We are excited to share our favorite bilingual and bicultural Holiday gifts with you! As we do every year, we’ve gathered some of the best regalitos of the season to feature in our 2013 Holiday Gift Guide for Bilingual Kids. This very unique gift guide includes Toys with English and Spanish features, our Favorites (De todo un poco) and Ana and Roxana’s Picks - our co-founders and experienced bilingual moms share their must-haves. Plus, check out the non profit organizations we’re featuring, spread the love this holiday season and donate to those who need it the most.

Click here to check out (and share!) SpanglishBaby’s 2013 Holiday Gift Guide for Bilingual Kids!

The Giveaway!

You know we love to share the love, so to celebrate the holidays we have a huge giveaway of some of our favorite items from our  2013 Holiday Gift Guide for Bilingual Kids!  ONE lucky winner will get one of each of these gifts featured below. The total value of this prize is over $450 USD!!

Looking for a decorative, yet educational and classy gift? Customizable World Maps by Children Inspire Design are perfect for a child’s room or anywhere in the house, really! Place your heart anywhere in the world where your’s belongs… (ARV $60.00)

Baby Alive Baby All Gone Bilingual by Hasbro - By holding her wrist down for a few seconds you can switch from English to Spanish! Doll comes with an outfit, bananas, spoon, bowl and a sippy cup. So sweet! (ARV $36.95)

The Dual Language Translator by Ingenio is perfect for your preschool aged kid. It includes 17 double-sided cards with useful everyday words including numbers, shapes, weather and much more. ¡Vamos a aprender español! (ARV $16.99)

We just love MamaYala’s creations! With the MamaYala Flash Cards  the whole family can play and learn vocabulary from Latin America and Spain. Includes a 100% cotton & customizable carrying bag, ¡Qué cute! (ARV $15.95)

You and your familia are going to love the Celebrations Around the World Activity Box by Lakeshore. You will have materials to celebrate five holidays: Cinco de Mayo, Kwanzaa, Diwali, Chinese New Year and Independence Day.  How cool is that?! (ARV $34.99)

The Orphaned Earring is a non-profit blog dedicated to bringing arts and crafts, school supplies as well as year-round festivities to four orphanages in Latin America, Nicaragua, Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico through the sales of hand-made bracelets from donated orphaned earrings. The winner will receive a set of two bracelets. (ARV $15.00)

For kids ages 3-6 Ladybug en español is an excellent reading tool, plus your child will love the illustrations! Read our review A Magazine for Children: Ladybug en Español. The winner will receive a one-year subscription of both the print and digital publications of Ladybug en español, Ask en español and Babybug en español. (ARV of over $150 USD)

As soon as you arrive home from the hospital play Spanish lullabies to your sweet baby with  Twilight Turtle Tunes! With wireless Bluetooth technology you can get the Premium app (available for $1.99) and play your mix of canciones de cuna to soothe your precious bebé. (Prize only includes one Twilight Turtle Tunes, Premium app not included.) (ARV $51.95)

For ages 3-12 Baking Around The World Kit by Handstandkids is the perfect gift for kids who love to cook and bake (and for those who might like to!) With recipes from around the world, our young bakers will enjoy learning about other cultures’ sweets. Yummy! (ARV $25.00)

Lanugo — La Sinfonía de… includes a unique personalized CD with your child’s name sang in each fun & engaging song! Plus the CD comes with your child’s name printed on it, as well as with a set of stickers — we love it! (ARV $14.99)

Se habla Spanglish Tee by Dos Borreguitas - We can’t say the word Spanglish enough so we’d like to wear it as well! This makes a great gift for your mamá, hija, tía, or anyone in your Spanglish familia! (ARV $20.00)

Little Passports‘ mission is to inspire children to learn about the world. Kids can get a package every month with country-specific souvenirs, stickers, photos, activity sheets and much more! Recommended for ages 5-10 years old. Yes, you can raise a world traveler and explorador! Winner will receive a 1-month subscription. (ARV $10.95)

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Our little multilingual family has some exciting news! We will be moving to South America (Ecuador) in 2014!

