bilingual

Mami, hoy es January? That’s my 5-year-old asking from the back seat. I’m thrilled — finally the kids are getting the hang of time — the difference between seconds, minutes, days and months. But his question is also a harsh reminder. He is learning most of these new concepts in school. In school, they teach purely in English. And now the corollary — my husband and I, their only Spanish teachers, will never be able to keep up. We hadRead More ...

I rarely make resolutions for the New Year. I tend to make them year round as I see fit, that way there is a better chance I will actually achieve them. And as far as New Year’s Eve, I was lucky to be awake anywhere near midnight as I’m so tired and just ready to have my second baby (due very, very soon!) But recently the SpanglishBaby team asked us what our resolutions were as they pertained to our kid’sRead More ...

There’s so much floating around the internet about New Year’s Resolutions this time of year! I don’t tend to make resolutions, but I do love setting a few goals for myself and getting myself organized. As for my boys’ bilingualism, we’ve been chugging along the status quo has been working for us, but I thought I’d take stock of things this January and maybe formally set a few goals for myself in this area, too. So here you have it,Read More ...

Spanish is Second Most Used Language in Twitter from Fox News Latino — Amazing news considering that “60 percent of Latin Americans are still not on the Web.” Do you use Spanish in Twitter? I do! Mexican Teachers Adapt to their American Raised Students from PRI’s The World — A look at what’s happening on the other side of the border. As some Mexicans are going back home with their American-raised children who aren’t fluent in Spanish, Mexican teachers are struggling to communicate with themRead More ...

“Nena, aquí es donde vas aprender inglés, pero con mami y papi vas a seguir hablando español, ¿okay?” (This is where you are going to learn English, but with mom and dad you’ll continue speaking Spanish, okay?) “Mami y Papi español.” (Mom and Dad Spanish.) “Si, en la casita de Sabrina hablamos español.” (Yes, at Sabrina’s home we speak Spanish.) “Casita español, mami.” (Little house Spanish, mommy.) I had a knot in my throat and my eyes were beginning toRead More ...