It’s been two weeks since we arrived in Puerto Rico and the experience has already been much more than I expected.

My kids have been so immersed in Spanish at every level and in so many settings that a couple of days ago Vanessa actually came up to me and out of nowhere asked: “Mami, ¿qué tal si me olvido mi inglés?” I wanted to laugh at her ingenuity, but I just reassured her that this wouldn’t happen. Truth is she wasn’t so much worried as she was curious. I guess she’s finally old enough to grasp the huge difference between living in a country where English is dominant and in one where Spanish rules. And I couldn’t be happier.

The best part of our trip, so far, has been the chance Vanessa got to attend the same summer camp her cousin has been enrolled in since the beginning of the month. Although Vanessa only got to go for two weeks, these were jam-packed with all kinds of fun activities and even two field trips.

From 8:00 a.m. until 3 p.m., Vanessa was immersed in the kind of Spanish setting that is very hard for me to offer back home: the one of play, of children and of fun. While she may have gotten this here and there — especially when she was younger — thanks to our bilingual playgroup, the reality is that she’s never experienced something like these past two weeks of summer camp in Puerto Rico.

Every day at pick up time, Vanessa had nothing but great things to say about her experience. Of course, it didn’t hurt that her cousin, who’s only two months older than her and with whom she clicked immediately (despite it being three years since the last time they saw each other) was with her to help her navigate her new environment.

Although she joined the summer camp halfway through, Vanessa was really lucky in that they saved the best two field trips for the end. On her first day of camp, she got to go to the Arecibo Observatory — the world’s largest and most sensitive radiotelescope, which happens to be located in my husband’s hometown. As a science-lover who’s particularly interested in planets, stars and space in general, Vanessa came back fascinated with all that she had learned… in Spanish!

The second field trip took her to the Arecibo Lighthouse and Historical Park — the last lighthouse built by the Spanish government in Puerto Rico before it became a colony of the United States after winning the Spanish-American war. Vanessa was taught a lot of historical information about the beautiful faro and had a blast in the water park.

On the last day of the summer camp, there was a special ceremony and Vanessa got to perform a song from the movie “Wrecked Ralph” with the other kids in her age group. As I took her home, she told me she never imagined it would be so much fun and thanked me for bringing her to Puerto Rico and enrolling her in the summer camp!

BOOK DESCRIPTION/REVIEW:

There’s very few things I like more in the world than traveling, that’s why any book related to traveling, geography or other countries and cultures is a must in our home.

While The Worldwide Adventures of Rohini Molini series is in English, I wanted to review it because of its message about teaching children that there’s more to the world than just their town. Rohini Molini is a 5-year-old girl who goes on short adventures to a different country in each book together with her dog Bugle and her little neighbors Jackson and Florence. So far they’ve visited Australia, Spain, India and Thailand. Turkey is next.

The one about Spain has Rohini and her friends learning about Flamenco dancing, the difference between a siesta and a fiesta, and churros con chocolate caliente (yum!). Each book in the series includes additional illustrated information about each country as well as a map, which gives you the opportunity to expand on the geography & cultural lesson.

I highly recommend taking a look at their website for lots of activities that go with the books and so that your kids can vote on which country Rohini & her friends should visit next.

BOOK DETAILS:

Title: The Worldwide Adventures of Rohini Molini: A Short Trip to Spain

Author: Lea & Tim

Age group: 3 to 6

Publisher/Year: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform/Sept. 2012

ISBN: 978-1480001244

Price: $8.16 on Amazon.com

Website: rohinimolini.com

THE GIVEAWAY!

We are giving away one set of four books of The Worldwide Adventures of Rohini Molini to ONE lucky winner! All you have to do is leave us a comment telling us which country you think the authors should include in the series. Then enter the Rafflecopter below.

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Vanessa trying raw oysters for the first time in one of my favorite places to have them: Boquerón, Puerto Rico.

Vanessa probando ostiones por primera vez en uno de mis lugares favoritos: Boquerón, Puerto Rico.

It’s time for our fifth SpanglishBaby LIVE Google+ Hangout and we’d love for you to join us. This time around we’re discussing all about immersion travel. For those of you who’ve never joined a Google+ Hangout, you should know that it’s just like hanging out with a bunch of friends, except that you’re not all in the same room.

WHAT: In our fifth Hangout we’ll be discussing how and why immersion travel can do wonders for your children’s exposure to Spanish.

WHEN: Tuesday, April 9 at 1 p.m. EST.

WHO: Joining Ana and I will be two of our contributors who have a lot of experience with immersion travel as they’ve done it several times with their own bilingual & bicultural families.