This definitely poses new challenges and exciting opportunities as a family who has multilingualism at the center of mostly everything we do (i.e., doctors visits, children’s books). We are already thinking about how our linguistic interactions will change as we establish ourselves in our new home aka the middle of the world.

For example, we have considered changing our use of Spanish for English with our children once we are in Ecuador, especially if we decide to put them in a Spanish school. We have also started to get really excited about the different dialects and languages our girls will be exposed to which include: Quechua, Spanish (& other Spanish varieties), English, & possibly a fourth as many of the private schools in Ecuador offer other European languages (i.e., French, German).

Another change we have already started implementing here is the purchasing of English books! In an earlier post I wrote about getting rid of all of our children’s books written in English that we had in our home in order to increase the status of Spanish in our daily life. I am now having a blast purchasing English (and bilingual) books to add to our collection.

On another note, I am also overthinking the challenges that lie ahead. For example, I, personally, have never lived in another country. In fact, I pride myself in learning Spanish in the U.S. and wonder how the new context will shape my children and I as multilinguals. In other words, I strongly identify as a Spanish speaking Chicana and hope I will be able to pass that on to my nenas. I look forward to sharing our journey over the next few months as we make this huge international move. Please feel free to offer any advice (such as books to read) about moving internationally with little children.

{Photo by ximenacab}

Last week I picked up Enzo at daycare and he ran to me with arms open wide. “Mommy!”  he said. I said no, “Yo soy mama, abuela es mami.”

He started to giggle and pointed his finger at me, “no tú mommy.”

Only four months into daycare and Enzo’s English is flourishing. At home, sometimes we hear him playing by himself and he is playing en inglés! His Papa swears English has already become his first language.

Enzo hears his other friends call their parents ”mommy” and “daddy” at daycare and, in the past, I think he thought that was what they were called (i.e. their names!) But now, he understand what mommy and daddy mean. When I arrive I hear him say to his teacher, “my mommy is here.”

I try to picture what our language situation will be as Enzo gets older. Will “quiero agua” be replaced by “I want water” and will he stop saying “te amo” to say “I love you?” (Which, by the way, I do—even if I am speaking to my parents in Spanish, I will end the conversation with “love you bye.”)

I do understand that this is undoubtedly a normal progression, as we live in the United States.

The thing is, I happen to love being called “mama.”  (Not mamá because he says it like that -mama, no accent!) I think it’s sweet.

I hear friends around me speaking in English and still refer to their parents as “Mami” and “Papi” so I’m hopeful that even when he’s older and English is the dominant language, my little boy will always call me mama.

Do you have a word or phrase that you wish your little one will never stop saying en español?

{Photo by GabrielaP93}

My husband and I don’t speak Spanish, but we still wanted our three kids to speak it. After years of searching for a good option (babysitters, playgroups, learning groups, etc.) we finally settled on having them learn Spanish through tutoring. We searched nearby cities (our town is tiny: only 1,141 people) and tried several teachers, but we were not satisfied with the return: after long hours of driving to the lessons, our son did not progress beyond the point of basic counting and learning hi ABC’s in Spanish.

I was almost ready to give up when an idea came to me: I talk to my family abroad via Skype, why can’t we learn Spanish via Skype as well? So we started to look for an online tutor.

Is it worth looking for Spanish (or other minority language) tutor online? Here are the pros:

1. If your child is already bilingual and speaks Spanish (or any other minority language) finding a tutor who only speaks that language is a great way for child to find himself in the monolingual mode. Speaking exclusively in Spanish requires him to really push his skills.

2. When time comes to teach your child literacy skills, having a tutor is almost essential. Even if you can technically teach your child to read and write on your own, having another person helping you is a great way to eliminate some stress. You child can turn down reading time with you by saying “no, I don’t want to read now,” and if you force them it will be very frustrating. But magically, they are much better behaved with a formal teacher, and they understand that scheduled lessons can’t be skipped. It also means the child is getting regular literacy lessons even when you’re too busy for reading time.

3. There’s no driving required! This is a big improvement on meeting tutors in person, especially for rural or small town parents (like us). It’s also more relaxing for the child to learn in the comfort of his own home.

