bilingual

The past couple of summers, my family and I have taken vacations that have enabled us to be immersed in Spanish. Our goals have always been to improve our language skills, to learn about and visit the historical sites throughout the country, and to experience the culture. My previous SpanglishBaby posts about our travel experiences always included information about our activities, our Spanish classes, and the home-stays. In the comments section, there were often requests for further information and moreRead More ...

I grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, where the only place I heard Spanish was within the walls of my high school. And what’s more, I took French! Eventually, I learned Spanish in college and then as a student in Venezuela and Cuba. While my first job out of college didn’t require Spanish at all, my second did. I worked at a nonprofit that partnered with public schools to provide literacy programs to elementary-aged kids. My students were almost allRead More ...

I recently read a fascinating study about how dinnertime conversation supports literacy development. Although the study was conducted in English, the fundamental findings seem to apply in all languages: family mealtimes were more often a predictor of academic and social success than even time spent studying, or participation in sports or church. Regardless of family demographics, teenagers in the U.S. who eat with their families five times a week or more have higher rates of academic success, and lower ratesRead More ...

Editor’s note: We’re spending this week celebrating dads raising bilingual kids with guest posts written by them in honor of Father’s Day. We love having the dad’s perspective and hope this series encourages other papis to share their stories with us. On November 11, 2009, I was just another young man trying to make his way in the world. Some of us college-aged kids from church were starting a small group, and we were kicking it off with a little get together atRead More ...

Students from seventh through twelfth grade at the school where I teach are interested in comics. Actually, I have recently learned that the correct term for these books is graphic novels. I see them reading during lunch, on the school bus, and sometimes they even try to sneak reading them during class. I love when I see the kids so excited to read. Learning Spanish can be challenging and tedious for teenagers. Older students often have to struggle to acquireRead More ...