Amy Conroy is the mother of three young children and holds a Master’s degree in Anthropology. An advocate of bilingualism, Amy founded habla blah blah to help introduce non-native speakers to Spanish through music and fun. Amy is a native Los Angelean who wrote a series about her experiences while on extended leave in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, MX in 2011-2012.

Becky Morales is a mom to four bilingual, multicultural, active kids ages 4-7; she and her husband are doing their best to raise them as compassionate world citizens, and lifelong learners. She founded Kid World Citizen, where parents and teachers can find global activities to do at home that help enrich little minds. In her free time, she loves to cook and travel and is a wannabe triathlete.

There are many ways for you to be part of this Google Hangout online.

1. First of all, RSVP on the event page.

2. Add the SpanglishBaby Google+ Page to your Circles.

3. On Tuesday, April 9, starting at 1 p.m. EST, the SpanglishBaby Live Hangout will go on air and you’ll be able to watch it on the event page and on our YouTube channel.

4. The hashtag for all our SpanglishBaby Live Hangouts is #BilingualKids and you can use it on Google+, Twitter or Instagram and we’ll find you!

5. Once the Hangout is over, a recording of it will be made available for all to view, share and/or embed on the SpanglishBaby YouTube channel.

If you’d like to have your question related to raising bilingual and/or bicultural kids answered by ourselves or one of our experts, please fill out this form. If you’re interested in participating in one of our SpanglishBaby Live Google+ Hangouts, you’ll be able to let us know in the form too.

If you want to learn more about Google+ Hangouts On Air, check out this page. Feel free to leave us any questions or suggestions in the comments area below, on the event page or our Google+ page and Community!

Given that my son just finished learning about the seven continents at school, I was happy to share the book Amy’s Travels with him. This children’s book by Kathryn Starke is a cool blend of geography and culture that promotes all the things we love to encourage as multilingual families.

The book takes us around the world with a little girl named Amy, whose family has lived on five of the seven continents. She is from Perú and although the book is in English, she talks about Spanish being her first language and describes life in South America. I like that kids can learn about the variety of animals and weather on Earth from this book as well (canoeing over crocodiles on the Amazon River), since we sometimes forget that some elements of culture originate from the type of land we live on.

From learning how to say hello in Swahili to why living in America means experiencing four seasons, the book is a thorough and positive introduction to the overwhelming world.

Starke is a second grade teacher and took care to include social studies topics that are appropriate for 2^nd-5^th graders in Amy’s Travels, but the simple illustrations and length of the book make it great for younger readers too.

Get your own copy of Amy’s Travels through Amazon for $10.00 and learn more about author Kathryn Starke here.

The Giveaway!

We are giving away one copy of Amy’s Travels to one lucky winner. All you have to do is leave us a comment telling us why you think your kid will like this book. Then enter the Rafflecopter below.

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It’s been two weeks since my family and I got back from one of the most memorable vacations we’ve spent together — a Western Caribbean cruise aboard the world’s largest ship, Allure of the Seas, courtesy of Fisher-Price and Royal Caribbean — and my kids are still talking about it.

We sailed from Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale and after two days at sea, we docked in Labadee, Haiti. It was a great opportunity for me to practice my French with the locals and for my kids to see how important it is to be able to communicate with people in a language they understand. I mean, it’s not like they don’t speak English, but it’s definitely not their first language and the ability to speak French actually got me several discounts in the handicraft market on site.

As I said on my first post about the cruise, from Haiti, we were supposed to set sail to Falmouth, Jamaica, but Hurricane Sandy had other plans and so we ended up spending an extra day at sea since the port there was closed by the government to avoid any potential problems. I was a bit saddened because I had been looking forward to visit Jamaica, if only for a few hours. In the end, though, I was grateful that at least I was not home in Denver, where my friends and family were dealing with the first snow of the season.

Plus, another day at sea meant we got to the opportunity to spend even more time exploring all the Allure of the Seas has to offer to adults and children alike. Check out some of the photos of our adventures within the cruise ship:

On the merry-go-around in the Boardwalk for the 50th time…

Watching one of the endless shows from Chicago to Madagascar, there’s truly something for everyone!

I’m so happy I did the zip line!

Playing mini golf surrounded by the ocean on all sides!

Reading a book borrowed from the library on board. What a view!

Racing on Fisher-Price Power Wheels!

After spending two days at sea, we finally docked in Cozumel, Mexico and took a lovely tour of the city with a very knowledgeable tour guide. The tour also took us to the other side of the island where the kids had some agua de coco and Vanessa picked some conchitas for her ever growing collection. And then, we got to spend a few hours by the water just relaxing. Vanessa was excited to be back in Mexico and our visit gave me the opportunity to talk to her about the immensity and diversity of that beautiful country.