4. Because it’s a one-on-one lesson and there’s no travel time, you can fit the lessons into your schedule however you want. You can’t take gymnastics, swimming or ballet classes online. But you can practice the language online, and you don’t need a physical space or a time that works for everyone in a large class to do it.

5. There are a lot of teachers to choose from. Because you can work with anyone in the world that has an internet connection, you have more freedom of choice. If a tutor isn’t working out, you’re not stuck with him or her.

6. A private tutor can take a much more personal approach with your child than a teacher with many students.

What are the disadvantages, you might ask? Here are the cons of online tutoring:

1. There’s an age limit. Usually you can’t use an online tutor with a child younger than 5 years old. A child younger than that will have a hard time sitting still in front of a computer for 30 minutes or an hour at a time. They also may not have the skills necessary to use the computer yet, or you may not want them accessing the internet that young.

2. The lesson happens in front of the computer. This may be a concern if you watch screen time closely in your family. If you child only gets a certain amount of computer time each day, you will have to make extra allowances for lessons.

3. The lessons are heavily dependent on internet connection. Technical issues on either end can interrupt a lesson.

4. Some portion of the human interaction is lost simply by the tutor not being physically present. It may seem small, but your child will miss certain nonverbal cultural clues that occur in real life encounters.

Olena Centeno a Ukrainian who lives in USA, a happy mom of three wonderful kids ages 2 to 9 and a wife to a great man. She speaks three languages herself and is raising her kids to be multilingual in English, Russian, Ukrainian and Spanish. She founded Bilingual Kids Rock where she helps families on their bilingual journey. She also enjoys photography and video making as a way to preserve precious moments of life. You can connect with her at bilingualkidsrock.com

{Image by  Mads Boedker}

Before having children, I fantasized how easy it would be to raise them speaking Spanish, English and even Mandarin. Although I am not a native speaker, I was confident that my Spanish skills, sheer determination, and obviously my Spanish-speaking husband would propel our household into bilingual bliss.

We began by speaking to our children in (mostly) Spanish, but with both my husband and I working full-time while taking grad classes, their exposure to Spanish was limited. When we adopted my first son from China, our intention was to also integrate some Mandarin: we drove to Chinatown for “Chinese as a Second Language” classes for several years, attending the classes as a family.

Now that my four kids are in elementary school, and English dominates their day (even in after school activities), we look for creative ways to have the kids practice speaking in Spanish, and get a bit of Mandarin as well.

• We travel abroad during the summers, and enroll the kids in day camps or hire tutors to teach them games and songs. Playing with their counselors and other campers their age has been a wonderful experience, and their learning and appreciation of Spanish has grown tremendously.
• Skyping with our relatives in Mexico, and letting the kids see and talk to their cousins, grandparents, and tíos has been a wonderful way for our kids to speak Spanish in a comfortable and loving environment, and their excitement is palpable. They love showing off new soccer skills or art projects!
• Bringing culture and language into our home, we have hosted 2 exchange students: one from Ethiopia (per my Ethiopian’s son’s request!) and currently one from Taiwan (next will be one from Latin America!). Our students have taught us phrases, nicknames, and cultural bits and shared holidays with us and we have really enjoyed the experiences. Even if you can’t host for an entire semester, check with your local university to see about hosting a student for the weekend or just an evening- the students love getting invited into your home for a cultural exchange!
• Specifically hiring babysitters that speak the target language is something we have only just started to do (and constantly ask “What took us so long!?”). We ask that when she is here with the kids, that she only speak Spanish: playing board games, watching movies, and reading bedtime stories all en español.
• Make some new friends: almost every weekend we get together with a group of families in our area who all speak Spanish with their kids. Although recently we’ve noticed the kids speaking some English with each other, it is a supportive group from all over Latin America and Spain and we share the same goal of raising bilingual kids. Meet like-minded families on meetup.com, at a bilingual storytime at the library, through a Spanish-speaking church service, or through the grapevine.

{Image courtesy of Becky}

Last week, I shared a link to an EFE story I was interviewed for regarding the current state of the Spanish language in the United States. One of the other people interviewed is a woman who runs a language school for children here in Denver and one of her quotes caught my attention. She said: “Bilingual people must possess a certain mastery of both their languages… speaking them is not enough. Writing, reading and comprehension are integral parts of learning a language.”

