Bilingual Musings

Every time I think about it, I can’t stop laughing. Not the “making-fun-of” kind of laughter, more like the “that’s unbelievable” one. A couple of days ago, a colleague of mine told me our office assistant was going to make an order for office supplies and she wanted to know what we all needed. He said, “So, if you need any supplies like staples, tape, file folders o tal vez unos biromes, just let her know.” — ¿Unos qué?, I blurtedRead More ...

When Vanessa was younger I used to tell her I didn’t speak English, but now that she’s in kindergarten, she’s pretty much figured out that’s not true. Although we speak only Spanish at home, because she now spends a lot more time in the outside world, she’s heard me interact in English in more than one occasion. The other day, though, I was really surprised when she asked me – in Spanish – if I spoke English. When I saidRead More ...

My son Santiago turned two a month ago and I am blown away by how his vocabulary has exploded. Like his sister, he was an early talker. But the real expansion in his repertoire of words has taken place in the last couple of month. He loves music. Not only to dance to it, but also to sing it. Just last night, he was serenading me right before bedtime and even after I could hear him signing through the monitorRead More ...