I would’ve never really thought of a cruise as a great opportunity to expose children to different cultures and languages in a short period of time. As I said in my last post, besides the places we visited, the cruise ship was also full of people from all over the world and my kids made several new friends in a trip we’ll be talking about for a very long time.

My husband (a native French speaker) and I (an advanced non-native French speaker) have raised our two boys bilingually since they were born. They are 7 and 10 and in the 2^nd and 5^th grades. We normally live in the US and spend five to six weeks in France every two years. But, we wanted more! We are currently at the mid-point of a five-month stay in France.

Although we have been pleased with their bilingual progress while living in the US, it was important to us that they spend an extended period of time in France to truly experience daily life in their second country, as well as to focus on literacy. Although both of our boys can read at an age-appropriate level in French, we have found that one of the most difficult challenges of our bilingual lifestyle is making sure that our children can write in their second language. Life is already so busy with school and other activities in the US that it is hard to fit in study of French grammar or other subjects in French.

Though we have been thinking about it for a while, we organized this entire extended stay in France fairly quickly, in about two months, including finding lodging and signing them up for school — though I would not necessarily recommend doing it that way! Our boys’ bilingual progress was truly our sole motivation for the trip and when we saw a window of opportunity, we jumped on it. A side benefit is, of course, that we all get to spend time abroad together. I also benefit from speaking French in a real-world setting. For various logistical reasons, we decided to spend one semester abroad instead of an entire year.

The French school year starts later than it does Colorado, where we normally live, so the boys had a few extra weeks of vacation. The flip side of that is that they were bored by then and needed the stimulation of a school environment. They will also spend less time in school this year than any of their French or American classmates and we need to work on the side to catch any concepts falling through the cracks, especially math. In France, their public school is walking distance and there are only 100 students, both of which we appreciate. Since the boys’ spoken French was already strong when we arrived, their overall integration was smooth and they made friends quickly. There is no school in France on Wednesdays for elementary school children, and the boys spend all day mid-week with their grandparents, which all four of them enjoy very much.

For our younger son, grammar is not yet heavily covered at his age and he is doing very well and keeping up in all subjects. Our older son’s peers have already studied various grammatical concepts in depth in earlier grades, however, so he does get frustrated at times with tasks like verb conjugation. (Un)fortunately for him, his mother (me) is a French grammar nerd so we can and do have marathon study sessions at home. He is a talker though and loves to give presentations at school, even in French. Also, while he loves being half-French, the adjustment has been harder for him. When he is frustrated, he tells us (or his teachers!) that it doesn’t matter — he will soon be returning to the US! That has shown us that coming for half a year was not ideal.

My husband and I are continuing to work for our US-based company/clients remotely, which is a blessing and a curse. We couldn’t have taken this trip without that possibility, but it is draining to constantly straddle two time zones and to speak English with our US contacts while in France.

Overall, though, the positives far outweigh the negatives and we are very pleased with our trip so far. The cultural and linguistic progress the boys have made is totally worth any inconvenience as is the time we have spent here together as a family and with extended family. I am already planning our next extended stay!

Eve Lindemuth Bodeux is a dual national, American by birth and French by marriage. She is one of the few people who can claim to have been born in Alaska. Although she has now lived in Colorado for 18 years, she still considers herself an Alaskan at heart. She is a fluent French speaker and is a self-employed professional translator, working from French to English for clients in the US and Europe. She and her husband have raised their sons, Axel and Luka, bilingually since the boys entered this world. She sees her children as citizens of the world and loves that they sometimes correct her French.

Last Thursday, my family and I traveled to San Diego for my stepson’s graduation from the Marines. It was a crazy, weekend-long trip, but we were happy to all be together for such an important and proud moment in our family’s life.

Since Santiago’s padrino and his family moved to that beautiful city last year, we were lucky enough to be able to stay with them. And, because they are Mexican and are used to crossing the border between San Diego and Tijuana on a regular basis, we figured this would be as good a time as any to accompany them. While I took Vanessa to Mexico City when she was 2 years old, our visit to Tijuana on Saturday was Santiago’s first time in Mexico.

At age 3, I know he didn’t really understand what was going on. But, at age 6, Vanessa surely did and she seemed to enjoy every minute of the day we spent there. From the fact that Spanish was spoken and displayed everywhere to the flavors, smells (good and bad) and sounds of Tijuana, Vanessa was enthralled.

I could write a whole lot about it, but I rather let the photos tell the story:

My daughter tasted tacos de barbacoa for the first time ever and immediately fell in love with the taste of borrego, so she proceeded to eat four of them!