And the debate about what it means to be truly bilingual started all over again in my head. Is this woman right? Does one have to speak, read and write in their second language to be considered truly bilingual? As with other subjective questions, let me begin by establishing that there’s no right or wrong definition. I mean, there’s the definition given by the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary: “using or able to use two languages especially with equal fluency.” But does “using” mean speaking, writing and reading? A lot of people consider themselves bilingual and they only know how to speak the language, but can’t write or read it properly.

For me, it has always come down to this: As a journalist, could I apply for a job that requires me to do research, interviews and then write a story in English and Spanish? In other words, can I write, read, understand and speak both languages well enough to succeed in the job described above? The answer is yes, not only because I believe I can do it, but because that’s basically what I’ve done since I became a journalist 20 years ago.

As a Latina writer who is very proud of her heritage, nothing would be more disappointing to me than raising children who are only able to speak my mother tongue, but can’t write it or read it. I can’t imagine my daughter — who is well on her way to becoming a bookworm like me— reading Mario Vargas Llosa in English (kudos to those who have, but I’d be lying if I said it is the same) or my son unable to write a Christmas card to his monolingual bisabuela in Spanish.

Because my kids are not lucky enough to go to a dual language immersion school, making sure they’re truly bilingual (based on my definition) is up to me. As I’ve mentioned in the past, Vanessa reads and writes in Spanish not because I sat down to teach her, but because she transferred those skills from English to Spanish. In other words, I got lucky. I don’t know if that’ll be the case with Santiago. Even if it is, I know they would still need formal instruction in Spanish so they can learn all the grammar and spelling rules — and exceptions — of my native language.

What I would like is for my kids to feel as comfortable in Spanish as they do in English regardless of the setting — just like me. My life is definitely richer because of it. Ojalá un día mis hijos puedan decir lo mismo…

Do you think your kids need to read & write in their second language to be truly bilingual? 

This September Enzo started in the pre-nursery school classroom. I was very excited when I got the supply list and I saw that Enzo would be having “homework” — until I got the first worksheets and I sat down to do them with him. The worksheet had a big picture of an apple: A is for Apple. Well… hhhmmmm. OK. So I went ahead and did the worksheets the best way I knew how, I just translated the sheets as I went along. “Mira mi amor. Una manzana. Pintemos la manzana.” (Look, it’s an apple, let’s color the apple.)

Talking to another parent, I realized that I won’t be able to do “Spanish only” 100 percent of the time because this is just the beginning. I am going to have to help Enzo with his homework, and that will be in English. Also, reading Ana’s post last week I realized that it is better to acknowledge English and work on his vocabulary and pronunciation as opposed to ignoring it.

So this week, I changed my approach. This week it was B for butterfly. So I said “Mira, es una B de bebe. Y esta es una mariposa, pero en inglés se dice BUTTERFLY.” Thankfully, the teacher seems to have gone over it in school because he knew it was a butterfly. Then I told him it is just like the butterfly we see in “La Oruga Muy Hambrienta.” 

I have decided that it’s OK to acknowledge that in school, Enzo is learning in English and mom understands this. I’ll just reinforce that English is spoken in school, but that at home with Mamá we speak en español. 

I realize that homework is just the beginning. Enzo will learn English, and it will most likely be his preferred language, as it is mine. My goal as a parent is to instill a love of Spanish (and French) and as he gets older; help him understand WHY it’s important to learn it. I want him to understand that it is important for him to communicate with his family and that he’ll reap the benefits later on.

To fulfill that goal, I think it is very important to continue making Spanish FUN! In an effort to do so, I’ve started making up silly songs and celebrating in Spanish. For example, we are potty training and since at daycare everything is in English, I’ve created  a silly song in Spanish to celebrate every time Enzo pees in the potty. My potty song is “Pipi en el baño, pipi en el baño” (sang to the tune of the Conga song).

As we all now, raising bilingual kids is work! I am happy to have this community where I can question, learn and grow while on this journey. I’d love to hear any tips and tricks you used when your child started school and started homework in the majority language.  Are there things you wish you had done or hadn’t done?

