kind of school to choose for your child? In other words, were you willing to give up a certain characteristic of a school for another?

{Image by  woodleywonderworks}

One of the main concerns parents raising bilingual children –or considering it– have is what to do when they refuse to speak Spanish (or whichever minority language). We know the bilingual rebellion is pretty much a fact and we’ll all have to face it eventually. For some it starts as early as 3 years of age and for others when the child enters kindergarten, especially if they don’t have the option of a bilingual program like dual or full immersion.

So, what to do once our child refuses to respond or speak in Spanish? For starters, don’t panic and don’t even consider giving up! The best advice is to continue doing what you’re doing and sticking to the method you’ve been using. You’ve already planted the bilingual seed firmly and now it’s just a time to weed out annoying pests and continue showering the seedling with the same sunshine and love it needs to keep on it’s path.

Once you’ve gotten past the initial shock, then step back and figure out ways to motivate your child to speak Spanish. Motivation and immersion are key at this point where the child has figured out the majority language is not the one she’s speaking at home and everyone else responds immediately to her with English. This is when they need to understand and give a meaning to why it’s important for them to learn a second language and emotional connections/motivations are what work best at this stage.

5 Ways to Motivate Your Child to Speak Spanish

#1. Praise, praise, praise! Children aim to please and there’s no one they want to please more than their parents — even though it doesn’t always feel that way, I know! Try to be conscious of when they are speaking Spanish to you and praise them for doing it. The more you praise, the more they will know it’s important to you. However, if we reprimand them for not speaking it, they become rebellious and annoyed and associate Spanish with negative feelings. Also, try not to focus on correcting every grammar or pronunciation mistake they make and instead highlight their effort in speaking.

#2. Playdates and Playgroups. We’ll never get tired of singing the praises of playdates and playgroups with other children who are being raised bilingually. The motivation factor is so high when they can associate the language with a friend they love. Hopefully you can find another parent who has a child the same age and that all can speak Spanish during the playdate. My girl has a couple of friends with whom she mostly speaks Spanish with. I use that emotional connection as a motivational reminder that she needs to speak more Spanish in order to play with them. It’s worked so far.

I also love this idea of a Spanish book club that Roxana is doing.

#3. Music, activities, books and games. Fill your house with games, books, music, movies and activities in Spanish that your child truly enjoys. Give him the choice to choose what he wants to engage with, but all has to be in Spanish. This can be a special time of the day for him and it will a fun, immersive and motivational way to engage in Spanish through that he loves. Even better if you can create a special Spanish nook in your home.

#4. Travel. Yes, we’re aware this isn’t a viable option for all in today’s economy, but the motivation to travel and visit loved ones or just a foreign country is still important. Buy maps or a globe and go to them all the time. Show your child where her heritage is from and where Spanish is spoken. Tell her stories about the important people in your life and hers who live there. Allow her to use her imagination to travel to these places where Spanish is everywhere and motivate her to learn the language so she can travel there soon. If you can pull off an actual immersion trip, there’s no better language motivator than that, especially if visiting family is part of the plan.

#5. Focus on what your child loves. This one would actually fall into any of the four above, but it does merit a mention of its own because we must always make sure that we don’t overwhelm or force our children to do anything. Yet, we can create the ideal environment and activities for them to be constantly motivated to learn and we do that by focusing on what they love to do. My daughter loves to dance and sing, thus, we blast out everything from Shakira to Music with Sara and have impromptu Fiestas all the time. Lately she’s become obsessed with Flamenco and I also introduced her to videos of Argentinean Tango. This has led to us grabbing the globe and teaching her where Spain and Argentina are located and what language is spoken there. Find what your child loves, immerse them in it through Spanish and have a blast together!

What is your top tip to motivate your child to speak Spanish or another language?

{Image by Pratham Books on flickr}