We went to both Sanborns and Ghandi where I spent a small fortune getting the kids books in Spanish, including the Trabalenguas one you see in the photo to the left. I love trabalenguas! I also got some really pretty gold earrings for Vanessa and the board game ¿Adivina Quién? (Guess Who?), which I’ve been trying to get forever with no luck!

Our friends know I love anything that has chile and chamoy, so after having lunch, they took us to a place called El Enchiloso where I got the most delicious red apple wrapped in pasta de tamarindo con chile and accompanied with cacahuates japoneses, chaca-chaca, limes and chamoy. Just writing about it makes my mouth water!

Right next door to El Enchiloso, there was a small cafe where they served delicious crepas de cajeta. Vanessa and Santiago wasted no time making friends with Isabela, the daughter of one of the employees. She happened to be in first grade, just like Vanessa, and they played pirates as well as las escondidillas. I loved that my children feel so comfortable speaking Spanish that they’ve absolutely no problems making friends in a Spanish-speaking country.

Right before we were about to get in line to cross the border and go back to San Diego, I remembered I hadn’t had a chance to stock up on the Mexican candy I love and so my comadre was nice enough to stop at a dulcería inside the Mercado Hidalgo so I could get my fill. Both Vanessa and Santiago were fascinated by the size and the colors of the piñatas — and so was I!

And then, we had to make the dreaded line back into the United States. We left Tijuana around 7 p.m. and even though we had a medical pass, it still took us almost two hours to get back. My husband was not too thrilled, but Vanessa and I had a blast taking it all in. It’s not the first time I do it, but it’s the first time I do it with my kids. I wish I’d been able to take some video, but it was dark and I wasn’t really prepared.

If you’ve never crossed the Tijuana-San Diego border, all I can say is that it’s an experience like no other. While you wait, you can get anything from freshly-made hot churros — like the ones Vanessa is devouring in the picture above — to any antibiotic your heart desires (without prescription, of course!). And while a vendor peddles a 3-foot crucifix with his right hand, he also wants you to buy the huge Hello Kitty decorative doll he’s holding in his left hand. The smells, the sounds, the people, the colors, all of it was enough to keep Vanessa (Santiago slept through most of our wait) entertained during our long wait back to San Diego.

I know a lot of people are scared of going to Tijuana — and with good reason. I’ve either been very lucky and/or smart enough to go with people who know their way around this border city, which has been plagued by violence for way too long. It might not be the prettiest place in Mexico, but I’m glad my kids got to experience it.

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, I had no idea just how lucky I was to be able to travel to Chile every two years and spend our Christmases or summer vacations here (despite it being winter). My parents never intended on staying in the US, my father had been offered a job opportunity, but we never had plans to settle there. However, things happen, things change and after a few years in Chile we were back in the US and my mother made every effort to keep our Chilean identity no matter what — starting with the language.

There are so many things you don’t appreciate as a child. I despised when my mother spoke to me in Spanish in public, but she never once spoke to me in English. Not once. In our home we only spoke Spanish and it is still like that to this day. And because we traveled so often we were never completely disconnected from Chile. I often get asked, do you feel more American or Chilean? The truth is it’s 50/50 because of my connection and experiences here. I also get questioned about my Chilean “authenticity” because I don’t have an accent, but it’s my litte badge of honor and being fully bilingual is my secret weapon.

Now I’m in Chile again, this time it’s been three years since my last trip. My son is 3 years old and everyone in my family is in complete and total awe that this little American boy speaks perfect Spanish despite coming from a home where I am the only one who speaks to him in Spanish and my husband speaks to him in English. To be honest, I am beyond proud, I am glowing. I got emotional when I heard my son and my Opa (my abuelo) having a conversation in Spanish. But I know this is a pivotal moment, I am literally sitting on the bilingual fence here. I am living in a time where the language could easily be lost if I don’t work at it and make a concentrated effort to educate my son bilingual. I could just give up and speak to him in English, but I don’t. Good thing is, it is not an effort for me, it comes naturally and he senses that.

Having come to US at a later age increased my chances of keeping the language, but it decreased when I married a non-native speaker and we don’t live in a Spanish speaking country (you could argue this). I do think the Spanish language in the US will be lost if it’s not for persistance from us parents. Yes, it is a lot of work to raise a bilingual child. It takes patience, perseverance and you also have to consider the child’s learning style and capabilities. My brother was raised the same way I was, spent the same amount of time in Chile but has a more difficult time reading and writing. It just didn’t come easy for him. So when I hear Matías translate for my husband or say that he wants to teach Oma, (my abuelita) English, I realize he has a gift, he has an ability and one that needs to be nurtured and managed. This is the only way the Spanish language will continue to thrive and strengthen within this new generation of speakers.

How difficult has it been for you to raise bilingual children?

{Image courtesy María José Ovalle}