Recently, Roxana asked “Is it Wrong for Bilingual Children in the US to Learn Spanish before English?” Among the comments on SpanglishBaby’s Facebook page, one comment particularly struck me… a fellow SpanglishBaby contributor Suzanne Mateus, said “the controversy is particularly sensitive when the children come from working class homes.”  Suzanne makes a great point. People’s reaction to a parent speaking to her child in Spanish (or any other minority language) might vary depending on their perceptions of who you are.

When you’re a Hispanic mom talking to your child in Spanish, many people assume you are doing so because you don’t speak English. When I speak to Enzo in Spanish, and then conduct transactions in perfect English, people don’t know what “box” to put me in. Where is she from? Is she American? Is she an immigrant? Is she rich? Is she poor? Why is she speaking to her son in Spanish?

If people think you’re a recently arrived immigrant, the thought seems to be “Why can’t you learn English?” or “You’re ruining your child’s life because now the kid won’t learn proper English.”

Once you’re seen as a professional, attitudes change. You start hearing things like “Oh he’s bilingual? What a wonderful gift you’re giving him.” Or “How amazing that he can understand and speak in all those languages. That’s going to help him when he’s in school.”  Or “He will have many wonderful opportunities.” It seems society says it’s great to want your children to be bilingual if you are rich, but it’s a hindrance if you are poor or an immigrant.

This point is illustrated in this quote by American linguist J.A. Fishman, which  my friend Annabelle from PiriPiri Lexicon shares on her blog about raising multilingual children:

“Many Americans have long been of the opinion that bilingualism is ‘a good thing’ if it was acquired via travel (preferably to Paris) or via formal education (preferably at Harvard) but that it is a ‘bad thing’ if it was acquired from one’s immigrant parents or grandparents.”

In toddler classes I have attended, many monolingual parents hire Spanish (or other language) speaking nannies so that their children can be exposed to another language. I have actually encountered children who have become fluent in Spanish by having a Spanish-speaking childcare provider. These parents are usually lauded for their efforts (and dollars!) to expose their children to other languages.

Today, children’s language classes are booming (and they can be quite expensive!) Are we saying it is OK for wealthy parents to spend money to have their children become bilingual, but it’s not OK for parents with lesser means to speak their language to their children?

Parents from any socio-economic status who decide to raise bilingual children are giving their children a great gift, a gift that money alone can not buy; because no number of hours at a language school can equal the richness of speaking and learning a language 24/7, with all its intricacies and the culture that is attached to it. Parents who have embarked on this journey should feel happy about the advantages and opportunities they are giving their children.

I hope that our country recognizes the benefits of bilingualism, and immigrants (both newly arrived and second or third generation) parents do not get discouraged by remarks or ” looks” thrown their way.

The truth is being bilingual gives individuals a competitive advantage. It really doesn’t matter to me if someone gives me a look or just wonders why I’m speaking to my child in Spanish, or if they assume I don’t speak English. Criticizing is easy. Raising a multilingual child requires dedication, commitment and hard work.

{Photo by Clearwater Public Library System Photos}

Imagine we could survey every bilingual adult in the world and ask them two questions.

Question #1: Do you regret becoming bilingual?

What do you think the response would be?

Of course, it wouldn’t be unusual for people to mention how hard it was, at times, during childhood: keeping up with two languages, perhaps with twice the homework; suffering episodes of embarrassment when speaking the minority language in public; and enduring other difficulties. A few of the respondents, it’s true, might even answer, “Yes, I regret it. It was just too much trouble.”

But my guess is that the percentage of people responding “No, I don’t regret becoming bilingual” would be very, very high. Despite those struggles of childhood, I bet it would be well over 99%.

Question #2: If you hadn’t become bilingual, is it something you would have regretted?

If we then turned the question around and asked people to imagine how they would feel if they hadn’t become bilingual, what sort of response would you expect? Though there might be a handful who express no regret, wouldn’t most people feel just the opposite? Wouldn’t most people, over 99% once again, express real regret at not becoming bilingual?

Here’s my point: Your gurgling baby, or your growing child, may not be aware of this yet, but they want to be bilingual! And they will regret it if they don’t become bilingual! That’s the truth, and you have to keep that fact in mind throughout your bilingual journey together.

