This summer has included a multitude of events with my busy toddler including the way she has made sense of the exposure to several languages. I have watched her transform what once sounded like babble to actual words and to no one’s surprise she includes Spanish, English, and French in her speech (though mostly Spanish). What amazes me the most is how she is incorporating English into her linguistic repertoire. I have witnessed (as many SB readers probably have) howRead More ...
Going from Babbling to Bilingual Utterances
Talking To Our Bilingual Kids About Skin Color
I am one of six children. Like so many Latino families, we look like a spectrum of skin colors from very light/white to dark brown. Unlike some Latino families, we all have dark hair and eyes. Some of us get confused for middle eastern or european. My hair, with it’s big curls, is generally what helps people place my ethnicity as Latino, much more than my light skin. When I had a Salvadoran passport, I had to check either “negro”Read More ...
Why Do We Teach Our Children Spanish?
I read with great interest the Wall Street Journal article featured in Spanglishbaby’s Week in Links regarding parents who move to China so that their children can learn and improve their language abilities. Learning another language and experiencing another culture can be a great experience for anyone, and it is especially valuable for children who tend to have an advantage at second language acquisition. The question that I was left with after reading the article was: Why Chinese? NoneRead More ...
Week in Links for #BilingualKids — June 29
It’s obvious summer is in full swing because I’ve very little to share in this installment of Week in Links for #BilingualKids. Plus, honestly, I’ve been way too concerned with the wildfires consuming my state to be able to concentrate on anything else. Have you seen the images? They’re devastating. Hope you don’t mind me asking you to say a little prayer for Colorado. ¡Gracias! Amazing Bilingual Writers II from Life as a Bilingual/Psychology Today — As a bilingual writerRead More ...
My Bilingual Son’s First Trip To Chile
Every time I come to Chile I am reminded of how lucky and priveldged I am to be able to travel and actually have a relationship with my family, that culturally I am well connected and most importantly that I speak the language, without that, I would be lost. I know that many who have come to the US have not been able to visit their country and if they have, maybe it’s once every few years. Growing up, IRead More ...