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 blurted out.

— Unos biromes, he repeated completely unfazed.

— What in the world is that?, I asked.

— What do you mean? Biromes are, you know, pens. What do you call them?, he asked.

— Lapicero, I said waiting for the wrath from the other Spanish-speakers in our staff to fall upon me.

— Lapicero is a mechanical pen, a Mexican co-worker said.

And a whole conversation about one of my favorite subjects ensued. If you speak Spanish, you know that we have a lot of different names for the same thing depending on where we’re from. The co-worker who uses biromes for pens is from Paraguay and apparently the word is also used in Uruguay and Argentina. Because I’m a lover of words, a quick search helped explain the story behind the word biromes. A ver que les parece.

So what do you call a pen in Spanish?

Here are some names to get you started:

• lapicero
• bolígrafo
• pluma
• lapicera
• birome
• esfero

{Photo by: yoohoojuju}

{Photo by: andrewmalone}

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 said yes, she said:

“Pero solo un poquito, ¿verdad?” (But only a little bit, right?)

To which I said yes because I figured if I could milk the whole thing a bit longer, why not?

Then she went on to say that she also speaks just a little English because there are a lot of words she doesn’t know. I must admit I got a bit worried when she said that and so I proceeded to dig deeper.

When I asked her what she meant she said that sometimes at school there’s words she doesn’t understand.

“Como ‘stockings’. Cuando la maestra dijo que pintáramos nuestros stockings, yo no entendí lo que estaba diciendo”. (Like stockings. When the teacher told us to draw our stockings, I didn’t understand what she was saying.)

I felt bad because before then she’d probably never heard the word stockings, even though that’s very obvious Christmas vocabulary to be found in books, movies and any conversation related to the holidays. But, as I said, we only speak Spanish at home and so we refer to stockings as ‘botas de Navidad.’ (BTW, I’m sure my family is the only one that calls them that.)

Anyhow, Vanessa went on to tell me that it didn’t take her long to figure out what the teacher meant and all was good.

She didn’t seem too worried about it, so I followed her lead… even though part of me still wonders.

How would you deal with this issue?

{© SpanglishBaby Media}

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 monitor for a good 10 minutes after we turned the lights off in his room. Some of his favorite songs are:

• El patio de mi casa
• Aserrín, Aserrán
• Tengo una muñeca
• Los pollitos dicen

His sister Vanessa taught him the majority of these, which I guess is one of the huge benefits of having an older bilingual sibling.

Our nanny is also responsible not only for teaching him some of these songs, but also for his extended vocabulary. In fact, a couple of days ago he surprised me with his knowledge of several colors in Spanish.

All this got me thinking about how different things can be the second time around.

I clearly remember the real worries I had sending Vanessa to a parent’s day out program when knew practically no English when she was 2 years old. I wondered if I should’ve spoken to her in English to prepare her for the unknown territory into which I was making her venture. Time would prove that there was no need for me to worry, but – as many lessons in life – I could’ve only known this by going through the process.

When it came time for Santiago to follow in her sister’s footsteps in mid-August as the parent’s day out program got started, not once did I worry about how he’d communicate with his teachers as I had done years before with Vanessa.

While I wasn’t able to stay at home with my son as long as I did with my daughter, we’ve been blessed with two amazing niñeras who have definitely done their share to enrich his Spanish vocabulary. And for that, I will always be grateful.

Unfortunately, because I am more lax and have less doubts about raising bilingual children this time around, I’m embarrassed to say I feel like I’ve dropped the ball in one of the most important areas of language learning: reading. It’s not like I don’t read to him in Spanish at all, but how much I do read pales in comparison to what I used to read to his sister when she was his age. Santiago loves books – which he calls lolos – and this is one area where I have promised myself I will improve. It is only fair.

For now, the kids still talk to each other in Spanish, but that’s because I’ve told Vanessa that Santiago doesn’t speak English, which is the honest truth. As he gets a bit older and his exposure to English increases (he’ll be attending preschool three times a week next school year), I am imagining things will change.

Deep down inside, though, I hope I’m wrong. But I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Promise to keep you posted.

What are your views in raising bilingual siblings? Do they help each other out? What are your stories?