It’s particularly important to remember this during those tougher times, like when your child seems to rebel and refuses to speak the minority language with you. When these difficulties arise, it’s natural to feel discouraged, but you can’t let yourself get trapped in that moment. You have to think bigger than the resistance at hand.

Tell yourself: “Yes, my child, I know it’s hard sometimes. But I also know that deep down, in the adult that lies within you, you really do want to be bilingual and you would regret it one day if you weren’t. So I will continue to support the development of your minority language with all the patience and persistence and perseverance that this tired old parent can manage.”

And you go on. And you do the best you can, day after day, while you have the chance. Because, finally, you know you’re not the only one who wants your child to be bilingual.

Your child wants to be bilingual, too.

Adam Beck is the blogger of Bilingual Monkeys, the home of “ideas and inspiration for raising bilingual kids (without going bananas).” Based in Hiroshima, Japan, he is a former teacher at Hiroshima International School and now a writer for the Hiroshima Peace Media Center. Adam is the father of two children who are bilingual in English and Japanese. You can also find Adam on Twitter and Facebook.

My kids sat at the kitchen table, in the house we rented in Mérida, México for the summer, so excited for their first clase de español. Although my kids understand Spanish completely, we love spending the summers in Mexico to get them to practice more speaking, enrich their vocabulary, and immerse them in the culture. Other summers we have enrolled them in cursos de verano, and they love the day camp atmosphere and meeting new friends. On this trip, however, we decided to hire a teacher to give us language and culture classes.

The first class was mainly talking, letting the teacher get to know the kids and their language abilities. They played games, read stories, sang songs, and she asked them question upon question about their home, friends and school. I was so excited to hear them chattering away! At the end of class, Miss Lulu sat me down and asked me bluntly if anyone ever correct their errors: “Noté que han desarollado unos… hábitos malos en cuestión de gramática” (“I noticed that they have developed some bad habits in their grammar.”)

Uf… I was a little speechless at first. “Um, no tanto.. de vez en cuando…” Never wanting to interrupt a story or thought, and definitely trying hard not to embarrass them, I was usually so happy to hear them speak to me in Spanish that I let errors go. Maybe because we are on the go, or maybe because we are so used to hearing them- both my husband and I are not really accustomed to correcting these same mistakes that they continue to make.. But looking back to how many times they have repeated the same errors over and over, left me rethinking error correction. I had unwillingly let them burn these phrases into their little bilingual heads:

Soy más rápido de Toñito.

¿Puedo tener agua?

Yo me gusta esta quesadilla.

Voy a la baño.

I cringe as I type these, yet not a day goes by without hearing these. I hear how Miss Lulu corrects these easily in class — with no humiliation.

“En español, di ‘soy más rápido QUE Toñito,’ mi amor”.

”Repite: “¿Me das agua por favor?”

Obviously there’s a time and place for correction, and no reason to make hesitant speakers even more self-conscious. Especially for my more sensitive kids, if I were in public, I should make note and remember the lesson for later. We talked about the need to model proper Spanish — or at least give the kids exposure to different native speakers so they aren’t only getting input from me!

Another great strategy is that Miss Lulu has been singing plenty of songs, and playing lots of silly games (that I am attempting to learn!) that practice certain grammar points with endless repetition. One game, where everyone has to escape el lobo, has the kids describing what the lobo is doing in the morning.

“Me estoy bañando”.

“Me estoy vistiendo”.

She also has been using the specific phrases in context during their conversations, practicing both grammar and introducing new vocabulary at the same time. For example, we had a lesson in tropical fruits.

A mí me gusta la pitahaya.. ¿a ti te gusta?

A mí me gustan las huayas… ¿a ti te gustan?

Before this summer, correcting my kids’ mistakes in Spanish simply was not on my radar. Now that I’ve seen different strategies that work, and now that my children’s Spanish really has reached a new level of fluency, I am going to try to start breaking these habits before they are further cemented.

What are some mistakes that your kids have adopted or acquired? How have you been able to break bad language habits?

{Image courtesy of Becky Morales}